WHEN YOU'RE THE LONE (FEMALE) VOICE OF

REASON

Melissa BenuaSenior Backend EngineerPlayFab, Inc.STARWEST 2015 – Women Who Test

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What’s the big deal?

• Women are a minority in tech (duh)• Less than 15% of CS bachelor degrees are awarded to women• Around 20% of US SW developers are women• Senior women are an even smaller minority• Many teams have 0-1 total women• Coincidentally many ship meetings also

have 0-1 women in the room• Being the ‘other’ is hard!

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So what’s the secret?

• Data, data, data!• No magic bullet• No one-size-fits-all answer• YMMV• My three-step process:

1. Always have data2. Be wrong a lot3. Pick a team that lets you be wrong a lot

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Who am I?

One time, I took down Bing for half an hour.• Real-Time Simulations Engineer – Boeing

Integrated Defense Systems• Software Developer in Test – Microsoft Live

Search• Software Developer (combined role) –

Microsoft Bing• Senior Backend Engineer - PlayFab

STEP ONE: ALWAYS HAVE DATA.

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Engineers love data!

• Data is the lifeblood of engineering• Metrics are the trend-line of data• Good teams use them to make

product decisions; great teams use them to make ALL decisions:

• Hiring• Promotions• Work Assignments• Product Planning• Ship / No-Ship Calls

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Arm yourself!

• Always be prepared to defend your decisions• Assume (and hope) you will be challenged• Use repeatable processes to collect your data• Bookmark your sources• Lead with your information first• Err on the side of more (concise) data as opposed to less

‘These five tests are failing, and ReportX indicates that the feature area they cover is critical to 80% of our users. Thus, shipping would break a majority of users.’

‘Shipping would break a majority of users.’VS

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Trust your data!

• Know what you’re talking about• Don’t be afraid to ask• Be precise• Let your information speak for itself:• Don’t play the blame game; data is data,

regardless of who caused what• Don’t make it personal• Be inclusive: ‘we’ instead of ‘you’ or ‘I’• Don’t blindly defer because someone is ‘more

senior’ or ‘the expert’

STEP TWO: BE WRONG. A LOT.

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Be okay being wrong!

• Developers are wrong ALL the time• Every compilation error and every test case failure is being

wrong• Every good design comes from fifty bad designs• On a good coding day, I’m wrong at least fifty times• Be comfortable in your wrong-ness• Be comfortable in your teammates’

wrong-ness• Don’t confuse being wrong with

being bad

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Find your buddy!

• A colleague• Not a mentor• Not a manager• Someone whom:• You trust not to hold being wrong against

you• You can talk with candidly• Can gut-check your solutions• Respects you and whom you can respect• Reminds you that you are good at your

job!

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Learn from being wrong!

• Review your mistakes regularly• Be honest with yourself• Not everyone is good at

everything• Find the experts and study them

(their mistakes)• Write everything down• Don’t get stuck on big mistakes

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!

STEP THREE: PICK A DATA-HAPPY TEAM

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Characteristics of a good team!

• Clear goals and metrics that are attainable

• Positive, respectful team members• Even joking negativity is still toxic• Sociability is of lesser importance• Other women! Especially in senior

roles• Supportive management chain (not

just your immediate boss)

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How to find one?In order of preference:• Recommendations from trusted colleagues• ‘Social Network’ of peers• Cold-calls and recruiters are my least-favorite

Interviews are KEY:• You are interviewing them as much as they are

interviewing you• Do they have all the healthy characteristics?• Can you meet your would-be team members as well as

your boss?• Do they use inclusive language? You should!

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When to make your exit!

• Switching jobs is an art!• Risky to trade a ‘known thing’ for

the mysterious future• Signs it’s time to leave:• Stalled talk about your future• Being passed up for promotions• Being consistently assigned ‘the

dregs’• High-level re-org into a known-

problem group• ‘Gut feeling’

Questions?

Melissa Benuambenua@gmail.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mbenuahttp://www.slideshare.net/MelissaBenua