Breaking the autopilot

In this article published at Ministry of Testing, I share how I shifted from testing on autopilot to approaching software testing with more clarity, intention, and collaboration. For a long time, my testing approach was all about following test cases, checking boxes, and logging bugs, but I often missed subtle issues that real users might face. It felt like I was doing everything by the book, yet something was missing. That’s when I started reflecting on my own habits and realised I was testing like a machine, not like someone trying to understand the product deeply.

The turning point came when I embraced mindfulness and began asking more thoughtful questions like “What if the user does something unexpected?” or “Why does this feature behave this way?” This change in mindset helped me slow down and truly engage with the application. I also started explaining bugs out loud (yes, sometimes even to my coffee mug) which made my reports clearer and more thoughtful. I learned to pause when I was mentally drained instead of pushing through, and that small break often gave me a fresh perspective.

Along the way, I explored other techniques too like risk-based testing, where I started focusing more on the parts of the application that had the biggest impact or were more likely to break. I adopted session-based exploratory testing to bring more structure to my exploratory work without making it rigid. And I began using automation and AI not to replace thinking, but to support it, handling the repetitive tasks so I could stay focused on the bigger picture.

I also started applying a grandfathering testing strategy, where I continued testing even after deployment to make sure that legacy features remained intact. This helped uncover production-specific issues that would otherwise be missed.

The result? Bug reports became more detailed, developers had fewer back-and-forths, and we caught critical issues earlier. But more than that, testing became more collaborative and meaningful. This shift from checklist-driven testing to thoughtful, mindful testing not only improved the product but also made me feel more connected to the work I was doing.

Read more in details : Ministry of Testing Article Link