Simon and Demi reflect on the second video-enabled episode of This Week in Quality, with plenty of live experimentation, technical glitches, and community challenges along the way.

The conversation ranges from new MoTaverse content on loop engineering, test data, career growth, and models, before digging into negative testing and why the “unhappy path” is often a core part of the system’s expected behaviour.

Later, Rosie and Gary open up a rich discussion around platform engineering, developer experience, tester experience, and how changing the conversations we have can change the future of quality.

This Week in Quality enters a new, cameras-on format - complete with connection glitches and live tool testing! The main theme is high value activities: how experienced quality folks identify the work that creates outsized impact (like exploratory testing, analysis review, and risk-based coaching) versus routine tasks that can be delegated. Gary and Preeti add a practical lens on human accountability - especially around PR/MR merges - while Demi lands the episode with a brilliant 'risk signal': the moment someone says “you can’t test that,” she’s all in.

Episode 137 of This Week in Quality opens with playful banter about heat, workshops vs meetings, and the reality of notification fatigue. The conversation quickly heats up with hot takes on “done is better than perfect” lightning learning, how tooling layers add complexity to testing, and why understanding the system matters before measuring it. The standout segment is Ady’s blunt argument that accessibility isn’t “extra” - choosing deadlines over inclusion is systemic discrimination - followed by practical discussion on making accessibility a business objective and creating safe forums for developers to learn. It closes with a thoughtful pivot into making space to grieve how AI is changing roles, plus a tongue-in-cheek Oasis/Blur sign-off.

What does it really mean to write clean code? And does it even matter if nobody uses your product? This week, Demi and Simon explore the tensions between readability, legacy codebases, and shipping something that works. Rolf brings 30+ years of perspective on why clean code is a mindset, not a rulebook, and Nadja shares how the Berlin chapter is tackling the AI wave. From code smells and SonarQube to WET feet and Uncle Bob, the community delivers. Plus: the glossary hits 550 terms, Moments go live mid-episode, and someone nearly gets away with saying the A-word.

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In this episode of This Week in Quality, host Simon Tomes is joined by Shawn Vernier and Ady Stokes to explore how epistemology – the philosophy of knowledge – shapes everyday testing and quality decisions. Drawing on questions from the MoTaverse community, they dig into what testers can really “know” about a system, how beliefs, assumptions, and evidence interact, and why the reliability of our information sources matters when we make risk calls. Alongside highlights from the wider community and events, the conversation connects abstract philosophical ideas with practical testing practices, encouraging listeners to rethink how they measure quality, interpret metrics, and navigate uncertainty in their work.

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Ady kicks things off with a reminder that we don’t celebrate ourselves enough, then invites everyone to share their weekly wins. Simon highlights two fresh Call for Insights launches (with Lauren Lassie and Gary Hawkes) and bigs up Rahul’s AI Guardrails masterclass.

Ady shares his own wins: progress on book models using NotebookLM as a thinking partner, upcoming talks, and - massively - three Leeds chapter events scheduled, plus a shout-out fundraiser for assistance dogs.

The community jumps in with their wins: Nadja’s agentic AI hackathon, Melissa’s “small wins” mindset, Louise’s nightmare bug caught before it hit production (all users accidentally had admin permissions!), Gary’s coaching journey + influencing teams around AI usage, and Ibekwe’s focused learning on OWASP API vulnerabilities.

Co-hosts Simon and Oleksandr theme the episode around influencing without authority, inspired by Suzanne Abdurahman’s work on influence in the Software Quality Engineering Certificate and recent community conversations. They unpack what influence looks like day-to-day, why “being present” matters, and how to adapt your message to different stakeholders.

The group also explores what happens when you’re right about a risk but nobody acts, why some stakeholders only “get it” after impact lands, and how to make your work visible through contributions on the Multiverse. The episode closes with advice for junior QAs on getting noticed, plus a rapid-fire discussion on the hardest stakeholders to influence.

Judy and Clare kick off “Hot Take TWIQ Day” with wins (mobile automation in the cloud!) and community joys (finding your “match” in the MoTaverse), before diving into spicy opinions: should old bugs be deleted or archived, why manual testing is still a creative superpower, and how AI changes the thinking required of quality professionals.

As the conversation heats up, the group tackles whether developer AI agents actually accelerate delivery, why skepticism is a paid skill, and the uncomfortable truth that QA can advocate - but leadership controls the resources that make quality possible.

Diana drops out of the MoTaverse (and returns via incognito mode) just in time for a deep dive into MoTaCon: what it is, why the name matters, and how the lineup reflects the MoTaverse's shift from “testing-only” to a broader tech conference with quality at the core. Along the way, the hosts celebrate fresh SQEC-qualified members, explain how MoT profiles and year-round community participation shape who gets invited to contribute, and share ways to make the most of Pro membership - from attending MoTaCon (and related socials) to capturing learnings with Moments and meeting more people through challenges like the stamp sheet.

It’s a busy, energizing TWIQ: Natalia returns with fresh experiences from her new job, including tackling mobile testing, planning an accessibility audit, and levelling up her AI learning through the new AI chapter. Simon spotlights recent Call for Insights conversations, then announces the big milestone: the Software Quality Engineering Certificate is now fully live with all modules and the exam available. The chat and guests bring the community vibe, from job news and chapter celebrations to practical “how we work” topics like flaky tests, learning by pairing with developers, and using the glossary to align on what terms actually mean in different teams.