The world could end in five minutes! You’re currently in the office using a program that a wannabe programmer “Tiffany Swift” has developed for your team. It requires you to be present to press a key every 3 minutes. Your boss is expecting the results from this program when it completes! He’s stressed it’s very important.
What do you do?
Twitter Feed (my responses to the challenge in bold):
@ darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) What are the test requirements? i.e. is this functional/performance/other testing?
@darren_mcmillan (from Thomas Ponnet) Is the key to be pressed always the same one? What happens if no key is pressed?Is it important to your boss or the client?
@ThomasPonnet it’s important to my boss yes it might be important to some others, I’m not really sure at this point I’m just a tester
@darren_mcmillan (from Stefan Kläner) I probably wouldnt touch the program, and ask: Which key? Why evry 3 min? Why chosen that polling design? Will it “end”?
@sklaener ohh no! he needs his results I’ll get into trouble
@darren_mcmillan (from Stefan Kläner) What shall happen when no key is pressed for 3 min? What’s the benefit of the program? Is it at least 3 or exactly 3 min?
@sklaener I dunno what will happen if I don’t press the key I’ve never tried doing that before 
@ThomasPonnet @darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) Can the key remain pressed, or must you let it come back up? #softwaretesting #qa
@71notout Ive just to make sure I press the button thats my requirement, it print out some stats when it’s finished which i give to my boss
@71notout good question I dunno what’ll happen if I just hold down the key
@71notout @darren_mcmillan (from Thomas Ponnet) Can modifier keys (Shift,CTRL,Windows,etc) be pressed as well? What if it’s an Apple?
@ThomasPonnet it just looks for a keypress it can be any key
@ThomasPonnet @darren_mcmillan (from Simon Morley) Is pressing my car key ok? Lots of assumptions…
@darren_mcmillan (from Thomas Ponnet) If the only req is that a button is pressed every 3 minutes it’s not a test it’s a check as no observation is taking place
@darren_mcmillan (from Thomas Ponnet) By the same token it can then be automated, no learning takes place here
@darren_mcmillan @ThomasPonnet (from Steven Hedley) Tell boss he needs 2 press X to get his stats (and it’ll take 2 presses over 3 mins), then run for the hills.
@darren_mcmillan (from Thomas Ponnet) My earlier question about OS still stands, is it an issue if the Windows/Apple key is pressed, what are the non-func reqs?
@ThomasPonnet whats a modifer key? remember I’m just a lowly tester! they only trust me to press a key every 3mins
@71notout @darren_mcmillan (from Thomas Ponnet) Set the BSOD on demand registry key, then press the scroll lock button twice, then run for the hills
@darren_mcmillan (from Thomas Ponnet) Can I press more than just one key at the same time and expect the app to work?
@ThomasPonnet I dunno what happens if I press more than one key at the same time, I’ve never tried that
@ThomasPonnet @darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) How exactly could the world end in 5 mins? Are we talking meteor, flood, earthquake, all of the above?
@71notout good question! I don’t know
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) So how did you know to state that at the start of the tweets?
@71notout is that an assumption?
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) No, you tweeted that the world could end in 5 mins, before disclosing the test specifics 
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@71notout your correct I did tweet” the world could end in 5 minutes” didn’t I?
@71notout Enforced security pat-downs. (from Thomas Ponnet to Steven Hedley) The outrage would take out humanity
@darren_mcmillan That’s the result. (from Stefan Kläner) A tester isn’t a monkey. So saying ‘no’ is appropriate, could spend the whole WE pressing keys otherwise
@sklaener good point, but… it’s not what I’m looking for
@darren_mcmillan (from Michel Kraaij) is my testing timeframe JUST 5 minutes?
@MichelKraaij is that an assumption?
@darren_mcmillan (from Michel Kraaij) I’m questioning the relation between your first tweet and the task.
@MichelKraaij you tell me
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) If I was you, and thought the world was ending, sod the test & boss, i’m phoning the Mrs and daughter!
@darren_mcmillan (from Michel Kraaij) What kind of quality related questions does your boss have?
@MichelKraaij he doesn’t have any he just asked me to run this program, when it finishes I print the results and give him them
@darren_mcmillan @MichelKraaij (from Thomas Ponnet) That’s a job that I’d be embarrassed to ask an intern let alone a prof tester – no testing involved here.
@ThomasPonnet @darren_mcmillan (from Michel Kraaij) My thought exactly.
@darren_mcmillan (from Michel Kraaij) Is there additional information available that might be of value to for us to know and that you are willing to share?
@MichelKraaij ohh sure, I can share some more info 
Tiffany works in HR she’s not very happy with her job
@MichelKraaij she’s been learning to code in her spare time, to try and make her way into the development team
@MichelKraaij she’s been trying to help out the test team by trying to write some useful programs which have been helpful to an extent
@MichelKraaij she just can’t always get them to work the way she’d like… hence the pressing of the key every 3 mins
@MichelKraaij however they do save us (the test team) some time, so we’re thankful for them
@darren_mcmillan (from Michel Kraaij) Thanks for the additional info. Anything else? And a question: Is the app being tested, the dev.competence, or maybe both?
@MichelKraaij your welcome & in response to your question, I don’t know what the application does I just got told to press this button
@MichelKraaij I don’t have any more info about Tiffany.My fingers are getting sore though I have been here for a few hours now pressing btns
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) Not sure I completely understand. World could end in 5, app req btn press every 3min, boss wants report at end…<cont>
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) How many times must button be pressed ?x3 mins – what is relation to 5 mins doomsday? Does button evade doomsday somehow?
@71notout there is no relation between the fact the world could end in 5 mins & the program. Why would you think that?
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) because tweet 1 of many stated the world could end…then tweets 2-5 dealt with test reqts – so thought i’d check for link
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) How many times must you press a key? This is an open-ended test at the moment…
@71notout ohh, I press it until it finishes.
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) So u have started testing w/out knowing full details,could be a mistake! What is the expected result of the btn press step?
@71notout when I press the button I wait 3 minutes and then have to press it again for the program to continue, after about 6 hours its done
@darren_mcmillan (from Stefan Kläner) The program is for internal use only? So why is the boss interested in the results?
@sklaener I dunno I just get told to press the button & give him my results when it’s done, my fingers hurt by then end of it 
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) Sounds perfect for automation…
@71notout ahh thats a really good idea
@darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley) Then go sell the concept to your stressed boss )
@71notout I think I will thanks!
@darren_mcmillan (from Stephen Hill) What’s the significance of the three minutes? I may have missed this somewhere along the line…
@Stephen_J_Hill ohh the three minutes, Tiffany couldn’t get it to work without me having to press this key every 3 mins
@darren_mcmillan (from Stephen Hill) Have you raised a usability incident yet? This would be a candidate to go on Mantis if it were me!
@Stephen_J_Hill you mean I shouldn’t have to press this button, ahh! I never thought of that, I’ll go talk to someone about it.
@darren_mcmillan (from Stephen Hill) I would be reluctant to accept such an app into test with a flaw like that in it. What’s the app doing?
@darren_mcmillan (from Stephen Hill) I mean you should NOT have to press this button 
@Stephen_J_Hill @darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley to Stephen Hill) I told him to automate it – we don’t do button presses ;o)
@71notout @darren_mcmillan (from Stephen Hill to Steven Hedley) But why is a button press necessary anyway? Automating it just hides the fact such an interaction is necessary.
@Stephen_J_Hill @darren_mcmillan (from Steven Hedley to Stephen Hill) Without knowing what the app does, how can you state that the button press is superfluous?
@71notout @darren_mcmillan (from Stephen Hill to Steven Hedley) That’s what has gone to find out for us!
@darren_mcmillan (from Stefan Kläner) So you are testing without a mission and dont know which results he expect by it?
@sklaener yeah I’ve just been told to press this button every 3 mins. When it’s finished I print my boss the results
@darren_mcmillan (from Stefan Kläner) So you are not able to interpret the results of the program? Let him do the “testing” then
@sklaener ohh I think he’d get mad if I told him that
@darren_mcmillan (from Stefan Kläner) Since when testers tell their managers what they want to hear? If he can see a bug after 3 min, no need to spend 6 hours
@darren_mcmillan (from Michel Kraaij) What does the app do in those 3 minutes? (if you don’t know, ask the developer). And how do you know it ends in 60 mins?
@MichelKraaij good point I might just do that, it takes 6hrs to finish
@darren_mcmillan (Peter Haworth-Langford) Am I using or testing? Why is my boss stressed? oh dear the world seems to have ended.
@Unlicensed2test ohh the program and the fact the world could end in five mins have no releation. Why would you think that?
