You are here: Home / Newsletter / Why it pays to (mis)behave like a user

Why it pays to (mis)behave like a user

Article by

I am the creator of CommentLuv and site owner and administrator of ComLuv.com

Andy Bailey has written 273 articles for ComLuv.com
I normally write at http://comluv.com

Twitter: @commentluv | Facebook | Google Profile
Become a guest blogger on ComLuv just like Andy Bailey
March 1, 2012 By 33 Comments

Testing not only means see how it works but also – how it breaks

I spent the entire weekend and all of Monday working on a joint project I’ve got going on (I talked about it last week) to make it better and for 90% of the time, it really looked like it was time well spent.

that is, until…

I got bored while testing what I’d just added to the plugin code and started messing about and found to my utter horror that a user could break it just by flicking the mouse this way and that like they just didn’t care (you know, like when people put they hands in thu ay-ya like they just don’t cay-yeh)

Oh the pain! the trauma!… the crash and burn of what just a few minutes before was a joyous cerebral celebration of my coding goodness only to turn in to that awful thing, reality.

Right turn please..

So, now, I have to backtrack and not just take the other fork in the coding road but, take a whole new road altogether.

What a bummer dude (said Dillon)

For the next few days to weeks, I’ll be working on the code, again. from.scratch. if you don’t hear from me, you know why…

Filed Under: Newsletter Tagged With: ,

Comments

  1. Dave Doolin
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 1, 2012 at 9:40 pm

    Andy, I’ve written a lot of test code, I recommend writing tests first in fact.

    Speaking of forking, I sincerely hope you are using git or related revision control system. I’m on github myself under my usual user name, ping me on there if you like. Also, I have some jQuery unit testing code in a project, which you might find interesting.
    Dave Doolin recently posted..Some Things are Hard for a ReasonMy Profile

    Reply
    • Andrew Bailey
      Twitter:
      says:
      March 2, 2012 at 9:00 am

      thanks Dave but my testing is done by writing it! they’re only small little scripts so they don’t take much to rewrite.

      I never got around to using github, always too complex to get my head around for small plugin code. I find it easier to keep incremental version numbers and do a zip of the folder regularly so I can go back in time.
      Andrew Bailey recently posted..CommentLuv PremiumMy Profile

      Reply
  2. elena_anne
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 1, 2012 at 10:24 pm

    Do not be discouraged Andy, I’m sure you’ll share with us the good news soon! Keep going :)
    elena_anne recently posted..Epsom Salt: Bath & BeyondMy Profile

    Reply
  3. jan
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 2, 2012 at 12:17 am

    Well at least you discovered the problem even if it was by accident – somebody’s looking after you Andy – consider it good karma coming your way!
    jan recently posted..Is fish safe to eat?My Profile

    Reply
    • Andrew Bailey
      Twitter:
      says:
      March 2, 2012 at 9:03 am

      that’s what i thought Jan! I knew this was going to be tricky because I was doing something I’d never done before which sometimes can bring great joy but occasionally bring tears (like this time).

      I learned a lot though so it wasn’t all wasted!

      thanks for your comment
      Andrew Bailey recently posted..CommentLuv PremiumMy Profile

      Reply
  4. Mike Sobol
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 2, 2012 at 2:11 am

    I am not smart enough to have your problems. ;-)

    A bummer indeed. Hang in there.
    Mike Sobol recently posted..Three Step Success – Part One: The NotebookMy Profile

    Reply
  5. David
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 2, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    Hi Andy, even though I’m not a coder like you – I have had similar frustrations just trying to get my blogs to work a certain way. The ‘wasted’ time can be very frustrating.

    All I can say is that I ‘think’ I can feel your pain. Hang in there.
    David recently posted..Taxes: Do It Yourself Or Get An Accountant?My Profile

    Reply
  6. BJ says:
    March 2, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    The hardest thing is to think like a user so you can find all the crazy things that will mess up your code. Users who aren’t programmers can’t undertsand how hard it is to think like a newbie.
    BJ recently posted..20 Favorite Atlanta Trails, Parks & Places to WalkMy Profile

    Reply
    • Andy Bailey
      Twitter:
      says:
      March 3, 2012 at 11:40 am

      that’s always been my problem. I know how to use stuff intuitively, it’s what makes programming and creating things so easy for me but the down side is that I forget what it must be like for someone who has skillz in other things that are different and might have problems with using stuff that I find easy.

      I’m getting better though!
      Andy Bailey recently posted..CommentLuv PremiumMy Profile

      Reply
  7. Hesham
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 2, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    I know what you mean and feel mate!

    I try to mess with things myself a lot to discover the hidden issues, sometimes it’s a huge challenge, never been able to discover many problems that was reported by users latter and I had to fix it while holding the idea that I am such stupid :)

    For the last couple of months, I am having the feeling that my main business idea was wrong, it was done in a wrong way, I wish I can start it over, but well.. A whole year already passed lol, it’s crazy! sometimes we discover the ugly truth so late!

    I am glad you found it too early!

    Cheer up, the winter is almost ending, and the shiny sun will be up pretty soon!
    Hesham recently posted..How Server Downtime Nearly Ruined my Blogging BusinessMy Profile

    Reply
    • Andy Bailey
      Twitter:
      says:
      March 3, 2012 at 11:44 am

      haha, I will cheer up soon and dust off our project and try something different to achieve what we want.

      I’ve done an awful lot of u-turns with big projects before. This site started as a multi user / multi blog subscription site. at 25,000 users registered and I had to change it all

      one thing I’ve learned, it’s never the end of the world disaster that you think it is at the time.

      the internet moves fast and the waves of change quickly cover up any scars left by ripping a website apart and replacing it with another one so my advice, screw it up and make a new one or smoothe it out and make it better!
      Andy Bailey recently posted..CommentLuv PremiumMy Profile

      Reply
  8. Harleena Singh
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 3, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    Happens to the best of us Andy!

    Though a far cry from the scary ‘codes’, but loving you CommentLuv plugins- all I can say is that frustrations are known to occur everywhere and do happen to most of us. But just as they say- tough times don’t last, tough people do!

    Am sure your’e going to come up with something brilliant and much better than what you had been working at earlier. Just hold on and keep the faith :)

    Wishing you the best!
    Harleena Singh recently posted..How to Nurture the Perfect Woman Within?My Profile

    Reply
  9. Jonce Kline says:
    March 3, 2012 at 7:05 pm

    I find that sometimes it is hard to get your head around the ways that a user would use your code compared to how you think it should work. Most of the time I just don’t completely understand how someone would use the product I am making for them, but after sitting down with the client, we can usually figure it out.
    Jonce Kline recently posted..Stop Sweaty HandsMy Profile

    Reply
  10. Tania Shipman
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 3, 2012 at 9:28 pm

    Hi Andy

    It’s so sad that you broke it, however it’s a bonus that it was you who found the fatal flaw and not the people who bought it.

    I’m sure you will recover from this and produce something even more outstanding.

    Good luck with the coding and your new new project.
    Tania Shipman recently posted..Blogging for Free Part 4 – SettingsMy Profile

    Reply
  11. Erica Price
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 4, 2012 at 8:47 am

    Oh dear! Still shows how important testing is. Hope it doesn’t take too long to rewrite it.
    Erica Price recently posted..Silent Sunday #silentsundayMy Profile

    Reply
  12. ponvendhan says:
    March 4, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    On latest Google panda 3.3 update Google stated they are turning off ‘Evaluating Links’, But they failed to say what it means. is it related to backlinks? do you aware about it?
    ponvendhan recently posted..How to use android phone as web camera?My Profile

    Reply
  13. Nimsrules
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 4, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    Great going Andy, I’m not surprised that you came up with CommentLuv :) Being a Computer Engg myself I strongly believe in testing and ‘proof-coding’ one’s software before deploying it. Just love to read your articles!
    Nimsrules recently posted..SEO Terminology Part 2My Profile

    Reply
  14. Cheolsu says:
    March 4, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    This reminded me about my testing team in my previous job. I was a part of the development team. With every new release of the application, we had set aside a dedicated time for testing. This was done by another team and I sometimes have wondered how they can identify even the smallest of bugs .. Mostly UI related, sometimes a defect specific to a certain type of browser. This can be quite annoying for the development team.
    Cheolsu recently posted..way2sms loginMy Profile

    Reply
  15. Rick Noel
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 6, 2012 at 3:38 am

    Andy, thanks for this site and for CommentLuv.

    Software testing is a crazy fun job because you get paid to break things, which is every child’s dream. I used to write system requirements for telcom back office systems that testers loved to break. The developers and testers relationship was way more contentious since it was their code the testers broke! The key is to have a newbie test your application as they will always find ways to use the app that you never even contemplated, just like the target users will no doubt do.
    Rick Noel recently posted..Pinterested?My Profile

    Reply
  16. vikas
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 6, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    It happens Andy. In coding, even a slightest mistake can ruin the whole program but we all do mistakes.

    The best thing is that you have found out the mistake and soon with your effort you will rectify it and in next post, we would love to see your success story of the plugin.

    Cheers!

    Reply
  17. Kay
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 7, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    That’s too bad! There’s nothing more heartbreaking than thinking you’re almost done with a project and then you have to start from scratch. Well, good luck!!
    Kay recently posted..Gold Teeth – What’s the Deal?My Profile

    Reply
  18. mattkerr
    Twitter:
    says:
    March 8, 2012 at 8:06 am

    Ouch! Always hurts when you notice you have missed something that vital. I have learned to never to even post new content without first getting my business partner to check it over first.

    When you know what you are looking at you often see what you expect to see and totally miss mistakes.
    mattkerr recently posted..Guru Training AcademyMy Profile

    Reply

Speak Your Mind

*

CommentLuv badge