{"id":11232,"date":"2019-05-15T21:50:33","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T21:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/?p=11232"},"modified":"2025-05-05T21:23:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T21:23:22","slug":"the-testers-role-in-agile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/testing-strategy\/the-testers-role-in-agile\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Agile Testers Still a Thing?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the coupling and loss of specific roles in software development teams, how can testers remain relevant?\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11236\" src=\"http:\/\/abstracta.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mimi-thian-737017-unsplash-min-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"mimi-thian-737017-unsplash-min\" width=\"900\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Testing_in_Agile_Methodologies\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #00b674;\">Testing in Agile Methodologies\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the implementation of Agile methodologies and the coupling of roles in software development, the tester has been lost in several moments since integrated roles started to emerge, such as the Full Stack Developer. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies are looking for people capable of performing analysis, design, architecture, development and testing, grouping these skills into one single specialist. Don\u2019t all these roles have to be taken into account for software development? Although there are these developers with extensive knowledge and are capable of performing functions in each of these areas, there is always a role that loses some importance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to this coupling, knowledge in each specialty is lost. That\u2019s why you\u2019ll hear things like it isn\u2019t necessary to do documentation and it\u2019s unnecessary to carry out tests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take for example, one of the most popular Agile methodologies these days: Scrum. Let&#8217;s show what its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scrumguides.org\/scrum-guide.html#team-dev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">manual<\/a> says about this topic:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Development Teams have the following characteristics:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They are self-organizing. No one (not even the Scrum Master) tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality;<\/li>\n<li>Development Teams are cross-functional, with all the skills as a team necessary to create a product Increment<\/li>\n<li>Scrum recognizes no titles for Development Team members, regardless of the work being performed by the person;<\/li>\n<li>Scrum recognizes no sub-teams in the Development Team, regardless of domains that need to be addressed like testing, architecture, operations, or business analysis; and,<\/li>\n<li>Individual Development Team members may have specialized skills and areas of focus, but accountability belongs to the Development Team as a whole.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, in the agile methodologies, it isn&#8217;t\u00a0stated that some role should cease to exist, but each team is organized as it deems necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tester should not disappear, nor should it be excluded from the development of the project, because, with the development of Agile testing, this function is not shown as a separate phase of development, but as an integral part, where it \u201cshifts left\u201d as shown in the graphic below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8169\" src=\"http:\/\/abstracta.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Artboard-1-min-300x88.jpg\" alt=\"Artboard 1-min\" width=\"700\" height=\"205\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Testing is done at each stage of development and other activities, providing continuous feedback. By using various techniques and integrated into the business team and development in each iteration, as a result, the time spent on bug fixes and their cost is reduced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The role of the tester in an agile team is that of an expert. Opposed to the conventional role (in which the tester is in charge of elaborating test designs and then being a simple executor of pre-established scripts), it is of greater technical specialization, capable of handling automation tools, agile management and methodologies, becoming a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/software-testing\/infographic-what-is-a-qe\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">quality engineer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The tester also has greater interaction with clients and developers, so he or she needs to be a good communicator.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are a \u201crobot tester\u201d who likes to only execute what <em>others<\/em> study, analyze, execute&#8230; then you have fallen behind. You run the risk of not adding value, the work will be dismissed and you might think that you can be replaced by an automation tool or by devs who carry out testing. To keep afloat and not disappear, the testing role should be given the importance it deserves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The work is also on us testers to take responsibility for learning and keeping up with new technologies. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>As agile testers, we can&#8217;t blame the change, we must change to evolve.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Does_Software_Testing_Help_to_Do\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #00b674;\">What Does Software Testing Help to Do?<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>By having testers, software development teams can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Decrease costs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prevent failures<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inspire confidence in customers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve the user experience<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increase customer satisfaction<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promote organization, productivity and efficiency<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Agile Tester is one more component in the mechanism of software development, being a fundamental part of the team. By being innovative and not letting ourselves get crushed by the wheel of change, the tester\u2019s role will acquire greater importance and will help produce sustainable and reliable systems. <\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Recommended_for_You\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recommended for You<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/test-automation\/when-to-automate-a-test\/\">When to Automate a Test?<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/software-testing\/software-quality-assurance-company\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why We Are Not a Software Quality Assurance Company<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- Go to www.addthis.com\/dashboard to customize your tools --><script src=\"\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-58d80a50fc4f926d\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the coupling and loss of specific roles in software development teams, how can testers remain relevant?\u00a0 Testing in Agile Methodologies\u00a0 With the implementation of Agile methodologies and the coupling of roles in software development, the tester has been lost in several moments since integrated&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[636],"tags":[68,228,107],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v14.0.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Tester&#039;s Role in Agile | Abstracta<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the full-stack developer and other roles combining, what is the tester&#039;s role in Agile? 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