The Importance of Testing
Because Amristar’s SaaS Mapworks solution utilises a continuous integration philosophy, it needs continuous and thorough testing. In support of the initiative (and because it’s just a really good idea), Amristar counts itself as privileged in being able to mentor and leverage the focus of people in this spectrum.
The creative aspect of developers are often driven by puzzle solving. Many thrive by being able to move to the next puzzle as soon as the first is cracked, the details of testing and ensuring robustness is often secondary.
People with ASD often like to ensure that the world is in order which makes them suited to participate in the quality control process. With a basic framework, they are able to conduct thorough testing and provide some real consistency in the process. Calling it a disorder is a bit of a misnomer because they actually create order.
In relation to the winning of this program at the WAITTA awards in 2015, Amristar’s liaison with the Curtin University led initiative Dr. Jacob Delfos said:
“Amristar sees a lot of benefit in AASQA, as ASD is prevalent in our industry.”
Jacob was directly involved in the recruitment process and said of the experience:
“The candidate we met is an intelligent individual, but people of ASD are often withdrawn in character, making it hard to get through normal selection process.
AASQA helped Amristar to engage, and provided documentation to help make adjustments to the way it recruits. Since then, the candidate we found has gained valuable experience, while internships such as these give Amristar the chance to evaluate an individual for employment. Our candidate has since moved into the team at Amristar.
“The outcome is a win-win” said Jacob.
Meanwhile Amristar’s developers are also thankful in having clear and reproducible fault definitions that they can resolve.
If you are interested in learning more, here are some links to get started:
- https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/portal/event/autism-academy-software-quality-assurance-presentation-and-itee-annual-meeting
- http://www.curtinnovation.com/project/academy-for-software-quality-assurance-aasqa/
- http://research.curtin.edu.au/institutes-centres/autism/
- http://www.sciencewa.net.au/topics/health-a-medicine/item/4329-tapping-into-the-unique-skills-of-students-with-autism
