What advice would you give someone new to using testing tools? – 30 Days of Tools, Day 26

That you don’t always have to use the tools that you are given. If you find a tool that you think is better than a tool we already use, then demo it to your colleagues and make the recommendation that we should try it out. Anyone should be able to introduce a tool to a team or organisation.

However, you must always be prepared for rejection. Sometimes, an existing tool is already well used and moving to another tool will be too costly. Its also likely that your colleagues will not share your enthusiasm for the tool.

I think the best way is to step back and let them experiment with the tool themselves. Don’t set any expectation, just let them try it out on their own without someone looking over their shoulder. I would provide some basic activities that they could do, but keep these vague and open to interpretation. They might discover someone new about the tool that even you didn’t know about.

Don’t control the tools that the team uses. Let them try out alternative options and encourage them to make suggestions. A tool-aware approach cannot exist unless the person has the freedom to actually try out other options.

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