LEWT: The London Exploratory Workshop in Testing
LEWT is an exploratory workshop. We take the view that discussions are more interesting than lectures. We enjoy diverse ideas, and limit some activities in order to work with more ideas.
Currently, the workshop is structured as a series of short talks, each followed by a longer discussion. The workshop is one day long. Most participants will make a short presentation, and talks and discussions are time-limited. New talks can be added at any time; participants prioritise the talks as the day goes on.
Attendance is by application and invitation. People who have been to the previous LEWT have first claim on seats. Attendees are expected, but not required, to have a brief talk. We have space for two people with less than two year’s experience – they’re not expected to have a talk, but are otherwise full participants.
LEWT is run along approximately the same lines as LAWST, particularly regarding intellectual property and publication. However, a number of the ‘basic format’ guidelines in the introduction to the LAWST handbook are superseded by LEWT’s local guidelines. The LAWST handbook is currently here: http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/lawsthb.pdf. AST have a LAWST page.
Major differences between LEWT and LAWST:
- LEWT has many talks, and limits discussion in order to move to the next talk.
- LEWT is an exploratory workshop. We aim to improve our understanding by sharing and discussing our experiences. The workshop does not necessarily share LAWST’s aim to ‘crystallise conclusions, rules or techniques’.
- Most LEWT attendees present a talk and answer questions.
- We don't have a content owner - the group owns the content.
- Some spaces are reserved for testers with less than two years experience.
What's the process?
LEWT has attracted interest within the testing community. This is a brief summary of the preparation for the workshop, and how the day is run.
Before the workshop:
- Everyone submits a title for a ten-minute talk.
- We have a project site, where we can discuss ideas before and after the event.
- It’s helpful to have abstracts for talks, and a brief biography.
During the workshop:
- All the talks we haven’t yet heard are stuck on a wall. Participants can add new talks at any time.
- Everyone gets a limited number of sticky dots. These are votes – you vote for the talks you would most like to hear. Votes may be cast throughout the day.
- The day is split into 90-minute sessions. Before each session, and with attention to the vote and the flow of the day, the facilitator choses a group of three talks to be covered in the 90 minutes.
- A talk gets thirty minutes. The speaker present his or her ideas for ten minutes at most, preferably less. The rest of the time is spent on questions. When time is up, we move to the next talk.
- During the talk, focus any questions on clarification. Leave most questions until the discussion.
- The facilitator will handle the question queue during discussions, and keep track of time.
After the workshop:
- We’ll post recordings etc. on the project site.
- Papers using ideas from the workshop should acknowledge the workshop and list participants.
Refinements:
- Times may change – typically reducing.
- We will go to the next item if there are no more questions.
- On request, we can move to the next item before time, or can add five minutes to the end of the questions. These decisions are taken collectively (action and majority are left to the facilitator’s discretion).
- You can vote more than once for a talk.
- You can vote for your own talk.
LEWT 01 - 25 June 2005, on Exploratory Testing
Robert Sabourin: How the EAR model can be used to get testing ideas
Alan Richardson: How to get unstuck and never be stuck again
Jonathan Bach: Open-Book Testing
Antony Marcano: A Test Driven Approach to tracking bugs found in Exploratory Testing
Neil Thompson: Managing Exploratory alongside Scripted: Whether, and How
Marta Gonzalez: Buggy night: an experiment on introducing ET to a test team
Juha Itkonen: Exploratory testing case study
Julian Harty: Exploratory Security Testing
Maaret Pyhajarvi: Experiences in selling ET to project management
James Lyndsay: Creativity and Software Testing
Mitchell Goldman: Hybrid approach: Exploring while checking off Requirements
Richard Durham: The joys and pains of testing network software
Niel vanEeden: Risk Based Testing and the risk associated with applying this in real life
In the room: Alan Richardson, Antony Marcano, Dessislava Stefanova, James Lyndsay, Jonathan Bach, Juha Itkonen, Juha-Matti Parmonen, Julian Harty, Keith Olohan, Maaret Pyhajarvi, Marta Gonzalez, Mitchell Goldman, Neil Thompson, Niel vanEeden, Richard Durham, Robert Sabourin, Steve Green
LEWT 02 - 10 December 2005, on Exploratory Testing
Alan Richardson: Learning how to attack
Juha-Matti Parmonen: Mindmaps in Exploratory Testing
Marta Gonzalez: Pair Exploratory Testing: does the back seat driver cause more crashes?
Neil Thompson: Some personal experience & expl test “structure”
Mitchell Goldman: New ET Metrics and beyond
Robert Sabourin: The Taxonomizer
Scott Barber: Applying Exploratory Testing Techniques to Performance Investigation
Roundtable: Mind Mapping tools roundtable
Wayne Mallinson: Exploratory thinking from Geology + Chemistry
Antony Marcano: XPloratory Testing – XP & ET - natural partners
Jonathan Towler: Using test automation to create useful system state starting points
James Lyndsay: Bug rates
In the room: Alan Richardson, Antony Marcano, Danielle Novak, James Lyndsay, Jonathan Towler, Juha-Matti Parmonen, Julian Harty, Keith Olohan, Marta Gonzalez, Mitchell Goldman, Neil Thompson, Richard Durham, Robert Sabourin, Scott Barber, Wayne Mallinson
LEWT 03 - 24 June 2006, on Bugs
Alan Richardson: Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena
Antony Marcano: To bug, or not to bug, but is that the question?
Jonathan Towler: On ‘The Wisdom Of Crowds’
Elisabeth Hendrickson: Bugs I’ve Known
Alan Richardson: “Bug” – what’s that in your head? – an exercise
Richard Durham: Are all bugs created equal? (aka what is the value of a bug?)
Neil Thompson: Bwg oration factors in Bwg Persistence/procreation Networks
Mitchell Goldman: U-BAD (Universal Bug Analysis Database)
Robert Sabourin: Finding Bugs That Matter: Bug Quadrants, Scenario Testing and Children’s Books
Marta Gonzalez: What d’ya mean ‘Catastrophic’?
Mark Garnett: Compassion Fatigue, Sainsbury’s Patisserie, Constructivism, Bugs and Me…
James Lyndsay: You find more bugs in a dirty lab
Julian Harty: Bug Portrait
In the room: Alan Richardson, Antony Marcano, Elisabeth Hendrickson, James Lyndsay, Jonathan Towler, Juha-Matti Parmonen, Julian Harty, Mark Garnett, Marta Gonzalez, Mitchell Goldman, Neil Thompson, Neill McCarthy, Paul Woolston, Richard Durham, Roy Madron, Robert Sabourin
LEWT 04 - 28 July 2007, on Metrics
Mitchell Goldman: Other Team's Metrics-What To Ask For
Graham Thomas: New ways of Measuring testing
Alan Richardson: Metric Modeling Madness - Memories and Misadventures of an ex-Methodology Monster
Richard Durham: Lessons learned in DDP
James Lyndsay: Experience report: working without metrics or measurement
Neil Thompson: Dashboard, Tachometer & Diagnostics
David Fulcher : Erik Simmons's S Curve Assumptions
Marta Gonzalez: Comparatively speaking…
In the room: Alan Richardson, David Fulcher, Graham Thomas, James Lyndsay, Julian Harty, Marta Gonzalez, Mitchell Goldman, Neil Thompson, Nick Gregory, Richard Durham
LEWT 05 - 15 December 2007, on Diagnosis
Neil Thompson: Knowledge of Body, Body of Knowledge
Alan Richardson: Metric Modeling Madness - Memories and Misadventures of an ex-Methodology Monster
Mitchell Goldman: Other Team's Metrics-What To Ask For
Graham Thomas: New ways of Measuring testing
Richard Durham: Lessons learned in DDP
James Lyndsay: Experience report: working without metrics or measurement
David Fulcher : Erik Simmons's S Curve Assumptions
Marta Gonzalez: Comparatively speaking…
In the room: Alan Richardson, Elisabeth Hendrickson, Graham Thomas, James Lyndsay, Juha-Matti Parmonen, Julian Harty, Kevin Shannon, Marta Gonzalez, Mitchell Goldman, Neil Thompson, Robert Sabourin
LEWT 06 - 18 May 2008
Theme not yet decided. Attendance by application and invitation. Please get in touch if you'd like to know more.
Logistics
LEWT is organised and facilitated by James Lyndsay. We don't lay any claim to originalty in format; if you'd like to organise your own exploratory workshop, you can contact James for advice, but you certainly don't need to ask permission. We'd ask you to call your workshop by a different name. WOPR used the format for three days of pre-WOPR SWOPR events.
LEWTs currently happen once or twice a year, in London.
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