In this episode of the Vernon Richard Show, Vernon and Richard discuss alternative names for the show and reflect on their recent activities. They talk about the Leeds Testing Atelier conference and highlight some of the workshops and talks they attended. They discuss the importance of play in the workplace and the impact of bugs in software development. They also mention the Post Office Horizon scandal and the need to consider the human impact of software failures.

The conversation covered various topics including testing chatbots, the importance of accessibility and user flow mapping. The speakers discussed their experiences with chatbots, highlighting both positive and negative interactions. They also talked about the significance of screen readers and the need for proper web app design to improve accessibility. User flow mapping was mentioned as a useful technique for building a joint team understanding of work tasks. The conversation also touched on the challenges of communication with anxiety and the benefits of being open about mental health in the workplace.

Various other topics were also discussed including reducing anxiety in the workplace, the concept of spoon theory, and the balance between speed and quality in software development. The speakers discussed the importance of building relationships and understanding how to communicate effectively to reduce anxiety. They also explored the idea of spoon theory, which relates to managing energy levels and prioritizing tasks. Lastly, they delved into the challenge of achieving both speed and quality in software development, emphasizing the need for a learning mindset and continuous improvement.

Description Generated by AI

Links to stuff we mentioned during the pod:

00:00 - James Thomas
- James' blog
- James LinkedIn
02:42 - The Testing Atelier Conference
- Their website
- Their YouTube channel
05:10 - Jit Gosai
- Jit's Leeds Testing Atelier post
- Jit's Leeds Testing Atelier talk
- Jit's blog
- Jit's Quality Engineering Newsletter
- Jit's LinkedIn
05:43 - Elly Gausden
- Elly's LinkedIn
08:03 - The Battleships board game
09:00 - The Colt Express board game
11:02 - Clare Norman
- Clare's LinkedIn
11:44 - Lego Serious Play Training
11:56 - Rich's Lego Automation workshop
13:33 - Elliot Thurland
- Elliot's talk
- Elliot's LinkedIn
13:38 - The Post Office Horizon scandal
- The public enquiry website
- Article on Wikipedia
13:53 - James Christie
- James' blog
- James' body of work regarding the Post Office scandal
16:30 - BBC Radio 4 series about the Post Office Scandal
16:35 - 4 part television drama for ITV
17:48 - The Nightmare Headline game is described in Elisabeth Hendrickson's excellent book Explore It!
18:43 - Bug Advocacy
- The Association for Software Testing (AST) flavour of the course
- The Black Box Software Testing training programs in collaboration with Altom and Cem Kaner
19:20 - Kelsey Hightower
- Kelsey's Twitter/X
- Kelsey's GitHub
21:08 - Leah King & Tracy Archibald
- Their talk
- Leah's LinkedIn
- Tracy's LinkedIn
23:44 - Emily O'Connor
- Emily's LinkedIn
28:20 - Steven Milne
- Steven's talk
- Steven's Linkedin
- Steven's Twitter/X
34:54 - Paul Coles
- Paul's LinkedIn
34:54 - Rita Avota
- Rita's LinkedIn
35:20 - How assistive technology is REALLY used
- Accessibility Testing with People with Disabilities - Samuel Proulx
- We've linked to the specific part of the video that shows the demo but we'd recommend watching the whole presentation!
38:47 - Colin Wren
- Colin's talk
- Colin's LinkedIn
45:24 - Melissa Rocks
- Melissa's talk
- Melissa's LinkedIn
- Melissa's Twitter/X
51:14 - Spoon Theory
56:03 - Ian Thomas
- Ian's LinkedIn
56:29 - Rich's "allergic reaction" presentation: "Pyramids Are Ancient - Test Automation Strategy"
59:45 - The Adobo & Avocados show
01:01:52 - Kiel Goodman
- Kiel's LinkedIn
01:04:45 - The Gartner Hype Cycle
01:04:59 - Troy Magennis
- Troy's website

Troy's LinkedIn

00:00 - Banter (new name suggestions from James Thomas)

01:09 - The actual intro 😅

01:55 - Footy content warning 🚨

02:42 - What we intend to cover during this episode

04:42 - ⚽️ Footy (1 min)

05:10 - Jit's post about Leeds Testing Atelier

Playing in the Workplace and Killer Bugs