Pair testing

In a pair testing session one person drives and the other observes, questions and takes notes, and they swap. With a developer it surfaces problems before a ticket is needed. With a designer it shortens the loop on how something should look and behave. With a newer tester it transfers judgement in a way documents cannot.

Sessions work when they have a real item to test, a one-line charter and a timebox. They fade when they become an open-ended meeting.

I have paired with developers on a banking programme and with designers in a mobile games studio. In both cases the main effect was on feedback time: questions were answered in the session instead of in a comment thread.