Thread by @katrina_tester

I'm not sure how long I have the patience to keep participating in the same conversations in the testing community. The more I connect beyond our discipline, the more I feel that we've been talking in isolation for over a decade and working ourselves into a corner.

Testers talk about how to automate, how to refactor, exciting new tool X, automation strategy, how to work with developers, reporting to stakeholders, certification, communication, customer empathy, and how the testing role changes in agile/whatever.

When you look back, we've been talking about these things for a long time. Spot the difference in these testing conference programs from 2009.
EuroSTAR conference.eurostarsoftwaretesting.com/conference/pro…
STAREAST agileconnection.com/conferences/st…
Agile Testing Days testsidestory.com/2009/12/14/agi…
CAST associationforsoftwaretesting.org/cast-2009/

I went to a developer conference last month and learned about digital biology, cyborgs, brain computer interfaces, blockchain, kubernetes, machine learning, AI, monitoring, SSL certs, TLA+, data visualizations, VR/AR, and 12 factor apps.

There were a lot of new ideas because there is constant evolution in how we apply technology to solve real-world problems. Not many testers were present at that conference, but I felt that most presenters talked about testing.

I heard about avoiding nightmare scenarios, simulating failures, training algorithms, making informed or science-based decisions, defining application state separate to behaviour, scalability and resiliency inherent in new platforms, and visualising complex data for reporting.

Is the testing community stuck in a loop? Worse, are we in a spiral that leads to our irrelevance in the wider industry? Have we excluded ourselves from the innovative conversations about testing that are happening elsewhere?