I would like to narrate an exercise which Pradeep assigned me few days back. This exercise was to emphasis the key skill of questioning which a tester should possess and the importance of time. Pradeep asked me(I in-turn ask you too) to imagine a scenario, and here it goes..
"One morning I receive a phone call from Mr.X who is in United Kingdom and tells me that he is facing a situation.The situation is that, Mr.X is unable to enter his house since he could not open the lock on the front door of his house.He has a bunch of 100 keys and one of them is the right key to the lock.He asks me to find that key to the lock with minimum number of attempts trying to open the lock."
After listening him carefully, I decided to ask a few questions to gain more information regarding the situation.
"A problem is half solved by right questions."
With the above words in mind, I started my questionnaire :-
RK: Mr.X, where are you now?
X : I am standing in front of the door.
RK: Are you standing in front of the door that you want to open?
X : Yes
RK: How many locks are there on the front door and how many keys are required to open them?
X : There is one lock on the door and it requires only one key to be opened.
RK: Is there any other way to enter your house other than the front door?
X : No
RK: Before calling me did you make any attempts to open the lock with the keys in the bunch which you had?
X : Yes, I tried with some keys but nothing seemed to work.
RK: Are you sure that one of the keys in the bunch opens the lock on the front door?
X : Yes, I am sure.
RK: How?
X : For ten years I have been using a particular key in the bunch to open the lock on the front door. I use it quite often.
RK: Are you sure that the door is locked?
X : Yes, I am the one who locked it some time back.
RK: Do you have any details or identification about the key that you usually use to open the lock?
X : Yes. I had stuck a small red sticker on that particular key for identification but now I cannot find any key with that red sticker.
RK: Okay. Now I want you to count the keys in the bunch and simultaneously check each key for any mark or residue left behind by that red sticker.
X : Yes there are 100 keys and one of them has a sticky residue on it.
RK: Do you find the residue at the exact location on the key where you had previously stuck the
red sticker?
X : Yes.
RK: Ah! then I think we got it. Try to open the front door lock with that key.
X : Yes, the lock opened. Thanks!
This is how I solved the problem. But still I could have done better..
Other key questions which I missed :-
- Do you see any material detriment due to prolonged usage on any of the keys?
- How much time do I have to solve this situation?
Lessons Learned :-
- Ask right questions to know better about the given problem.
- Attack the problem from various dimensions (critical thinking).
- There is always a key question to ask while dealing with any given problem- Time! "How much time do I have to test ?" This is a question which you should ask yourself before starting to test. This will aid you plan your tests and will make you a better tester.
