Summary

Testdays are broken. They do not elicit the broad team participation they used to and have become little more than using volunteers to "dogfood" Firefox builds. As a result these events hold little value for organizers, developers, and testers alike. Traditionally testdays have been about introducing volunteers to contributing at Mozilla and acting as an on-board to greater participation on sub-projects within Mozilla. Instead they've become focused on trying to get a certain amount of testing done.

In our view this is a failed approach, we need to refocus testdays on mentorship and establishing relationships. We should use testdays to teach new skills, to connect people, and to enable people to contribute in meaningful ways. We believe we can rescue testdays by understanding our history, defining a vision, developing a roadmap, refocusing our efforts, and getting community leaders to contribute to the vision.

Another reason testdays have become broken is that their "reinvigoration" has fallen on the shoulders of very few people. We have come to realize that it's not enough for people to participate in a testday. We need people to contribute to the vision and growth of this program. The community will wither and wane if it is not committed to supporting its own growth.

We encourage anyone who is interested in "reinvigorating" testdays to take ownership of an idea they believe in. If the idea already has an owner, reach out to them and ask how you can help.

The rest of this document lays out our strategy.

What are Testdays?

Testdays are global, virtual events organized by Mozillians for Mozillians, typically focused on testing a particular product or feature. They are meant to teach people the skills necessary to contribute at Mozilla, to connect people to each other so they can make an impact.

Our Mission

To establish long-lasting, meaningful relationships between volunteers and projects within Mozilla through mentorship.

Our Vision

For testdays to be a platform for collaborative mentorship, to provide opportunity for Mozillians to help each other contribute.

Our Strategy

We're always looking to improve testdays, to make them ever enjoyable and valuable to participants, and to ensure they are delivering on our mission. Consult our dashboard for more information on current and future initiatives, or to contribute your own ideas.

Our Goal

In collaboration with the community, develop a long-term strategy to redefine the program as value-driven events designed to teach new skills and connect contributors with various projects. We'll organize at least one event utilizing this strategy and gather feedback to drive more meaningful and active events through Q4 and beyond.

We'll have defined a solidifed strategy which includes:

• identifying barriers to organization of and participation in events
• a better understanding of the value of testdays based on feedback from the new event
• designing an straightforward process and or guide for organizing, communicating, executing an event informed by the strategy
• incorporating feedback from an event designed by our strategy

People Involved

How can you Help?

• Participate in an upcoming event
• Contribute an idea or ask a question toward improving testdays
• Experiment or give us ideas of hypotheses we should test
• more to come...

Meetings

The Testdays Initiative team meets once a week to ensure our strategy remains on track toward achieving our mission. This meeting is open to everyone so please join us and contribute to the discussion.

Details

• When: Tuesday @ 13:00 Pacific
• Where: Anthony Hughes' Vidyo Room
• Phone: +1 (800) 707-2533 p369 x99007
• Chat: irc.mozilla.org #qa

Past Meetings

• March 24, 2015
• February 24, 2015
• 2014

Projects

• Framework 2.0 (Anthony Hughes)