Test the thing right, or test the right thing?

Too often products are made from poorly qualified customer needs - they may be unusable, expensive to maintain, or perhaps solve a problem that never really existed in the first place. As Testers, this costs us time and effort in rework. So how might we avoid these pitfalls and be more intentional in our testing? How might we ensure we’re creating purposeful, relevant products and experiences that truly serve people well? 

Traditionally a tool in the User Researchers toolkit, this talk will explore ‘empathy’ for the Tester’s toolkit. The goal of the talk is to reframe the thinking and goals of Testing, highlighting that the functions of Testing and Research are quite similar under the hood. We increase our chances for success by testing the right thing and in turn, we ultimately make better experiences for people.