The Base Camp Heuristic

The ‘Base Camp’ heuristic is the work required to find any bug. Typically ‘Base Camp’ bugs tend to be low lying fruit and can be found quickly, especially if a tester is experienced. In the world of Daniel Kahneman, these bugs are found using Systems 1 thinking.

To discover an ‘Everest’ type bug requires Base Camp intuition plus more. For example, a tester might need to deliberate over the product in detail, question the diversity of the data, the validity of the oracle(s)underuse and the procedure required for testing.It may mean you need to create new tools or find new ways to track the unknown.

That means you’re going to need mental training to extend the boundaries of your thinking, determination to continue when the easy answers stop flowing and some tactics to help you refocus and come up with new solutions when you run out of ideas.

You may feel dismayed because everyone around you is finding bugs at a rapid pace. You may even encounter scepticism because you appear to be showing no value. But Everest quality bugs are not meant to be easy to find. They require stamina, commitment and courage.

It’s rare to find bugs of this calibre without training and serious commitment.

Maybe I’m not going to climb Mount Everest every day, but as an aspiration I’d like at least some of my bugs to be of the Everest calibre.

How about you?