18 Testing Challenges from Santhosh Tuppad - Part I

My friend cum colleague Santhosh Tuppad posted 18 testing challenges to the testing community on his blog a month ago. I have had lengthy conversations on security testing with Santhosh for a while now. The work that follows in this blog post is dedicated to him as I learned a lot about security and usability from him. I wasn't too happy when I asked him a lot of questions on his test challenges where the context was not clear. He clearly mentioned that he wants me to let my imagination free and work on the challenge. There you go.

1. What if you click on something (A hyperlink) and to process or navigate to that webpage you need to be signed in? Currently, you are not signed in. Should you be taken to Sign up form or Sign in form? What is the better solution that you can provide?

Why take the user to Sign In page? 
I always face this problem on FashionandYou :-). If I had to click on a hyperlink which required me to Sign in, I expect to be taken to the Sign In page where a message “This requires you to be logged in” is displayed to me. This solution offers 2 benefits - one, it tells me why I am taken to Sign In page. Two, it takes me to the correct page. 

Why not take the user to Sign Up page?
It’s incorrect to assume that all users who are not logged in are new users. There could be few existing users who are interested to browse without logging in. Taking existing users to the Sign Up page might offend the users.

Why display a message while taking the user to Sign In Page?
Some users won’t understand why clicking on a hyperlink is taking them to the Sign In page. It’s better to display a short and crisp message to the user about the need to login to view that page. Please note that forcing users to login to view the content on retail websites is a bad idea. Users must be allowed to login if they need to make a payment or save something to their cart. Eg. Flipkart.

Why not display a dialog with a message while taking the user to Sign In Page?
A dialog just to convey a message is an overhead. Expecting the user to perform an additional step to click ‘Ok’ or whatsoever is a bad usability expectation.

To read more about 18 Testing Challenges click here.

Lessons Learned in Software Testing

Lessons Learned in Software Testing is a book every tester should read to get their basics right. A couple of my friends suggested this book mostly for newbies and not targeted towards experienced testers. However, I found this book was great for all types of testers, experienced or not.

The world’s leading software testing experts lend you their wisdom and years of experience to help you avoid the most common mistakes in testing software. Each lesson is an assertion related to software testing, followed by an explanation or example that shows you the how, when, and why of the testing lesson. More than just tips, tricks, and pitfalls to avoid, Lessons Learned in Software Testing speeds you through the critical testing phase of the software development project without the extensive trial and error it normally takes to do so.

This book depicts finer nuances of many testing challenges we face on a daily basis. Every chapter addresses a topic independent of other chapters. So you could choose to read few chapters earlier than others.

To read more about Lessons Learned in Software Testing click here.