How Testers Help Product Owners Build Better Relationships With Customers

Testers can help Product Owners build better relationships with their customers. Yet it’s sometimes unclear how that is so. Read on to learn more. 

1. Enhanced whole system awareness

A Tester can be sceptical and focus on what might go wrong as different parts of a system interact. They ask, what risks might threaten the value of this product/service? Product Owners need to think big picture and ensure all the various pieces of a product/service work together. So it’s a perfect combo to bring the two together. Product Owners will benefit from what a Tester discovers as they explore and check a particular piece of a product/service with the entire system in mind.

2. Better domain knowledge decision making 

A deep understanding of the domain that surrounds a product or service is invaluable. And likely a Tester who has been exploring and testing in the same domain is of huge help to a Product Owner — particularly for someone new to the team. It’s often the Tester who has the closest connection to the customers' experience of the product/service if they lead regression testing efforts. This domain knowledge information helps a Product Owner make decisions about what features to work on.

3. Improved prioritisation of what to work on next

Good Testers prioritise their efforts based on risks. Where are the areas of the system/product/service that we know the least about? What information do we want to reveal about things that might threaten the value of the product or service? A focus on prioritising risk helps a Product Owner refine their requirements/acceptance criteria. And it also helps them think about what’s important overall — which informs their decision to put forward requirements/stories to the team.

These three approaches increase the likelihood of building quality into the product or service. And in doing so it increases the likelihood of building what customers want. That’s an excellent way to build a positive relationship between Product Owner and the customer. All thanks to the Tester.

The magnificent Mirza Sisic explores a similar topic in his article: How Product Owners With Testing Experience Can Promote Quality. It’s well worth checking out today. Enjoy! 🧭