Training and testing
I've written before that the best form of training follows this process: Tell them what you're going to do, tell them what you're doing, tell them what you did.
When working with your software company to report bugs or other issues, you should follow a similar process:
- Tell them what you were trying to do. For example, "I'm trying to process a membership order."
- Tell them how you did it. For example, "Here are the steps I followed." Be as explicit as possible and include screenshots!
- Tell them what happened. Show the results of your steps (again, including screenshots).
We've all heard "a picture is worth 1,000 words." I mentioned screenshots twice above for that very reason. Screenshots often communicate more than any narrative can.
"The membership join process doesn't work" is reporting a bug, but it's almost useless in terms of helping the software company figure out your problem. But following the process above will clearly communicate the issue and bring a resolution much more quickly.
![]()
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
Don’t miss this year’s DAN Science Fair!
Don’t miss this year’s DAN Science Fair! I’m taking a break from my weekly tips […]
Just start. And it’s never done.
Just start. And it’s never done. Last week I had the opportunity to lead a […]
Don’t ask if you’re not going to answer!
Don’t ask if you’re not going to answer! In the past week, on three different […]
Seek forgiveness rather than permission
Seek forgiveness rather than permission “Seek forgiveness, not permission.” I can’t remember when I first […]
Is a 360 degree view necessary?
Is a 360 degree view necessary? “A 360 degree view of our members should NOT […]
Why data matters
Why data matters I write about data because managing our data effectively will help us […]
It’s about process
It’s about process I’m in the midst of adding an AI agent to my website […]
Data integrity reports
Data integrity reports I speak and write a lot about data integrity reports. So I […]
The most important training tip
The most important training tip I’ve been sitting in a lot of database training sessions […]
Be careful about getting tangled
Be careful about getting tangled “We had done a lot to tangle ourselves up.” – […]
