What I Done Did in July 2020
It’s warm out but I’m still stuck indoors.
Started development on my app
This month I kicked off the development of the app idea I’ve been wanting to do, at the end of June I had compiled a team of people and was gearing up to start things.
Unfortunately the person who was going to be doing the designs for the app ended up bailing on us so I had to pick this up, which, while it meant we lost time it did allow me to rediscover how much fun designing things can be.
I learned some new skills in doing so:
- I learned how to use Figma and some techniques to make working with it easier
- I learned how to conduct usability tests and had some really good sessions showing the app and getting feedback on it
Development wise I’ve completed the component library and have a pipeline for publishing it and I’m now working on creating the Atomic Page Objects for an Appium based automation library for end to end testing.
This end to end testing will link into our Jira board via X-Ray, a really awesome app usable with Jira that allows for bi-directional traceability for tests.
Once this is all in place we’ll be in a position where we can:
- Create a mock up and prototype in Figma
- Carry out usability testing to iterate over the design
- Once we’re happy add any new components and screens to the component library
- Add new components to the atomic structure for the Page Objects library and run basic automation against the component library to ensure they work
- Build the new screens in the app and use the Page Objects in automated end to end tests to validate they meet the user story in Jira
- Upload the test results into X-Ray where we’ll then be able to see the test coverage and test results over time against the user story and epic in Jira
Once this is set up to work in CI it’s going to be invaluable as a means of catching regressions and will allow us to focus on exploratory testing which as we’re a small team is a life saver.
Got a new mouse
With the move away from Apple and onto Linux I decided to ditch the Magic Mouse I had been using previously as there’s no Bluetooth on my Dell.
I ended up investing in a Logitech MX3 mouse, which set me back £99 but it has some nice features and ergonomics that make it worth the price.
Aside from the fact it’s comfortable as hell to use it has one feature which I find really useful when I have to switch between my Linux tower to my work Macbook Pro, which is a little button on the bottom that allows 3 devices to be memorised and switched between.
This means on my lunch break I just need to change my monitor’s source, grab the keyboard attached to the Dell and switch my mouse to work with the Dell and I can crack on with my app work.
Also compared to the Apple Magic Mouse you can charge it and use it!
Made it to Discworld 40
In March I wrote about reading the first 32 Discworld novels and while I’ve not reached the target I thought I was going to hit I’ve almost made it to the end.
I still think Carpe Jugulum is my favourite book so far but we’ll see what the last two books have to offer.
Took part in my second SAFe planning session
I wrote of my first experience taking part in a SAFe planning session in March and we held our second session a week or so ago.
The session itself went really well, we’d been given prior knowledge of what we were going to be working on this time so we were able to enter the session with a board essentially pre-populated with a user story map.
It was then just a case of estimating, sprint planning and dealing with other teams which meant the team felt really secure in their understanding of the upcoming work.
Go Fest 2020
With not being able to go out due to the UK lockdown I hadn’t been following Pokemon Go as much as I would have normally but I had bought tickets for Go Fest 2020 along with the missus as we both enjoyed travelling to the events in the past.
The event this year was a local offering, all players would get a set of increased spawns and there was research to complete over two days in order to unlock a new Pokemon.
The spawn rates were pretty good and it gave us an excuse to go walking for the first time since March but it certainly lacked the atmosphere of walking around a massive park with other players, the Pokemon music blasting out and being able to use the event as an excuse to travel abroad.
Also I didn’t get a single shiny Pokemon over both the days so I can’t help but feel a little jaded.
