Will a new tool help? Here’s an IDEA-T to think about…
17th October 2025
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Isabel Evans
Post Graduate Research Student
Talk Description
Choosing or designing a new tool can feel like the solution to every testing problem until it becomes shelfware. In this talk, Isabel Evans shares insights from years of academic and industry research into how testers acquire, design, and evaluate tools.
In this talk, you’ll learn about IDEA-T, a framework of heuristics Isabel developed to help teams ask better questions before adopting or building tools. Drawing on real-world stories and evidence from interviews, workshops, and case studies, she reveals how testers can use IDEA-T to make more thoughtful, people-centred decisions about tools that genuinely support testing work.
By the end of this session, you'll be able to:
- Explain the purpose and structure of the IDEA-T framework of heuristics.
- Describe key findings from research into how testers design, select, and use tools.
- Apply IDEA-T questions to guide tool selection, evaluation, or development in your own context.
- Recognise common pitfalls in tool adoption and how to avoid them.
Isabel Evans
Post Graduate Research Student
She/Her or They/Them
30+ years in industry, post grad student at Uni of Malta! Researching tool design, resulting in a prototype heuristic framework, being refined. Speaker, practitioner, 2017 EuroSTAR Excellence Award.
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