Standing desk on a budget

Diogo Nunes — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 11:25:52 +0000

Repurpose your normal desk with as low as 30€.

I spend 8 hours a day working seated. I have about 3 hours of meals and 3 hours of commute a day. That means I may easily spend 14 hours sitting (plus 8 sleeping).

That's bad, no doubt. To mitigate that I try to replace some of that time with standing. When commuting, I always stand. When having meals, at home or at the mall, I use the "bar table" to eat while standing. It's not as uncomfortable as it sounds.

The strategy is to cut sitting time whenever possible. A small but frequent change like this has a big impact long-term.

🎯 The goal

At work I have a proper standing desk, but at home I have one of those old table + bookcase furniture, which makes impossible any standing set up. When working I use my laptop most of times... if only I could find a way to raise it...

⚠️ Prototype

My DIY prototype costed me 6€, with just two files. It's more stable than it looks and gets the job done #minimalist #desenrascanço

Caveat: However, the constant pressure weight of my arms started deforming the files. So I found the perfect replacement: Levit8.

✅ Solution

It's fast to set up and easy to fold and put it away. I ordered from Amazon, as it was cheaper than buying directly from the brand 🤷‍♂️

Caveat: While that worked great, my heels started complaining. At work, the floor is soft carpet so this (first world) problem never occurred before. The solution was a standing mat: Topo.

✅ ✅ Better solution

There are cheaper and totally fat alternatives to this mat. I decided that Ergodriven deserved my 100€ because their design naturally makes your legs and feet change position once in a while. That's great on your joints because it releases the tension that builds up after you stand still for a long time.

✅ ✅ ✅ Best solution

That's it. With 130€ I was able to convert an average 40€ desk into a standing desk. It's still lower than the cheapest standing desk from IKEA.

Is this combo perfect? No, it has a major flaw. I'm still looking down to the screen. That causes me neck pain at the end of the day. That will only be solved by a proper standing desk with a raised monitor.

One day...

Testing for agile teams (book summary)

Diogo Nunes — Sun, 12 Jan 2020 19:32:26 +0000

This post is part of the "Testing for Agile Teams" series.

Incrementally delivering business value, through short iterations (SCRUM) and virtuous loops of feedback (XP). Roles' boundaries are blurred, everyone's focused on quality.

Testers help customers clarify requirements, turn those into tests that guide development, and provide a holistic viewpoint to the team.

Key Success Factors

Explanation below.

1. Use the whole-team approach

The whole team takes responsibility for quality.
You have a large variety of skills and experience levels focused on delivering value.
The team develops testable code, right from the start.
Try the "Power of Three" -- a tester, a programmer, and a business expert.

2. Adopt an agile testing mind-set

On an agile team, programmers test and testers do everything at their reach to help the team deliver the best possible product.
Focus on the team’s goals and help everyone do their best work.
Always try the simplest approach. Focus on delivering value.
Development should be people-centric and enjoyable.
Continuously find better ways to work -- read books, blogs, go to meetups, communicate, try.

3. Automate regression testing

Make time to do exploratory testing by automating everything else.
Automating regression tests is a team effort (Agile Testing Quadrants + Test Automation Pyramid).
It will be hard and hurt at first.

4. Provide and obtain feedback

Provide constant feedback in order to keep the team on track.
Ask developers if they get enough information from tests/examples.
Ask customers if they feel their quality criteria are being met.

5. Build a foundation of core practices

Continuous integration.
Test environments.
Manage technical debt.
Working incrementally.
Coding and testing are part of one process.
Synergy between practices.

6. Collaborate with customers

Clarify and prioritize requirements.
Illustrate requirements with examples.
Convert those examples into executable tests.
Never get in the way against "Power of Three".

7. Look at the big picture

Testers tend to look at the big picture, and usually from a customer point of view.
Someone has to consider the impact to the larger system.
Help your team take a step back now and then.

This post is a personal summary of a chapter from the book Agile Testing: A Practical Guide For Testers And Agile Teams. I'm sure you'll find that book useful too.

Forem: Diogo Nunes