Testing Peers
Testing Peers is a growing community of ~60 peers in testing, software quality, agility, test leadership, engineering management, and broader software development. We’re united by a shared goal: to drive quality in everything we do within our workplaces and beyond. Through collaboration, accountability, and mutual support, we strive to elevate one another both professionally and personally.
The Testing Peers podcast is now expanding beyond its original four hosts, David Maynard, Chris Armstrong, Russell Craxford and Simon Prior, striving to represent the voices of a diverse and thriving community. Our inaugural in-person conference, PeersCon, launched in Nottingham in March 2024 and will return in March 2025, further solidifying Testing Peers as a not-for-profit, by testers, for testers initiative.
Testing Peers
Bad Quality By Design
Welcome to the latest episode of the Testing Peers podcast.
This time, join David, Chris, Sanne and Beth as we discuss Bad Quality By Design (a more SFW term for ensh!ttifcation).
Where products and services become deliberately less usable or joyful over time, often to drive monetisation. This isn’t accidental degradation, but intentional design choices aimed at nudging users towards subscriptions, upsells, or ad exposure.
Examples the Peers discuss include:
- Getting a “premium” experience temporarily, then losing it unless you pay
- Making it easy to sign up but frustratingly hard to cancel
- Designing mobile apps that force you onto desktop for key actions like unsubscribing
- Cookie banners and friction-heavy consent flows
- UX patterns that prioritise business goals over user experience (e.g. CarPlay’s rigid UI rules)
The group reflect on how this gradual decline in delight has eroded pride in product quality. AI tools, for now, feel delightful by contrast because they’re still in the VC-funded honeymoon phase, but this too may fade. The group calls out the trade-off between "good enough" and genuinely caring about quality.
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Thanks to our brand new sponsors – NFocus Testing.
nFocus are a UK based software testing company. They’ve been supporting businesses for 24 years by providing services that include burst resource, accelerated test automation, performance testing and fully managed testing services. In 2021, they launched a Test Automation Academy to create amazing testers and they’ve now created jobs for 48 people in our industry in just under three years!
nFocus were a big part of PeersCon in 2024 and 2025, really grateful for all they do supporting the Testing Peers.
www.nfocus.co.uk and info@nfocus.co.uk for anyone wanting to get in touch.