Kieron Lawson

Here's our next Ministry Of Testing - Auckland meetup Join us for retelling of Spark New Zealand's journey into the world of Playwright by Glen Osborne. Spark’s transformation from manual to automated testing using a custom playwright framework has been interesting. The automation journey for me was going from automation in the CI/CD world to automation in the testing world. We often look for tools that tick all the right boxes when we should look for the right tool and modify it for our use cases. Playwright for end-to-end testing is a solution that our people got excited about and proved to be the correct choice for the business. https://lnkd.in/gZ54Fu6G btw we're looking for a sponsor of our drinks and pizzas, if your company has about $200 in their PR budget and would like to connect with 50-100 Quality and Automation Engineers then please do reach out. <below is me asking chatGPT to give me some hashtags> #TestingCommunity #AutomationTesting #Playwright #QualityAssurance #SoftwareTesting #TechMeetup #AucklandTech #MinistryOfTesting #TestAutomation #QACommunity #EndToEndTesting #ContinuousTesting #CICDAutomation #TechEvent #SponsorshipOpportunity

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I was asked by an investor "What is UnityTrip doing that is different to Serko?". Valid question. Given #UnityTrip is a new concept, an IT analogy helps explain.   Enterprise Corporates use #CloudComputing and #OnPremises. Both together are called #HybridCloud. The benefits include: - Agility: Supports fast-moving business transformation - Cost optimization: Balances use of on-premises and public cloud resources - Security and compliance: Keeps sensitive data in private clouds while leveraging public clouds - Scalability: Allows dynamic resource scaling across environments - Disaster recovery: Enhances business continuity by replicating data across clouds Viewing travel content through this lens, Serko offers #CloudComputing (Commercial Travel) and UnityTrip offers #HybridCloud (Commercial and Leased). There's now a way for corporates with #LeasedTravelContent to assert control over their travel and logistics as a whole, leaving traditional travel industry players to get on with what they do best (#TravelPartnerships) For companies that have #LeasedTravelContent, #HybridCorporateTravel is win-win for all commercial parties and passenger #TravelExperience. ✈ ⛴ 🚌 🏨

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There has been a lot of hype around the Rust programming language. Most articles and blogs I read are heavy on promises, and a little light on testing. I’ve done a simple comparison between a lambda written in Python vs the same lambda written in Rust. Both use the official AWS SDKs. Boto3 is well established but the Rust SDK is new. The official release was about 8 months ago at reinvent. I’ve load tested both using K6. Why? Well, because I want to see for myself if I really do get the 8x improvement in performance and equivalent reduction in cost that people promote. What were the results? Come along and find out! https://lnkd.in/gfzVfDXY

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🤖 First speaker Announced!!! (and as topic names goes, this is one of the best 🌟 ) RSVP Below!! Broderick Westrope - Software Engineer at Mantel Group will be speaking on: The Developer’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Rise of GitHub Copilot Explore how GitHub Copilot is transforming software development by enhancing productivity, facilitating learning, and addressing ethical considerations in AI-assisted coding. https://lnkd.in/gaZbgHir #awscommunitybuilders #aws #github 🎉🎉🎉🎉

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A valuable swan song report into New Zealand's SaaS sector by kiwiSaaS Community, summarised well here by Timothy. "4. Content is easily accessible, but knowledge from lived experience is scarce and its hampering our ability to produce more scale-ups." Letting my community know that from late July, I have 2 days' deep SaaS leadership knowledge and lived experience available for fractional or project hire. If you have a commercial acumen gap in your team; need to drive new pricing and packaging; improve your product positioning, value propositions and product marketing; or align your product and GTM teams and motions for revenue growth - let's talk. #growth #commercial #SaaS #leadership

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Sounds like an internal primary or secondary index 'skew' between different systems (or just a bug). Can happen when restoring records to a database in live use when changing a schema, as the precise order that sets the foreign key mappings used by the other system will not match... This might even be a stale cache somewhere.. Hence why you should always use synthetic keys when maintaining a relationship between two distinct databases, never use internal primary or secondary keys, just asking for trouble... #databreach #australia #databases #integrity

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Serverless is dead. Long live Serverless. At the Azure Builders Melbourne meetup on 26 November, I share my view on where serverless is currently at, what the hurdles to overcome are, and where it might go in the future. Join me and the rest of the excellent speakers William Liebenberg, Craig Moyle, Jiadong Chen and Pouya Koushandehfar for all things Serverless. Book your spot. Link in the comments. #serverless #azure Santhosh (Santhoshkumar) Anandakrishnan Venura Athukorala

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Great result by the Kiwi SaaS community In 2023 New Zealand’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sector earned $3.6b in revenue. It has been growing revenue by a 15 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2016, and at this rate it is on track to earn $9.7b by 2030.  By 2030 the report estimates that SaaS export-led added value will be growing faster and contributing more nominal GDP ($4.5b) than New Zealand’s top three primary sector industries (horticulture, dairy product manufacturing and meat product manufacturing).  Since 2016 SaaS exports have been growing at an inflation adjusted rate of 8.7 percent.  This is two and a half times higher than the inflation adjusted CAGR of 3.4 percent that New Zealand’s overall export economy has recorded in the past two decades.  Bruce Jarvis, Head of kiwiSaaS, says that the SaaS sector remains an ‘invisible giant.’  “How much the SaaS sector contributes to our economic wealth today, and could do in the future, is only just becoming visible,” says Jarvis. 

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The first time I have ever heard someone singing a song as part of their speech at a Product Management Conference! About metrics. With a backing track. What a very different approach, and fun presentation from Joe Raeburn that also hit us with some powerful messages at Product Aotearoa Day 2. Building successful products and businesses are all about keeping an eye on the money when you're looking for product market it. Find a very popular (and profitable niche) and then find that extra need that is not being met by the people using the products here. Balance Fresh with Familiar. Too much Fresh just scares people - they need something familiar to ease the transition. But at the end of the day fundamentals - metrics, money, customer segments, needs and PMF - are applicable in every product, service or offering you can imagine!

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In the Aussie way, where tech dreams grow, First comes "Quick," in a week or so. Like a roo on the hop, it's swift and light, Code and mates, working through the night. Next, "Not That Long," with a steady stride, A sprint’s worth of effort, side by side. With a can-do spirit, and a bit of cheer, We tackle the tasks, no worries here. Then "Not That Big," takes a bit more time, Two sprints or so, still in our prime. We dig in deep, with grit and grace, In the Aussie sun, we find our pace. So next time you hear us say, "Quick," "Not That Long," or "Not That Big" today, Remember, none of us can bend time’s flow, We just make the most of each moment we know. Please add in comments how you provide a rough estimate (and the words to describe the buckets) without conducting a detailed spike to determine the actual requirements. Happy coding!

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Exciting times for apartment purchasers in NSW! The development landscape is showing promising signs of long-term trustworthiness through Resilience LDI. David Chandler OAM explains that there are now issued Resilience LDI 10-year warranty insurance policies with more projects currently being drawn up. Trustworthy credentials are becoming essential for lenders, governments agencies and consumers alike. This shift promises increased buyer confidence in the construction and real estate market. #LDI #ResilienceInsurance #TrustworthyDevelopers #BuyerConfidence

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Why are Australian and New Zealand tech businesses so afraid of trying something new? C# and Java are safe, easy choices. Why are places so adverse to taking a more aggressive approach with their technology stack? I seem to be having no trouble gaining business in Europe and North America, but the travel load is definitely taking a toll. Surely there must be more places experimenting with Rust than what's visible. Do you have any advice for growing Rust adoption in Australia and New Zealand?

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🚨CASE STUDY🚨 How Atlassian grew from a $10,000 loan to a global enterprise with over 8,000 dedicated employees and 200,000+ customers. Here’s how Atlassian won using strategy. 1️⃣ Developers > everyone. By being crystal clear on who Atlassian serves, they were able to create tools specifically for software developers and addressing clear and specific pain points. Strategically, they were able to establish a loyal user base by deeply understanding and serving a niche market. Competitors who targeted broader markets, diluted their focus and impact, which can lead to less effective products and weaker market positioning. 2️⃣ Iteration > perfection. By iterating quickly and incorporating continuous product improvement based on user feedback, Atlassian was able to keep their tools relevant and effective, fostering user satisfaction and loyalty. Competitors aiming for "perfect" releases often had slower iterations, making their products less adaptable to user needs and market changes. 3️⃣ Free > paid. By allowing free access to basic features, Atlassian drove widespread adoption. Strategically, Atlassian minimised customer acquisition costs and leveraged organic growth through product quality (PLG, product-led growth). Competitors relied heavily on traditional sales team and upfront costs, limiting user adoption and increasing operational expenses. . These strategic choices enabled Atlassian to build a sustainable and scalable business, setting them apart from competitors. Follow for part 2 and more case studies where I show companies and how they utilise to win so you can too. --- ♻️ Share if you found it valuable and think others will too, 🗒 Comment with your experiences, we’d love to hear from you, 👍 Like if you’d like to see more, let’s continue to pursue.

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Temu is currently the #1 shopping on NZ’s App Store charts. It’s highly addictive – and that’s by design intent, not chance. It employs deceptive patterns that promote business outcomes (selling more stuff) at the user’s expense (did you really want to buy that?) throughout the experience. Let’s breakdown one example of many – the ‘spin-to-win’ mechanic. Here’s what happens: 1. Often (but crucially not always) when you open the app, there’s a chance to spin a wheel – This variability exploits our cognitive bias to keep seeking the next reward. Will you get the chance to spin today? Better open the app and check. 2. On the wheel there’s ‘one more chance’, a small coupon, a slightly bigger coupon, and a big ‘jackpot’ reward. Having those smaller rewards helps make the jackpot look very attractive, doesn’t it? 3. The first spin always (and I mean always) lands on ‘one more chance’. Why? Repetitive actions are the foundation of habit-formation – it’s trying to get you hooked. 4. The second spin always lands on the biggest prize, stars and sparkles shoot everywhere and you feel like a winner! Now you're thinking about all the things you could get with it, all the money you could save. It gets darker from here – the big prize is actually a bundle of smaller coupons (a countdown tells you time is running out to use them, and stock levels of products the algorithm believes you are most likely to buy are critically low. This artificial scarcity pushes you to act quickly out of fear of missing out – #FOMO. You deserve better, and your kids deserve better. Ethical user experience happens when the business outcomes align with customer outcomes, and it's wonderful when it does. If you want more knowledge about how to recognise and protect yourself and your family from these patterns, here's some places to start: Explainer video about dark patterns from the world-renowned Nielsen Norman Group: https://lnkd.in/gg9_K2PZ Further reading: Deceptive Patterns in UX: How to Recognize and Avoid Them https://lnkd.in/gMX_jE_v Humans take mental shortcuts – why we do this and how you can avoid it. https://lnkd.in/gFfvqvH2 The Decision Lab Digital Well-Being Guidelines for Parents https://lnkd.in/gGJCketm Center for Humane Technology #cognitivebias #darkux #darkpatterns #deceptivepatterns #userexperience #designethics #digitalproductdesign #ecommerce #gamification #hooked #behavioraleconomics #customerexperience

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Great guide for Engineering Managers for effective and productive 1:1 meetings. Peter Inge, CFA and the DevClarity team are doing some exciting things in this space - check them out!

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Chatbots – love them or hate them? I am a fan (obviously 😂)! However, we like to call them agents or assistants as they have evolved from the basic chat bubbles in the corner of websites into valuable assets that almost all businesses should have in the next couple of years. With ever-changing technology, my team and I spend our days teaching and training the new evolution of Gen AI "bots" in a business's tone of voice, aligning them with the brand, offerings, and assets such as knowledge bases to enhance self-service. This allows customers to handle simple repetitive tasks themselves, and even increasingly complex tasks like applying for accreditation or requesting quotes, resulting in a more positive experience when interacting with a business. We reverse-engineer the entire process of each step the "bot" takes to help the user reach their goal. We map out the needs of our customers and craft modern "bots" to ensure they can predict and adapt to conversations, understanding the visitor's intent and requirements. This supports users by quickly, efficiently, and engagingly solving their questions, problems, or processes they are trying to carry out. 🙌

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I had an interesting morning read of Daniel Compton's blog post detailing his root-cause theory of UniSuper's week-long outage caused by misconfiguration. In Resourcely's first "Incident Review" blog post, we show that the Google Provider hardcoded the "delay_hours" parameter to 0. Running "terraform apply" would cause their private cloud to be scheduled for deletion *immediately*. Accidental deletions in Terraform are more common than folks think. We conclude the post with a discussion about how to prevent these misconfigurations. https://lnkd.in/dXAcJva8

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"Do more of what hurts" - how can we apply XP practices for data engineering teams. I am closely watching Martin C.'s talk at LAST Conf Sydney 2024. I have been lucky to run (traditionally monolithic) data lake/warehouse projects done in a very iterative and incremental way. I am looking forward to Martin's talk. Are you going to be there? #lean #agile #systemthinking #conference #sydney #ai #data #dataengineering #xp LAST Club and LAST Conference

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