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The Human Factors of the Agile Software Tester

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Quality of Information and Communications Technology (QUATIC 2020)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1266))

Abstract

Although there has been extensive research on the technological aspects of the software testers, little investigation has been conducted within human factors determinant for the software testing role. The current paper explores the human factors of the software testers working in agile projects, through a qualitative study focusing on the perception of these factors, in a software service company. We interviewed 13 agile team members; 6 testers, 5 developers, and 2 designers. Additionally, we observed 11 meetings and observed the teams at work. Our results show that the following six traits are pivotal for the software testing role, seen by working agile software professionals: able to see the whole picture, having good communication skills, being detailed-oriented, structured, creative, and adaptable. Based on our results, we propose how organizations may think when recruiting agile software testers, how the traits may be used as a reference for those considering a software testing career.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Slack is an electronic communication tool, a trademark of Slack Technologies.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank all the participants for their generous and thoughtful collaboration on this study and for allowing us to observe and conduct interviews. A special thanks to the company supporting our research, for making the collaboration setup possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Lucas Paruch, Viktoria Stray & Raluca Florea

Authors
  1. Lucas Paruch
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  2. Viktoria Stray
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  3. Raluca Florea
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Viktoria Stray .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brunel University, London, UK

    Martin Shepperd

  2. Lisbon University Institute, Lisbon, Portugal

    Fernando Brito e Abreu

  3. University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Alberto Rodrigues da Silva

  4. University of Castilla-La Mancha, Talavera de la Reina, Spain

    Ricardo Pérez-Castillo

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Paruch, L., Stray, V., Florea, R. (2020). The Human Factors of the Agile Software Tester. In: Shepperd, M., Brito e Abreu, F., Rodrigues da Silva, A., Pérez-Castillo, R. (eds) Quality of Information and Communications Technology. QUATIC 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1266. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58793-2_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58793-2_38

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-58792-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-58793-2

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