top 10 qualities of a qa tester

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www.mindlinkresources.com Top 10 Qualities of a QA Tester or . . The Case of the Missing Bug Report

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Join Stacey Brown, President of MindLink Resources, for a webinar that will examine the top 10 qualities of a quality assurance (QA) tester. Learn how to bring out these traits in your current QA staff and how to watch for these soft skills when screening new candidates. When localizing products, the QA step is essential in confirming the translation and making sure the product was successfully prepared for the target market. Managers trust the QA staff to catch translation and engineering errors and ensure product readiness to avoid quality issues caught by the end customer. Many managers make the mistake of assigning this critical role to a linguist who may not have the right characteristics of a good tester. When selecting QA staff, it is important to consider skills beyond just linguistic and technical. There are many “soft skills” to watch for in a candidate that will give localization managers the confidence that even small errors will be reported by their tester. In this webinar, Stacey will discuss the top 10 qualities of a quality assurance (QA) tester, how to bring out these traits in current QA staff, and how to watch for these soft skills when screening new candidates. About the presenter Stacey Brown is the Talent Management Specialist and President of Mindlink Resources, LLC.. She has a passion for surrounding herself with talented people. For the past 15 years she has successfully built teams of contractors providing a variety of services at large fortune 500 companies in the Pacific Northwest. She specifically has over 12 years of experience recruiting, training and managing QA specialists. Stacey has a degree in Communications and an MBA in Technology Management.

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  • 1. Top 10 Qualities of a QA Tester or . . www.mindlinkresources.com

2. Overview Audience: This webinar is for anyone who cares aboutquality for translation projects Agenda: Solve a Mystery Understand Qualities of a QA Tester Encourage the Best from your Testers Get the help you needMindlink Resources, LLC 2012 3. The Mystery The Crime Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 4. The Theories Was the QA step Skipped? Need 5 positiveexperiences to undo 1negative one. Theyll tell 16 peopleabout their badexperience. Were assuming QA was notskipped and this error wasmissed somehow but how?? Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 5. The SuspectsMindlink Resources, LLC 2012 6. What does a QA tester do, anyway? How do you see the Role of a QA Tester? 100% 88%100% 63%The QA Tester reviews The QA Tester reviews The QA Tester reviews The QA Tester should the translation andthe localized product the localized product think of themselves asmakes sure there are and makes sure theand makes sure the the end user and shareno grammar mistakes product works as product is culturally their experience.or inconsistencies. expected appropriate for the target audience.Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 7. So, Why do Testers Miss Bugs?Listed in Order of Testers Experience:1. The QA tester didnt have the skills required by the project2. The QA tester didnt have good instructions from the lead3. The QA tester felt rushed because of a tight deadline4. The QA tester was not trained adequately for the assignment5. The QA tester spent too much time learning toolsMindlink Resources, LLC 2012 8. The Clues Skills shortages Lack of training resources Limited QA Lead Time/Availability Tight Deadlines Diminishing budgets Enormous amount of tools to learn!=MISSED BUG REPORTS Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 9. What about these tools? TMS=Translation Management Systems Several options available (for example): SDL, Projetex, Across LanguageServer, Cloudwords, GlobalLink, GlobalSight, iplus, iTrac TMS, Ontram , PlunetBusinessManager, Sajan, Transifex, Wordbee, WorldServer Twenty percent of medium-to-large LSPsoffer a house brand of translationmanagement (Common Sense Advisory) Many testers work for multiplecustomers, each using potentially adifferent TMS. Best practicetry to be tool independent!Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 10. Mystery Solved? There is usually not one reason aproduct is released with anembarrassing bug. . . But there are ways to help avoid thishappening again!Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 11. Understand the Qualities of a QA TesterListed in Order of Testers Experience:1. Understanding localization process2. Detail-oriented3. Native-level language skills4. Able to learn technology5. Good Communication6. Good Team player7. Flexible8. Curious9. Good Sense of Humor10.EmpatheticMindlink Resources, LLC 2012 12. Understand More Qualities of Good Testers? Other qualities listed on survey: Willing to take feedback from engineers/client/lead Always ensuring that the quality standards are not compromised. Familiarity with the culture of the target audience Some translating skills and experience Computer and internet navigation skills (testers usually are not given time to learn basic skills when a project is to be done) Technical skills necessary to complete the specific project (eg. knowing how to use an iTunes before testing an iTunes software) Sense of professionalism - going above and beyond. If any errors are found, even if they are out of scope, they should be included in the report. Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 13. Encourage these Qualities in your TestTeam Make the project ready on time, answer the questions fast, give good instructions for the scope of testing Provide clear instructions on the scope of thetesting, provide training on any special tools or programsused in testing, and be available to answer questions oraddress issues as they arise. Help me to develop a solid understanding of the projectsgoals, and how the various elements will fit together for asuccessful outcome. Provide enough time to work on the project. (e.g."spend up to 5 hrs and stop" would result in partiallyperfect, partially not-reviewed end-product, which, after all, is seen as a bad product) Provide enough background information to maintainconsistency in translation, tone of the voice, styleused by the client.Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 14. Support The Testers Do your pre-work Run Psuedo Localization Perform Code Reviews Use Single World-Ready Binary (microsoft.com) Localization teams are less likely to find localizability problems in multiple language versions that may require multiple fixes and branches of source code. (UniCode) The localization process becomes mostly a UI translation. Thus the localized product testing becomes less technical and more of a grammar and spell-checking job Right-skill the taskMindlink Resources, LLC 2012 15. Get Help Using 3rd party for QA: You know youre using the right-skilled person You know you are using the best QA methodology You can consolidate the tools You are showing your customers you care about quality Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012 16. In Summary Your goal is to not miss bugs! Do this by knowing your testers Make the right assignments to the rightpeople Providing support to them Find your WatsonMindlink Resources, LLC 2012 17. Grace is learning Portuguese You may think you have qualitybut whatcounts is what the end user seesMindlink Resources, LLC 2012 18. Stacey [email protected]: staceyj.brownLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/staceyjbrownFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/mindlinkresourceswww.mindlinkresources.com Mindlink Resources, LLC 2012