Stuart Reid

Testing Solutions Group

An extensive survey on the motivation of over 600 testers has been performed and the results are presented in this eBook. The eBook comprises three parts. Initially there is a brief list of ten top tips on tester motivation, which summarize the major conclusions of the two detailed white papers that follow.

Next there is a white paper which addresses the relevance of generic motivation theories to software testers and provides practical guidance on motivating testers based on evidence from the survey. Results of measuring testers’ motivation in terms of the Job Characteristics Model and Pink’s Motivation 3.0 are presented, and new combined models with stronger prediction accuracy are suggested.

The last paper considers the survey respondents in six distinct testing roles: Developer/Tester, Test Analyst, Test Lead, Test Manager, Test Consultant and Head of Testing. The factors that affect testers in each of the roles are compared and contrasted, as are the range of activities they perform. It is clear from the results that different roles are best motivated by different factors, and, for some factors, something that motivates testers in one role demotivates testers in another. The effects on motivation of education, professional qualifications, experience levels, salary, and outside interests for each of these different roles are also reported.