DevEx, Developer Experience/Excellence, is a hot topic in software delivery these days and DORA and SPACE metrics are being tracked and used in a growing number of organizations. As both these frameworks for example look at ‘Lead Time To Change’, I think we should be able to consult and help this metric using our test automation knowledge. We, as QA specialists, can use these metrics,support them and use them to our advantage.

In this talk, we’ll look at the background and difference between DORA and SPACE to set the stage for a quality perspective. Quality deliveries and performance build upon age-old testing paradigms and even create new opportunities for us to play a role and have different conversations about testing. We’ll dive deeper into the aspects of both abbreviations and look at where QA meets these trending metrics.

With this knowledge, you’ll bring home a new view on excellence and your part to play. Whether your company already uses either of these hip buzzword frameworks or not, there are takeaways in them that we should be applying to enhance the quality, as we’re meant to do in our current roles.

True Shift-Left testing starts before a new sprint. Behavior-driven Design (BDD) is a method that can achieve this by helping teams communicate better with their stakeholders and amongst each other regarding their delivery. Using the technique of Example Mapping, teams work with their PO to get to actionable scenarios and examples of the functionality they want to build. These examples become your tests, documentation, and the ultimate form of shifting left.

We will briefly discuss the background and principles of behavior-driven development and how to apply those. Soon into the workshop, the interaction will start in groups where we will look at the concepts of ‘Rules’ and ‘Examples’. We will play with and practice Example Mapping, a technique that helps you break down and slice your user stories into practical scenarios.

You will discover how these can be used directly as your tests and documentation for your team and a few different formats to apply these in. As the final takeaways, you’ll learn how to facilitate better refinements with your teams to deliver optimal business value and complete your sprints with less rework and bugs.

Quality at the start will facilitate quality in the rest of the process and with this workshop you will be leveling up your Shift Left approach with applicable skills.

Program for the day:

• Introduction and collecting personal learning goals
• Short background of testing in Agile and the need for Shift Left
• Activity: where is Shift Left?
• Introducing Behavior Driven Design
• Activity: Requirements analysis without BDD
• Example Mapping introduction
• Activity: Requirements analysis with Example Mapping
• BDD deep dive
• Activity: Example Mapping a board game
• Advanced BDD and introducing it in your process
• Wrap-up and check-in on learning goals, Q&A

Takeaways:

• What Behavior-driven development (really) means and that it’s not the Gherkin you might have used before
• A practical application of use Example Mapping, a BDD technique, to discover requirements, test cases and hidden assumptions
• Ways to address shift-left and BDD in your organisation
• Tips to power-up your refinements to start with quality before your sprints start