“Test early” has been banged into my head so much, it has ruined me.

I just started testing a new app with business language/processes that I am unfamiliar with. While waiting on a UI, I began testing the services. I also selected an automation framework and tried to write some functions to leverage later via an automation library. At first, I was proud of myself for testing early. I did not have to make decisions about what to test because there was so little to test, I could just test it all! How nice. Things would soon change however.

As I sat through the domain walkthroughs, I realized I was learning very little about the complex functionality that was coming. I didn’t know which questions to ask because each business process was an enigma. The more I hid my confusion, the less valuable I felt, and the less I knew which tests to execute.

Finally, I broke out of my bubble and set up a meeting with the primary business oracle. Knowing close to nothing about the business side of the app, I asked the oracle one simple question:

“Can you walk me through the most typical workflow?”

She did. And even if only 10% of what she explained made sense, it became my knowledge base. Later, I could ask a question related to the 10% I understood. If I understood the answer, now I understood 11% of the app. And so on. Knowledge leads to confidence. Confidence leads to testing the right stuff.

So don’t get wrapped up in all the fancy "test early" stuff that makes for impressive hallway discussions. Start with the simple, low-tech approach of learning what your AUT is supposed to do.

Being technical <> being valuable.