Read key takeaways from the 2019 QA or the Highway Conference, where some of Centric Consulting’s subject matter experts took the stage.
We proudly served as the Silver Sponsor and Lunch Sponsor for the QA or the Highway Conference in Columbus, Ohio on February 19 at the Ohio Union. We also presented at the conference.
QA or the Highway conference had a great year in 2019, where hundreds of QA and Testing professionals came together to focus on becoming stronger testers.
The Ohio Union, on Ohio State University’s campus, was filled with the enthusiasm of an audience ready to learn from the power-packed lineup of speakers. Below are key takeaways from the keynote speakers and Centric speakers:
Ingo Philipp – Opening Keynote
Digital Transformation Requires Continuous Testing
Ingo Philipp opened QA or the Highway 2019 with a great message about continuous testing. Continuous testing is a topic of conversation in many organizations, but not all of them know how to deliver this. Ingo broke down ways to make continuous testing possible.
One of the most memorable parts of his talk was his emphasis on using testing to explore, not confirm, the small portion of the system that the business already knows. Ingo emphasized that testing is a way of thinking, not just a task you do. This process is a key way to provide value to your organization and ensure continuous testing is effective.
Donavan Stanley
Rethinking the Page Object Pattern
Donavan Stanley presented his solution to the common problems test automation developers run into when working with complex HTML pages. He created a gem called EDSL, or Element DSL. This gem was created to replace Page-Object and make element declarations easier and more extensible.
EDSL gives you the ability to override element behavior at the top level and customize value types. After hearing about this solution, I was inspired to implement it for automating the complex set of HTML pages I work with each day.
Matt Eakin and Brian Offenbacher
Successful offshoring: a look at some best practices
Offshoring development and testing work is part of many companies’ standard operating practices. But, implementing an offshore model is difficult and can put many expected benefits at risk. In this presentation, Brian and Matt address many offshore implementation challenges through a series of “best practices” developed over years of working with offshore teams.
To see more testing information from Matt Eakin, click here for his blog series.
Hayden Payne
Cutting in Line for Taylor Swift Tix
When Taylor Swift announced her 2018 stadium tour, she wanted to ensure that only verified fans would be able to purchase tickets. This requirement meant fans wanting tickets were either dedicating 80% of their time or bank accounts to Taylor Nation, LLC.
Even as a very dedicated Swiftie, Hayden did not love either of those options. She knew there had to be a better way. In this presentation, Hayden showed how she utilized automation to make her way to the front of Taylor Swift’s ticket line and how automation can be applied to even non-Swiftie pursuits, including everyday testing tasks.
Joseph Ours – Closing Keynote
DevOps: The Big Picture for Testers
Joseph Ours delivered the keynote speech about what DevOps is. No one seems to agree on the exact definition of DevOps. In Joe’s talk, we learn that DevOps is, “a set of lean development principles, delivery automation tools, and cloud practices that help your technology teams and executives solve their delivery speed and cost containment challenges.” DevOps applies to every part of IT delivery.
Joe emphasizes for software to be delivered continuously, QA must understand the role they play. Testers must provide feedback with information from their tests that the business can use to make decisions moving forward. To give this feedback, QA needs to utilize exploratory testing tools, learn new skills (such as test automation), and continually work to improve their processes.
Read more about other sessions from QA or the Highway here.