Session Details

Socializing for Heuristics: How Social Media Made Me a Better Tester (and Human)

Presented by: Hilary Weaver-Robb

Social media isn’t useless. It’s not just for seeing what people are eating or watching, or networking with friends, colleagues, and acquaintances across the globe. While I have met some amazing people on Twitter and other social platforms that have changed my life, I have also gained something even better for my career as a tester: heuristics. Heuristics are the "rough and ready" rules that, as a tester, allow us to find common bugs more quickly - the more ways bugs appear that we experience, the more heuristics we have to find them, and the better we are at our jobs as testers. A wonderful side effect of these heuristics is we gain more empathy for people with backgrounds different from ours, as we see more of the world and what people experience on a daily basis. While we absolutely need more diversity in tech, unless people see themselves represented or supported in the software they use, they won’t feel they belong.

In this talk, I’ll share how I’ve found a great “life hack” to getting more heuristics with social media, and how these heuristics have helped me in my testing. We’ll cover some common themes I’ve found where our users may struggle with our applications, and I’ll share tips to expand your social media consumption to include more diverse backgrounds so you, too, can socialize for heuristics.