I am a manual tester. I use creativity sometimes when generating Test ideas. How can a tester improve his creative/innovative skills which will ultimately help me in testing the product better and ultimately cover more test areas. I mean how to view a test application from unique perspectives. Can you suggest some material which teaches creativity and thinking from different angles as i don't really think unique ideas.
thanks in advance!
You could try reading 6 hats by De Bono - 6 thinking hats
or watch this video based on it and adapted to testing by Julian Harty - 6 hats video
I really like the videos of James Bach. He has a very unique perspective on the world of software testing. He will challenge your thinking and a lot of the "best" practises in the testing world.
Be sure to watch his Open Lecture on Software Testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILkT_HV9DVU
I'd suggest taking a look at the answer to this question: How can a Software Tester use "Out of the Box" thinking approach to find more bugs?
They include general strategies and some specific suggestions.
Personally, I find the best way to be a creative tester is to be creative, period - having creative hobbies helps, as does practicing looking at things from odd directions.
Test at least one object everyday(maybe a spoon/pen/table or anything for that matter). Generate teat ideas for it and get it reviewed from others.
Read about testing - blogs, articles and books.
Participate in online discussions, forums and communities about testing.
Write about what you learn. Share it with the world.
Ask as many questions as you can think of and then ask yourself if it is sufficient.
Don't let failure or embarrassment stop you. Learn from it and move ahead.
Get as much domain knowledge as you can.
Read what expert testers write and challenge/question it.
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I dont think so a material would teach/tune your creativity. Try to understand the Business uses of the AUT. Think about possible ways to exploit the App if you were the Real User of that Application. If it is a Banking related application, try to understand the domain knowledge. That will give you more ideas. Try to participate in Bug contests or Sign up as Beta Tester in few sites that offer testing their product prior to release like Utest.
One way you can force things is to use mental frameworks, such as ACC or Nouns & Verbs where you come up with two lists and combine the two. Examples are on this cheat sheet. Note the Heuristics section of that cheat sheet also has lots of other ways to approach coming up with tests.
These types of models and frameworks help you increase the number of ideas you have by giving you launching off points. The more you practice using these, the more natural it'll become.
