The Underground QA Podcast

Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft) and Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie) are joined by special guest Trevor Page (Senior Test Manager at Bungie) to discuss escaped defects and best practices for parsing and using the data about them.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft), Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games), and Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games) chat about bug prevention including tools, processes, and the unique role QA plays in preventing bugs.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft), Ariel Smith (Test Discipline Manager at Bungie), and Chelsea Curran Adams (Director of QA - Fortnite at Epic Games) begin a series on Certifications in our industry. We’re going to be focusing on the newly created ISTQB Game certification. We’ve been discussing this around the community - what are the benefits, what are the drawbacks, and is this something you would ask of your teams. Are we achieving the goals, as an industry and discipline, that we need to be better?

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games), Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie) and Marcin Pieprzowski (QA Project Manager at Ubisoft) are joined by Leland Dantzler (Senior Test Discipline Manager at Bungie) to offer insights into what to expect in an interview for an FTE Junior-level QA role.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

In this episode, Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games), and Sarah Gallardo (Senior DevQA Analyst at Bethesda Game Studios) continue their live creation of a test plan. Using Slither.io as a fictitious example, they discuss timeline, headcount, and testing activities.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games), and Sarah Gallardo (Senior DevQA Analyst at Bethesda Game Studios) create the beginnings of a test plan live on stream! Using Slither.io as their example product, our hosts use the FLURPS framework to analyze the game, what testing needs it may have, what questions they will need to ask of the broader development team, and what risks may be faced during/after development.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games), Myron Parks (Principal Agile Coach at PartnerStack), and Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games) wrap up season 2 with a review of the year, including insights from our community members on what they love about QA.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

In this episode, Myron Parks (Principal Agile Coach at PartnerStack) and Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie) are joined by Joe Leiter (Senior Tester at Bethesda Softworks) discuss how orgs can incorporate speedrunning techniques to improve their testing and test processes.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games), Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), and Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games) are joined by Grant Ervin (QA Analyst at PUBG Corp), discuss what career growth is and practical ways to achieve it.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

Ariel Smith (Senior Test Lead at Bungie), Chelsea Curran Adams (Senior QA Manager at Epic Games), Sarah Gallardo (Senior Dev QA Analyst at Bethesda Game Studios), Myron Parks (Principal Agile Coach at PartnerStack), and Chris Rando (QA Lead at Epic Games) discuss what it's like to be a woman in games and in professional settings.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

All individuals appearing on the podcast are not doing so as official representatives of their respective companies and the opinions expressed here are their own.

In this episode, Chelsea, Ariel, Myron and Chris talk about Quality Bars, or the things we agree to do, before we ship an experience with users. A key thing they talk about is how important it is for the entire team (i.e., within and without quality) to own these Bars.

Check us out in this amazing episode to learn more today!

In this episode, Chelsea, Myron, Chris and Ariel talk about how to actually do Test Plans and what it means for an organization working together to bring amazing products to life.

This is part two of a two-part series on test plans where we finish with the "what" of building test plans.

In this episode, Chelsea and Myron talk about the need for test plans and the point in one's career that they begin thinking about them a lot more. 

This is part one of a two-part series on test plans where we start with the "why" of building test plans.