The future of software testing rests on principles and methods that outlast any tool. That is how Florian Fieber sees it in this interview from 2022. He expects testing to become more closely interlocked with the other development activities and to take root in the early phases. Testing non-functional aspects will also carry more weight, especially IT security, usability and interoperability.
Florian Fieber is the founder and managing director of QualityDojo IT-Consulting GmbH in Berlin and has worked as a consultant and trainer in software quality assurance for almost 20 years. His focus is on test management, test process improvement and business analysis for enterprise applications. True to his company’s vision, “Satisfied users through better software”, he supports his clients with strategic consulting, hands-on project support and training for employees and teams. He also volunteers at the German Testing Board e.V. to develop the “ISTQB Certified Tester” scheme further, and at the time of the interview he was a board member of the GTB.
What Challenges Will Software Testing Face in the Future?
When I’m asked to look at the future of our profession, I start by looking back at our past and my own experience and try to draw conclusions from that. So I assume that our (technological) world will change ever faster and more disruptively, and that we’ll face major new challenges at ever shorter intervals. I don’t know what exactly is coming. But I do know that things will keep evolving and changing. Today, for example, we have a certain “common sense” about how projects are best organized. Twenty years ago that looked quite different, and twenty years from now it will probably differ just as much from today. The same goes for buzzwords like AI, AR or blockchain. For us as software testers, all of these are boundary conditions. We can’t influence them directly, but we have to be able to deal with them. What we can influence is the way we work as software testers.
Two Answers: Keep Learning and Master the Fundamentals
So I see two big challenges we face as software testers. First, I have to keep up with the technological changes I just described. I have to keep expanding my theoretical and practical knowledge and engage early and seriously with the topics appearing on the horizon. That’s the part we usually file under “lifelong learning”, and at first it isn’t specific to software testing at all.
Second, and from a tester’s point of view I think this is the more important part, I should master my craft in a way that holds up in the future: something that doesn’t just work today but will most likely still work tomorrow. Ideally, a software tester’s fundamental principles, methods and ways of thinking don’t depend on specific domains, systems, processes or tools, and above all they have a much longer shelf life.
So I don’t know what the “common sense” for organizing projects will be in twenty years, or which technological disruption we’ll be dealing with by then. But I try to master the fundamental principles of the tester’s craft today well enough that they will probably still hold in twenty years, and I’ll “only” have to adapt them to whatever boundary conditions apply then.
Why Principles Matter More Than Tools
For example, it’s nice if I know a particular test management tool today, but that won’t help me in the future if I don’t understand the test management methods behind it. It’s good if I can operate a certain test automation platform today, but it won’t help me later if I haven’t mastered the basic principles of test automation. The other way round, if I already master the underlying principles and methods today, I’m ready for the test management tools and test automation platforms still to come.
What Will Future Testing Look Like?
As I said, we don’t need to reinvent testing for the future from scratch. Still, there isn’t “one” kind of testing. Just as there is no single “today testing”, there won’t be a single “future testing”. Testing will keep evolving, and certain trends and priorities will play an even bigger role.
Testing already enjoys wide acceptance today. I think that will grow stronger, that testing will become even more closely interlocked with the other development activities, and that it will become more and more established in the early phases of software development in particular. The focus will also keep shifting toward testing quality requirements and non-functional aspects, especially IT security, usability and interoperability. And last but not least, since 2020 we have experienced and learned a lot about virtual and distributed collaboration. The pendulum certainly won’t swing back from 100% remote to 100% on-site. But we’ve seen that remote can work, so we need to deal even more with the technical and social challenges of distributed testing to create and keep the right conditions.
How Testers and Test Managers Can Prepare Today
Besides lifelong learning, the right mindset and mastering the right principles and methods, it might help us as a community to focus a little less on roles and more on tasks. In my view, for example, debating whether “you still need a test manager these days” is pointless and drains energy. We should let go of the question of the right job title and look instead at which tasks matter and how we can cover them as well and as sustainably as possible in our specific project context. There will still be classic organizations in the future where projects are run hierarchically and “you need a test manager”. Whether you personally like that or not makes no difference at all. At the same time, there will be holacratic organizations that work in completely different ways. In both, though, we have to give software testing its proper place, and it would help both sides to look at their own daily work less dogmatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it so difficult to prepare software testing for specific future technologies?
Because no one knows what disruption is coming next. The only certainty is that the technological world will continue to change, and at ever-shorter intervals. For software testers, these changes are boundary conditions that don’t directly influence them, but which they must deal with. What can be influenced, however, is the way testers themselves work. That’s exactly where the effort is worth it.
How should testers approach trending topics like AI, augmented reality, or blockchain?
As contextual factors, not as a separate field of expertise that can be predicted. Such topics change the context of testing, not its fundamentals. It is more important to engage seriously and early with topics emerging on the horizon and to continuously expand one’s theoretical and practical knowledge. This corresponds to what is commonly referred to as lifelong learning and is not specific to testing.
Is it worth learning a specific test management or test automation tool above all else?
Only to a limited extent. Mastering a tool is nice, but it’s of no help if you lack the underlying test management methods or the principles of test automation. Conversely, those who master principles and methods are also prepared for future tools and platforms. Tool knowledge becomes outdated; the methodological foundation lasts longer.
What makes test knowledge enduring?
The fundamental principles, methods, and ways of thinking inherent to the craft are enduring, provided they are formulated independently of specific domains, systems, procedures, and tools. This foundation has a significantly longer shelf life than knowledge of specific tools. It then only needs to be adapted to the current constraints, rather than having to be relearned with every technological change.
Which testing priorities are gaining importance?
The focus is shifting toward quality requirements and non-functional aspects, particularly security, usability, and interoperability. This was the assessment provided in the 2022 article. In addition, there is a closer integration of testing with other development activities and its further establishment in the early phases of software development. Testing does not need to be reinvented for this.
Are test managers even necessary in modern organizational structures?
The question of the job title is misleading and a waste of energy. It makes more sense to clarify which tasks are important and how they can be sustainably addressed within the specific project context. There will continue to be hierarchically organized projects that require a test manager, alongside holacratic structures that function differently. Both must adequately address testing.
Does distributed remote testing work?
Yes, experiences with virtual collaboration since 2020 have shown that remote work can be effective. A swing back from 100 percent remote to 100 percent on-site was not expected even by 2022. This makes it all the more important to address the technical and social challenges of distributed testing so that the appropriate framework conditions can be established and maintained.
