A necessary soft skill for Software Test Engineers: structured thinking

What is structured thinking ？

Structured thinking is simply , When facing problems, you can use some kind of structure , Break it up into parts you can solve .

Take a very common example to feel , If you are an interviewer , During the interview , Let the candidate think about a Taobao shopping cart function , How to test ？ You may get a lot of answers ：

   For example, some candidates will answer , Add shopping cart first , Delete after , Check whether the quantity is correct ;
   Check the shopping cart , See if the price is calculated correctly ; You can add up to a few items and so on .
   Calculate whether the coupon can be used normally 
  ……
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These answers , Is likely to , Maybe not , But most of the time , It is based on our testing experience to analyze the problem , There is no guarantee that you can think clearly and completely . So how to use structured thinking to analyze such problems more clearly and comprehensively ？ As a test engineer , We all know , The classification of tests can be divided into ： Interface tests / A functional test / Performance testing / Security testing / Abnormal test / Compatibility test . If we disassemble the test analysis from the test classification , It's just how these tests are classified , Then refine each classification , Until it can no longer be disassembled （ as follows ）：

The above is a simple process of analyzing problems with structured thinking , We can also apply when writing test cases or sorting out test points , By disassembling according to the test category , Not only can you tell the whole story , And the analysis is relatively clear .

thus it can be seen , Structured thinking is a thinking process from disorder to order , In the process , You can create a three-dimensional analysis first . First look at the key aspects that can solve the problem , Then go on to analyze , So as to achieve a bird's-eye view from the global to the local , Not just stuck in a detail . And this common way of thinking , It's actually a tree view of a pyramid , as follows ：

Why should test engineers learn structured thinking ？

In the work , Software test engineers need to face more than being able to independently undertake the testing of complex products or modules , We also need to constantly communicate with different roles horizontally or vertically , When faced with complex projects , Even project management across role boundaries , Process control , Customer docking, etc .

For example, facing the same problem , Some people can hit the point with three sentences , And some people may 30min I can't say the core ; Facing a complex business module , Some people can quickly and hierarchically do a test point analysis and organize an efficient test case review , And some people are confused in test analysis , This leads to the continuous delay of use case review …… There are countless examples of such work , What is the difference of thinking in this area ？ The most fundamental reason , It depends on whether there is a fast and effective way to process information , As well as the sorting and clear and effective expression of the logical structure of information .

for instance ：

   In an online accident , A test colleague rushed over and reported ：“ There is a problem with the previous code , Some data is pushed to another platform , Now if you change it, it will have a great impact , Whether to find another time to change ？”
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When you receive this message , You may have some problems , For example, how big is the impact , How long is it to find a time later ？ At the same time, you are the recipient of the message , The information you may get is just that your colleagues have found a problem , But we didn't get the details of the event and the specific treatment plan .

And such scenes are vivid in our life and work , Because there is no effective processing of information and effective expression , Lead to information asymmetry in the process of communication , The increasing cost of communication .

thus it can be seen , Structured thinking is particularly important in our daily work and life Communication , Complex problems are analyzed layer by layer through pyramid model , Can be very clear and organized to show your ideas and thinking logic , So as to improve our efficiency in dealing with problems and reduce the communication cost .

How to improve structured thinking ？

When we gradually uncover structured thinking and understand its role , We will think , Structured thinking can be trained and improved ？ Yes, of course ！ Of course, we need to further analyze the pyramid model . Pictured ：

In the pyramid structure , In general, there is a logical relationship in two directions , That is, vertical logical relationship and horizontal logical relationship . A good pyramid structure , We need to meet the conclusion first in the vertical relationship 、 Upper system and lower system ; In horizontal relations , Meet the requirements of classification and grouping 、 The four basic principles of logical progression . In a word , Namely “ Argumentation analogy ”.

• The longitudinal ： Vertical is hierarchical , The thought of the upper level is the generalization of the thought of the lower level , The next level is the explanation and support of the previous level .
• The transverse ： Horizontal is the relationship , The ideas in each group must belong to the same logical category , It has to be organized in logical order .

After further combing the pyramid structure , We can summarize structured thinking ability into the following three points ：

1. Ability to summarize information -- Horizontal analogy ability

The collection of massive information can not completely help us analyze and solve problems , Inductive information helps our brain remember , Sort out logic and ideas .

Here is a classification rule ：

MECE The laws of （Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhaustive）, That is, they are independent of each other 、 Completely exhausted . Use... When resolving problems MECE Principles ensure the clearest point of view 、 The most complete , No weight, no leakage .

The common methods are 6 Kind of , In fact, we often use... In our work ：

1、 Dichotomy

This classification is common in daily life , In fact, it is to divide information into A He Fei A Two parts . such as ：

 At home 、 Abroad , Others 、 own , married 、 unmarried , adults 、 minors , about , men and women , Income and expenses , Professional and amateur and so on .
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2、 Process method

That is, according to the time when things develop 、 technological process 、 Program , Classify the information one by one . such as ：

 A schedule made in daily life , Solve the problem 6 A step , Achieve the goal 3 Stages , In fact, they all belong to the classification process .  The process classification method is particularly suitable for reporting on the progress and stages of the project .
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3、 The element method

We often use the element method in our life , This classification method is used to describe the characteristics of all aspects of things . such as ：

 Talking about excellent employees 7 Seed quality 、 The organization chart of the company, etc , In fact, they all divide a whole into different components . It can be from top to bottom , From the outside to the inside , From the whole to the part . 
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4、 Formula method

Formula method can be classified according to the elements of formula design , As long as the formula holds , Then this classification is in line with MECE principle . such as ：

 Price = The unit price * Number , According to the publicity , Unit price and quantity are elements 
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5、 Matrix method

 For example, when we arrange work , There is a way to classify , Is to divide your work into the following four categories ：1） Important emergency ,（2） Important but not urgent ,（3） Not important but urgent ,（4） It's not important or urgent .
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Then you can fill them in 4 Go in one quadrant , this 4 The first quadrant is 2×2 matrix . This classification method is called matrix method .

6. Classification rules for specific scenes

For the most part ,MECE Rule is a general classification rule , But in some scenarios, we have more direct models , You can put the existing information , Put the classification into some classification models .

3C（ Market strategy model ）： The company （Company）、 customer （Customer）、 competitors （Competitor） The initials of three English words . When classifying strategies according to these three elements , It can prevent the company from ignoring the needs of users 、 Market situation , Develop your own products , A situation that leads to the loss of money . ​ “7S”（ Think about the organizational strategy model ）： Business strategy （Strategy）、 Organizational structure （Structure）、 Operating system （System）、 Business style （Style）、 staff member （Staff）、 Organizational skills （Skill） And shared values （Shared value）. ​ SWOT Model （ Competitiveness model ）：SWOT Analysis represents the analysis of enterprise advantages （Strengths）、 Inferiority （Weakness）、 The opportunity to （Opportunity） And threats （Threats）. ​ SMART（ A model for setting goals ）： That is, setting goals to meet certainty （Specific) 、 Measurability （Measurable）、 Realizability （Attainable）、 The correlation （Relevant） And timeliness （Time-based） wait .

For the above classification methods, we will not cite them one by one , How can we apply these classification rules in our workplace ？

for instance , The system has been unstable recently , There have been some serious P1 fault , The boss asked you to organize a general meeting , Improve everyone's quality awareness . You're going to send out a meeting notice ：

 In order to improve quality awareness , Gather everyone in 10 month 22 On the afternoon of Sunday 3 The point is 3 building 205 The training room held a general meeting of all staff . The agenda of the meeting is to first review the causes of the recent failure , Then develop strategies to prevent similar failures from happening again . The goal is to stop appearing in the second half of the year P1 fault , Ensure the stability of online system .
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However , This content is not clear enough , A better approach is to use 5W2H The model expresses the content structurally ：

 The goal is ： Improve the quality awareness of all staff , No more in the second half of the year P1 fault .
 Time ：10 month 22 On the afternoon of Sunday 3 spot .
 place ：3 building 205.
 agenda ：1） Trouble shooting .2） Formulate fault prevention and control strategy .
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Compare two meeting notices , It's not hard to find out , Under specific scenarios ,5W2H The structure of makes our expression more organized , More clarity .

2. The ability to extract information and conclusions ---- Vertical demonstration ability

When we sum up all the information , How can we strengthen our ability to extract information and conclusions ？ This actually shows the ability of vertical demonstration in the pyramid model .

In the ability to extract information and conclusions , There are two methods most commonly used , These two methods are introduced in many books , Let's briefly introduce these two methods .

1. Deductive method

Deduction is a linear way of reasoning , Finally, it is to get a logical word “ therefore ” Draw a conclusion . In the pyramid structure , The thought at the upper level of the deductive argumentation process is the generalization of the deductive process , The focus is on the last step in the deductive reasoning process , namely “ therefore ” Draw a conclusion . The most classic is Aristotle's Syllogism ：

The big premise ： Everyone will die . ​ Little premise ： Socrates is a man . ​ Conclusion ： Socrates will die .

In our daily work, we often use deductive method to summarize the conclusion , such as ：

 Known rules ： Frequent changes in demand can easily lead to bug
 Specific events ： It's almost online , The business side needs more , Add do not add 
 Conclusion ： No addition 
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With deduction, what we need to pay attention to is ：

• Often skeptical about the rules （ Rules change , If the rules are wrong, the conclusion is not tenable ） .
• Need to increase the amount of knowledge , Keep it “ Available status ”（ The more rules you know , The easier it is to draw a conclusion ）.

2. Induction

Inductive logic is more difficult than deductive logic , Because induction requires us to have good abstract ability , Abstract out new concepts , To command the following sub concepts . In Induction , The brain is going to find things （ thought 、 event 、 The facts ） They have something in common 、 Common ground , Then classify them into the same group , And explain their commonalities . Inductive logic is not linear , It needs to be based on the existing information , Raise a level of abstraction , Get a new concept . such as ：

 The next level of abstraction of apples and oranges is “ Fruits ”, This level of abstraction , It can make “ Fruits ” Lead apples and oranges in vertical relationship .“ Fruits ” The abstraction of this new concept requires us to have relevant knowledge background .
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After understanding the logic of Induction , We need to pay attention to ：

• Abandon the mindset , Carefully select samples （ Whether the sample is representative , Whether the quantity is enough ）
• Need more experience , Expand your sphere of influence , See more , Absorb more , Add facts .

3. The ability to express information ---- From top to bottom

Thinking is an invisible process , Finally, we have to show the conclusion , This reflects the ability to express information in structured thinking .

We often have the following misunderstandings in our daily communication , Many people will pass their thinking process directly to each other without realizing it , for instance ：

  In a meeting , You tell your leader that ：“ I found that there are a lot of inquiries about login issues raised by technical support recently , I guess there may be a problem with the login function , Then I asked my colleagues to check , Found to be xx  iteration ,xx Misoperation leads to interface login error . Because this problem affects the user experience , Therefore, we need to make xx To solve the ."
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At first glance, there seems to be no problem , Describe all the details of the process clearly to you , However, in the process of reporting, it seems reasonable from basis to conclusion to output , Makes the analytical framework relatively thin , The key conclusion is not prominent , The recipient of the information cannot effectively identify your important information immediately .

If we report this with structured thinking , Will become ：

1. Draw a conclusion first ： There is a problem with the current login interface , Lead to online bug, The reason has been found , need xx Solve as soon as possible 
2. Then elaborate ： The reason for the problem is xxx, This problem has continued xx God , Very affecting the user experience , In recent days, the technical support has produced several consultation on similar problems .
3. The final summary ： So we must solve it quickly , Try to solve the problem today .
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by comparison , From top to bottom , Structured expression , The process from conclusion to re strengthening conclusion can make the recipient of information get the information you want to express quickly , And make your conclusion more convincing .

How to train top-down thinking and communication ？ Here are some small tips：

• We can flexibly use some existing model frameworks , Like the question - reason - Solution /SWTO wait , A quick set of frameworks for logical thinking and communication .
• You can visualize your own expression logic , For example, one sentence description and so on continue to strengthen their own language and logic output , Improve your communication skills .