Longer Exploration (BBC 23Q2)

Open Miro frame. Return to central page.

In this double-length workshop, we'll put some of our ideas into practice, exploring a rater/biller.

But first...

Sharing Stories of Exploratory Testing

under 10 mins

Welcome back! Over the break, I asked you to keep an eye out for:

  • when the system changes you – revelations, new models, diagnoses
  • how you spread that change – notes, bug reports, system insights

If you've got a story to tell, put a line in the chat, and we'll turn to you.

Exploratory Testing – Rater/Biller

Raters/Billers are common industrial software. You find them in utilities, telecoms, services, subscriptions – any organisation which provides something which is paid for regularly. They communicate with systems more than with people, so they don't put much of what they do into a UI. Open source examples include OpenBRM, BillRun.

Our subject runs in-browser. It can take in usage, rate that usage and allocate it to an account, and it can aggregate that usage into bills. It doesn't manage accounts, take payment or produce readable bills.

You'll find it here: Rater/Biller

Exercise: Purposeful play

5 minutes

In groups, or solo, explore the page – read the context, look at the tools. Your purpose is to

  • understand what a rater/biller might do
  • consider the limits of the system under test,
  • how you can interact with that system, using the test system and your own resources.
By interact with, I mean trigger, observe, analyse

🗺️
Optional Guided Tour of the Test System: Open the log area. In Tools, open Pick Standing Data, and switch to complex tariffs. Play with the Generate and Rate sliders, and see how the logs change. Try different standing data. In Context, read the story, then run the tests. As you play, note changes in the Test System Context at the top of the page.

Exercise: Charters I

10 minutes max

3 minutes: We'll each build three charters, and put them on the Miro board.

Your charters should set out the purpose of your exploration, and are for a 20-minute session.

Debrief (the rest): We'll review the charters, setting priorities and allocating people.

Exercise: First Session

25 minutes

20 minutes: Follow your charter

5 minutes: Prepare a 1 minute show-and-tell about the time you spent, inclusing showing your notes.

Exercise: Debrief your Exploration

10 mins max

Debrief once, in pairs.

The come back to the group – we'll hear from a few of you.

Exercise: Charters II

10 minutes max

3 minutes: We'll each build three more charters, and put them on the Miro board.

Your charters should set out the purpose of your exploration, and are either for a 15-minute session, or a 30-minute session.

Debrief (the rest): We'll review the charters, setting priorities and allocating people.

How do these charters differ?

Exercise: Second Session

40 minutes

30 minutes: Follow your charter(s). Share in the chat. While exploring, prepare your 1 minute show-and-tell about the time you spent, including showing your notes.

10 minutes: Debrief with the group – we'll hear from a few of you.

Conclusion:

In which we'll talk about charters and session, longer timeframes, debriefing and notes ... and the test subject and how your exploration used (or didn't use) the tools.

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