I like to point out that historical, well-vetted aesthetic frameworks are useful for evaluating software.
But what if similar aesthetic frameworks could not only validate software itself but also *predict* software test techniques?
For example, let's examine overarching schools of painting: first came realism, where painters attempted to represent as much as possible what appears to the human eye. We can test realistic scenarios, we do this all the time. I would suggest that most bugs are not discovered under what we understand to be realistic circumstances.
Then came expressionism, where painters attempted to express things not seen. Likewise, test techniques moved on to persona testing (imagining the use of software by peculiar users) and soap-opera testing. Such techniques expose significant bugs.
Then came abstract expressionism. Think of Jackson Pollack. Are there abstract expressionist test techniques? Of course there are.
I would really like to hear of any other explorations along these lines...
But what if similar aesthetic frameworks could not only validate software itself but also *predict* software test techniques?
For example, let's examine overarching schools of painting: first came realism, where painters attempted to represent as much as possible what appears to the human eye. We can test realistic scenarios, we do this all the time. I would suggest that most bugs are not discovered under what we understand to be realistic circumstances.
Then came expressionism, where painters attempted to express things not seen. Likewise, test techniques moved on to persona testing (imagining the use of software by peculiar users) and soap-opera testing. Such techniques expose significant bugs.
Then came abstract expressionism. Think of Jackson Pollack. Are there abstract expressionist test techniques? Of course there are.
I would really like to hear of any other explorations along these lines...