Beautiful Testing

The Science Lab

Most of the testing throughout the project took place with just the software, and a smaller amount of the testing took place with the software and the medical devices paired together. But Michael felt that the full product couldn’t be validated without a realistic workout, and that workout would be bringing all the components together in a lab with multiple days of heavy full usage.

Michael was in the process of designing what, to this day, I still think of as “the science lab.” The intention of the lab was to pair computers with the medical devices. Once the lab was assembled, we paired the exploratory testers and the scripted testers for simulated use of the medical devices and the software in a scenario that mimicked real life as closely as possible. The lab testing days were planned as the final formal testing of the product.

Michael had planned every aspect of the science lab with some assistance from me. It was no simple task to think through, order, and arrange computers, software, cabling, workbenches, medical devices, more cabling, fluids, IV bags, tubing, printers, and labels. The room was also equipped with a laminar flow hood, which is a workbench designed to be partially enclosed to minimize contamination of the fluids being worked with. It can be loud when the air filtration is running, and it also takes up considerable space and adds some complexity to working with the devices. But Michael felt that the flow hood was necessary, as most labs would ...