Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
@theproductmindedqa.bsky.social
QA nerd. Mama. Sci-fi reader. Baker of delicious pies. Lover of naps, sunshine, and macarons (not in that order). Always learning.
I write about quality and the sometimes invisible work of making software less awful at https://TheProductMindedQA.com
I write about quality and the sometimes invisible work of making software less awful at https://TheProductMindedQA.com
Using someone else’s computer is like cooking in someone else’s kitchen.
Everything is kind of the same but it still just feels weird.
Everything is kind of the same but it still just feels weird.
October 31, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Using someone else’s computer is like cooking in someone else’s kitchen.
Everything is kind of the same but it still just feels weird.
Everything is kind of the same but it still just feels weird.
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
My CSA just put out a call for donations of money to buy fresh produce at a bulk discount to provide bags of fresh food to families losing SNAP benefits.
Ask yours if they could do the same.
Ask yours if they could do the same.
October 27, 2025 at 9:59 PM
My CSA just put out a call for donations of money to buy fresh produce at a bulk discount to provide bags of fresh food to families losing SNAP benefits.
Ask yours if they could do the same.
Ask yours if they could do the same.
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
Just about spit out my coffee when I saw this in my morning newspaper @theonion.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Just about spit out my coffee when I saw this in my morning newspaper @theonion.com
So sad to hear that Diane Keaton passed 😢 this one hurts just as much as Robin Williams and Anthony Bourdain 💔
October 12, 2025 at 3:46 AM
So sad to hear that Diane Keaton passed 😢 this one hurts just as much as Robin Williams and Anthony Bourdain 💔
Coming up for air after a busy summer +
wrapping up my first 2 weeks at my new job 🎉
Getting it all down in a blog post soon (🤞) until then, here’s a cool photo I just took of a spider web covered in rain drops against the garage shingles that my kids are painting 😍
wrapping up my first 2 weeks at my new job 🎉
Getting it all down in a blog post soon (🤞) until then, here’s a cool photo I just took of a spider web covered in rain drops against the garage shingles that my kids are painting 😍
October 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Coming up for air after a busy summer +
wrapping up my first 2 weeks at my new job 🎉
Getting it all down in a blog post soon (🤞) until then, here’s a cool photo I just took of a spider web covered in rain drops against the garage shingles that my kids are painting 😍
wrapping up my first 2 weeks at my new job 🎉
Getting it all down in a blog post soon (🤞) until then, here’s a cool photo I just took of a spider web covered in rain drops against the garage shingles that my kids are painting 😍
I saw a feel-good story recently about football players visiting sick kids via robot. It was sweet, for sure. But also.... not?
New post up: theproductmindedqa.com/minimum-viab...
New post up: theproductmindedqa.com/minimum-viab...
Minimum Viable Caring: When Efficiency Costs Us
Efficiency drives speed, but at what cost? Some inefficiencies are waste, others hold hidden value and worth protecting.
theproductmindedqa.com
September 6, 2025 at 3:40 PM
I saw a feel-good story recently about football players visiting sick kids via robot. It was sweet, for sure. But also.... not?
New post up: theproductmindedqa.com/minimum-viab...
New post up: theproductmindedqa.com/minimum-viab...
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
Slightly diminish a band:
Car Halen
Car Halen
Slightly diminish a band:
Matchbox 19
Matchbox 19
Slightly diminish a band:
Kinda Big Sea
Kinda Big Sea
August 13, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Slightly diminish a band:
Car Halen
Car Halen
Slightly diminish a band:
Matchbox 19
Matchbox 19
Slightly diminish a band:
Kinda Big Sea
Kinda Big Sea
Slightly diminish a band:
A Band
A Band
August 13, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Slightly diminish a band:
Matchbox 19
Matchbox 19
Gosh, it feels good to be back in SF again
August 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Gosh, it feels good to be back in SF again
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
excited for a future where I'm simultaneously not-dead-enough to be allowed to have a miscarriage, yet not-alive-enough to keep my own heart and lungs
Given the current political climate in the US, this seems like a very scary prospect. Yikes. No. Just, no.
August 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
excited for a future where I'm simultaneously not-dead-enough to be allowed to have a miscarriage, yet not-alive-enough to keep my own heart and lungs
SF/Bay Area testers: I’ll be in town next week ✨ If you're around, come hang out!
@tristanlombard.bsky.social and I are hosting a lowkey meetup for some irl connection. Come solo or bring a friend!
📍 San Francisco
📅 Thursday, Aug 14, 6–8pm
partiful.com/e/vC4tmRhHB3...
@tristanlombard.bsky.social and I are hosting a lowkey meetup for some irl connection. Come solo or bring a friend!
📍 San Francisco
📅 Thursday, Aug 14, 6–8pm
partiful.com/e/vC4tmRhHB3...
RSVP to Software Testing Summer Social | Partiful
Hey SF/Bay Area testers! 🍻 Ready to debug your social life? Join us for craft brews, new connections, and great conversations. Your co-hosts Susanne Abdelrahman and Tristan Lombard are bringing the co...
partiful.com
August 5, 2025 at 1:51 PM
SF/Bay Area testers: I’ll be in town next week ✨ If you're around, come hang out!
@tristanlombard.bsky.social and I are hosting a lowkey meetup for some irl connection. Come solo or bring a friend!
📍 San Francisco
📅 Thursday, Aug 14, 6–8pm
partiful.com/e/vC4tmRhHB3...
@tristanlombard.bsky.social and I are hosting a lowkey meetup for some irl connection. Come solo or bring a friend!
📍 San Francisco
📅 Thursday, Aug 14, 6–8pm
partiful.com/e/vC4tmRhHB3...
As we’re driving on the highway, my 6yo points and yells “mom, look there’s a whole family on that roof!”
Kind of concerned? I screen the rooftops where he’s pointing and make sure, because I can’t find anyone: “a family??”
Kind of concerned? I screen the rooftops where he’s pointing and make sure, because I can’t find anyone: “a family??”
August 2, 2025 at 6:05 PM
As we’re driving on the highway, my 6yo points and yells “mom, look there’s a whole family on that roof!”
Kind of concerned? I screen the rooftops where he’s pointing and make sure, because I can’t find anyone: “a family??”
Kind of concerned? I screen the rooftops where he’s pointing and make sure, because I can’t find anyone: “a family??”
Timeline cleanse? 😆
The Criminal Enterprise Run by Monkeys
A cabal of furry thieves snatch iPhones and other valuables from visitors to a temple in Bali–and trade them for mangos
www.wsj.com
August 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Timeline cleanse? 😆
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
really appreciating the onion as physical media.
August 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
really appreciating the onion as physical media.
Between summer chaos, family travel, and interviews (2 this week! 🤞) I finally had time to write a little catch-up on my blog ✨
August 1, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Between summer chaos, family travel, and interviews (2 this week! 🤞) I finally had time to write a little catch-up on my blog ✨
I saw a LinkedIn post not too long ago about a startup CEO who believed hiring QA folks “does more harm than good”.
I’ve seen enough to know that sometimes, he's right. Just not for the reasons he thinks.
I’ve seen enough to know that sometimes, he's right. Just not for the reasons he thinks.
July 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
I saw a LinkedIn post not too long ago about a startup CEO who believed hiring QA folks “does more harm than good”.
I’ve seen enough to know that sometimes, he's right. Just not for the reasons he thinks.
I’ve seen enough to know that sometimes, he's right. Just not for the reasons he thinks.
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
If you encounter one of these in software hiring and you want me to look into it... I'm down
Companies are relying on aptitude and personality tests more to combat AI-powered job hunters
www.businessinsider.com/pre-employme...
www.businessinsider.com/pre-employme...
Why personality tests have become the hottest new hiring tool
Hiring managers are leaning on pre-employment assessments that test applicants' soft skills in order to see beyond their AI-enhanced resumes
www.businessinsider.com
July 24, 2025 at 10:21 PM
If you encounter one of these in software hiring and you want me to look into it... I'm down
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
The real mindfuck is not knowing if people are dead serious or using the term clanker ironically.
July 25, 2025 at 12:12 AM
The real mindfuck is not knowing if people are dead serious or using the term clanker ironically.
The other night my husband asked me to pass him the “big pillow”. He meant the short, fat one. I handed him the long, skinny one.
We were both right and both wrong 🤷♀️
It made me think: this is how many teams talk about “quality”.
New post: When Big Means Small (and Why Quality Definitions Matter)
We were both right and both wrong 🤷♀️
It made me think: this is how many teams talk about “quality”.
New post: When Big Means Small (and Why Quality Definitions Matter)
Half-Baked, Fully Shipped: When Big Means Small (And Why Quality Definitions Matter)
My husband asked for the ‘big pillow’ but meant the small one. Turns out this explains how product teams talk past each other about quality.
theproductmindedqa.com
July 25, 2025 at 12:22 AM
The other night my husband asked me to pass him the “big pillow”. He meant the short, fat one. I handed him the long, skinny one.
We were both right and both wrong 🤷♀️
It made me think: this is how many teams talk about “quality”.
New post: When Big Means Small (and Why Quality Definitions Matter)
We were both right and both wrong 🤷♀️
It made me think: this is how many teams talk about “quality”.
New post: When Big Means Small (and Why Quality Definitions Matter)
Y’all. My kids are watching The Princess Bride…. *and enjoying it*
So far I’ve turned them on to this, and The Sandlot.
Such a proud mama right now 😆
So far I’ve turned them on to this, and The Sandlot.
Such a proud mama right now 😆
July 22, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Y’all. My kids are watching The Princess Bride…. *and enjoying it*
So far I’ve turned them on to this, and The Sandlot.
Such a proud mama right now 😆
So far I’ve turned them on to this, and The Sandlot.
Such a proud mama right now 😆
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
the excel spreadsheet would almost certainly be legible to humans across the recorded history of the species, from a sumarian scribe to whatever techno organic collective that emerges as our evolutionary successor
This is the truest thing I have ever seen. You cannot imagine how much the Romans would have lost their minds for excel. They literally already started writing our historical chronicles in synchronized columns *by hand*
July 21, 2025 at 12:19 AM
the excel spreadsheet would almost certainly be legible to humans across the recorded history of the species, from a sumarian scribe to whatever techno organic collective that emerges as our evolutionary successor
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
The short version is this person was "vibe coding" and gave the LLM direct access to his production database. It decided to delete the database. Then he started asking questions like it's an actual human with accountability. And it basically said "oops".
July 20, 2025 at 8:30 PM
The short version is this person was "vibe coding" and gave the LLM direct access to his production database. It decided to delete the database. Then he started asking questions like it's an actual human with accountability. And it basically said "oops".
😆😂😂🤣
I ❤️ my city
I ❤️ my city
I saw a bunch of white people in East Harlem and I almost got really mad about gentrification. . .
but then I noticed they were walking fast and clinging to themselves for dear life on their way to the train.
We still have some heart left in this city.
but then I noticed they were walking fast and clinging to themselves for dear life on their way to the train.
We still have some heart left in this city.
July 20, 2025 at 6:54 PM
😆😂😂🤣
I ❤️ my city
I ❤️ my city
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
I got permission to share this, and I'm extremely grateful for that.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
July 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I got permission to share this, and I'm extremely grateful for that.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
Reposted by Susanne Abdelrahman (she/her)
It’s this, every time. We are nowhere close to general artificial intelligence. LLMs are just giant pattern recognition machines. They cannot create anything.
And if you get rid of every person who spends their life creating new art, knowledge, and stories, then the house of cards collapses
And if you get rid of every person who spends their life creating new art, knowledge, and stories, then the house of cards collapses
It does seem like a problem that these tools depend on humans to create new information that they can regurgitate and that they’re creating the economic conditions that will make those people even rarer than they already are
July 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM
It’s this, every time. We are nowhere close to general artificial intelligence. LLMs are just giant pattern recognition machines. They cannot create anything.
And if you get rid of every person who spends their life creating new art, knowledge, and stories, then the house of cards collapses
And if you get rid of every person who spends their life creating new art, knowledge, and stories, then the house of cards collapses