Ministry of Testing launched a LinkedIn newsletter at the start of 2023. Each newsletter article has got a lot of attention which is awesome. Each one celebrates someone in the community who has produced something that’s been published on the MoT platform. Written by me or @sarah1 – based on our own interpretations and experiences.
So I thought, why not bring them onto The Club to spark conversations, share ideas, celebrate and debate? Here’s the first one that’s helpful for anyone new to software testing.
Asking questions is an essential part of being a tester. We aim to answer questions about risk as part of our testing efforts. Yet how do we ask a question? What types of questions could we ask and when is a helpful context to ask them? Read on to discover three question types every tester should know.
1. Open questions
A closed question leads to a yes or no answer. “Is it possible to log in? Yes or no?” Switching to an open question allows for deeper understanding. For example, “What happens when I attempt to log in? What do I observe?” Notice how this type of question could lead to all sorts of outcomes. This is useful when running an exploratory testing session as well as when having a conversation with someone. “Are there any security vulnerabilities?” While the recipient might offer up a couple of ideas with a closed question like that, they are more likely to reveal — or at least consider how to reveal – useful information with an open question. “What security vulnerabilities might we consider? What sort of data could be exposed?”
2. Clarifying questions
It’s important to confirm our understanding so we don’t make assumptions. Clarifying questions do that. “I’m a bit unclear about a certain part of the login process. Am I right in thinking we receive a callback from the 3rd party API? If so, what does that look like?” Clarifying questions demonstrate our willingness to learn and understand risks.
3. Probing questions
Sometimes we don’t get enough information and it’s frustrating. Or our gut tells us there’s more to this and we feel a sense of unease. Either way, a probing question will help. “Thanks for that specific security vulnerability risk. Would that happen for all users? How often is it likely to happen?” Probing questions uncover more information to get to the essence of what we’d like to know.
If you’d like to dig more into this topic, read Katrina Clokie’s excellent article:
