Welcome! Satisfice, Inc. is a company founded and operated by me, James Bach. Satisfice is dedicated to teaching and consulting in software testing and quality assurance. Many testing companies consist of business people trying to provide testing services. I'm more like a craftsman who runs a business. What you'll find at this Satisfice website is mainly interesting articles about testing.

Public Class:
Rapid Software Testing Cleveland, Ohio
 
June 5-7, 2013 

Register Now

Public Class:
Rapid Software Testing Orcas Island 
 
June 25-27, 2013 

    Whale Watch Excursion Included!    Register Now

Rapid Testing Intensive ONLINE    
 
July 22-23, 2013

 
Register Now

Rapid Testing Intensive ONLINE    
 
July 24-26, 2013

 
Register Now

Rapid Testing Intensive ONLINE   
  
September 16-18, 2013

 
Register Now

 

Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar

Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: How Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion Can Lead to a Lifetime of SuccessSelf-Education and the
Pursuit of
Passion
By
James Marcus Bach


This book demonstrates how to nurture one’s natural curiosities and passions through the whimsical learning process I call “buccaneering”—demonstrating that those who understand this fundamental principle will come to dominate this new world.

James signing "Secrets of a Buccaneer Scholar" books at Swiss Testing Day in Zurich, Switzerland.

 

See video of James talking about self-education

Buccaneer-Scholar website

 

Lessons Learned in Software Testing book coverLessons Learned in Software Testing: A Context-Driven Approach

Cem Kaner
James Bach
Bret Pettichord

This book is a radical departure from conventional wisdom found in software testing textbooks. Presented in a couple hundred bite-sized lessons, we offer our best ideas and advice for the working software tester. We cover at least four subjects rarely discussed in testing textbooks: thinking like a tester, bug advocacy, interacting with programmers, and test design strategy. more...

 

 

Rapid Software Testing Class Materials:
RST Slides (pdf)
RST Appendices (pdf)

James' Blog:
http://www.satisfice.com/blog

Consulting and Classes

I specialize in thinking about, teaching, and performing testing as a sophisticated thinking art. I am part of a community called the Context-Driven School. Some of the best-known names in the testing field are part of this movement.

I offer testing classes and consulting. My classes are set up to be provocative and experiential. Each class is an exploration of my notes as a student of testing, for the benefit of other students. This is an exciting subject for me, and my goal is to share that excitement; to infect you with it. more...

Check my schedule for public classes. I'm hoping to offer one in the Seattle area sometime soon.

James teaching at Swiss Testing Day in Zurich, Switzerland, March 2012

Rapid Testing Methodology

I call my approach Rapid Testing. My style of rapid testing is tester-centric (as opposed to technique-centric) and is a blend of heuristic testing, risk-based testing, and exploratory testing. Further information about exploratory testing can be found in my article Exploratory Testing Explained.

I've developed a class in Rapid Software Testing. This class introduces you to rapid software testing, a complete testing methodology designed for a world of barely sufficient resources, information, and time.

Based on the principles in the book Lessons Learned in Software Testing: a Context-Driven Approach, this class presents an approach to testing that begins with personal skill development and extends to the ultimate mission of software testing: lighting the way of the project by evaluating the product. more...

James Bach, Founder and CEO of Satisfice Inc

 

Some of our clients have said...

 “This {RST Training} is the best thing I've ever done for our employees' on-going development.”

--Geoff Jamieson of S1 Corporation's Shared Services in Cape Town, South Africa

 

 

Probably the biggest influence has just been James Bach, a testing consultant and frequent presenter at testing conferences.  He has trained my staff in exploratory testing approaches, which has led to a rework, and demonstrable improvement in our test strategies.  For exploratory testing to be effective, it is crucial to train managers and the rest of the team in this approach.”

--Ian Wells, New Zealand

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

2013  

 

May 20-22
Runo Conference Center, near Stockholm, Sweden
Conference: LET'S TEST -- Keynote

May 23-24
Stockholm, Sweden
James is available for work in Stockholm, please email him at James@satisfice.com

May 27-29
Kista / Stockholm, Sweden
Corporate Class: Rapid Software Testing

May 31-June 01
Zurich, Switzerland
Writing Project with Ilari Henrik Aegerter

June 03
Zurich, Switzerland
Dinner Meeting with Ilari Henrik Aegerter and Associates

June 03-05
Switzerland (exact location TBD)
Corporate Class: Rapid Software Testing

June 06
Zurich, Switzerland
Corporate Training: Critical Thinking for Software Testers

June 07
Zurich, Switzerland
Writing Project with Ilari Henrik Aegerter

June 24
Rosario Resort, Orcas Island, Washington
RST Welcome Reception

June 25-27
Rosario Resort, Orcas Island, Washington
Public Class: Rapid Software Testing (only offered once for 2013)

June 28
Orcas Island, Washington
Orca Whale Watching ---RST group event



(click here to see the whole schedule...)