Does Gamification Improve the Training of Software Testers? A Preliminary Study from the Industry Perspective

• Pedro Henrique Dias Valle USP https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6929-7557
• Ricardo Ferreira Vilela USP
• Elis Cristina Montoro Hernandes Monitora Soluções Tecnológicas

Resumo

Background: Software testing is an essential activity in software companies to ensure the quality of their systems. Nevertheless, the most recent studies demonstrate that there is a lack of qualified professionals in this area. Aim: To check whether the gamification contributes to the training of software testers in the industry, analyzing their motivation and test cases designed by them. Method: For this, we conducted an experimental study with junior testers in a software company to compare gamified training against non-gamified training. Results: We observed significant contributions from gamification in the training of software testers, especially in their motivation and quality of the test cases. We noted that non-gamified training still offers contributions to software testing training. This result intensified when we embedded gamified elements in the training since we noticed a difference between groups at scenario coverage analysis. Conclusions: Our results should encourage software companies to emphasize training in software testing and adopt gamified elements because software testers are more motivated in training and design better test cases from the theories of software testing.

Palavras-chave: Software Testing Training, Gamification, Industry