In a recent standup I was (flippantly) accused of being a "typical tester" because we were discussing a point that wasn't clear in the spec and I refused to offer an opinion over what the interpretation should be. It's not that I didn't have an opinion (I have many, as frequent readers of this blog will be all too aware), but in this particular case it wasn't an opinion that was needed; it was a decision. I won't go into the details, but there were a few ways the item in question could have been implemented, all equally valid. I felt that as a tester it wasn't my place to take that decision; my role is to ensure the decisions taken have been implemented correctly.
Thinking back on this a few days later I realised that this was an important distinction to make when testing; while I may have a number of ideas of how a particular implementation can be improved, it's not appropriate to try and influence the solution based purely on my own thoughts. I need to keep my opinions to myself.
Testers potentially have a lot of power; particularly when specifications are not as detailed as they could be, the raising of a defect can easily turn into a dictation of your whims and desires rather than a description of how the solution does not match the design. Not that there isn't a place for a tester to have views; particularly in a more agile sort of project, a tester can often have a more overarching view of the project and be in a good position to suggest solutions to problems; but if you overstep the mark you run the risk of stepping on the toes of those people whose job it is to make those decisions, and there may well be a bigger picture to consider that you are not aware of - further phases or extensions to the project that need to be built into the current phase, or underlying principles that have been agreed with the client and may jeopardise the acceptance of the project if not adhered to.
So before you are tempted to include your personal views in a defect, make sure you are not exceeding your boundaries otherwise you may regret it in the long run. But that's just my opinion.
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