I recently started a new job. This new start has brought back a good memory and I’ve tried to reuse what I learned from that experience.
On a new job, my boss wanted to capture my first reactions to the five different software products the company made. He didn’t “allow” anyone to talk to me about the products for the first couple of days. He wanted me left alone and to make my way through one pass of each app with no direction, comments or information beyond the help files. He gave me his office and he sat in my cube. He wanted me to record my thoughts. We both knew I would never have that first look time again.
I’ve since done this same experiment with testers I’ve hired. I try to do this with myself when I’m new to a product, project or company.
New beginnings are a golden time. So here I am again, new. I have a short window to see a product, project plan and testing strategy in a light I won’t have much longer. I’ve been recording my thoughts and giving feedback. Figuring out how I can contribute.