The Wheels on the Bus Go Fail, Fail, Fail - Yong Yuen He and Daniel Smart

13th January 2023
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The Wheels on the Bus Go Fail, Fail, Fail - Yong Yuen He and Daniel Smart image
Talk Description

Note: There was a recording issue and it is difficult to hear Yong Yuen He, be sure to turn the captions on in the video player, enjoy the talk!

After being inspired by an Engineering related episode of 'The Magic School Bus Drives Again', which I (Yong) watched with my 5 year old and realised, that if I can explain my job as a Software Test Engineer to a child with this episode, I can do it with anyone!
But for the sake of having a clear message, the essence of the episode was extracted: how to embrace failure and why it is important in order to success.

We've constructed the talk using relevant and short clips of the said episode, prepared a talk called 'The Wheels of the Bus go Fail, Fail, Fail' and tested it in an internal test conference on a 40-head strong test team and though it got very positive feedback, it has been improved ever since for each time it has been presented (Internal conference for Engineering and Product, a local meetup etc.).

The talk is dynamic, light but straight to the point showing examples why testing goes hand in hand with engineering and is essential for development, troubleshooting, and safe-proofing (as much as possible) for future.

The talk points out how creative testing can lead to unexpected issues, how perfection is not guaranteed by time and effort made but most importantly, how communication and not giving up will lead to eventual success, even if it means that to succeed is to fail.

'The Wheels on the Bus Go Fail, Fail, Fail' shows that failing often and bouncing back and re-testing saves time and funds but the value of a problem solving software goes beyond commercial requirements.

Our talk is suitable for both beginners and advanced Testers, Developers, UX Designers, Product Owners, Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters or anyone who is interested.

Our slides (under 20) will have video clips with audio to support our arguments for using failures as ways of learning and discovery but will have subtitles for added accessibility.

Takeaways
  1. It is okay to fail - it is a valuable experience to build a future on. Failure is not a blocker in development, but a stepping stone to improve.
  2. Issues can be found later in the development/pipeline - always stay alerts for new issues. Think out of the box -validate with issues, not with assumptions
  3. Owning up a failure is a team effort
  4. Failure in communication leads to unnecessary delays and later rather than sooner discoveries.
  5. Managing your own and stakeholders expectations on failproof products
  6. Replacing stagnation in Utopia with continuous retesting, failing and bettering one's self.
What you’ll learn

By the end of this talk, you'll be able to:

  • TBA
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