Christina
Thalayasingam
Software Engineering Manager at Northwestern Mutual
"Great products come from engineering teams who value quality and user empathy"
"Great products come from engineering teams who value quality and user empathy"
24 - 10:50 AM EDT/New York (See in local time)
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05/24/2025 10:50 AM
05/24/2025 11:30 AM
America/New_York
#WTGC2025
"Great products come from engineering teams who value quality and user empathy"
#WTGC2025
"Great products come from engineering teams who value quality and user empathy"
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"Great products come from engineering teams who value quality and user empathy"
"Great products come from engineering teams who value quality and user empathy"
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Session: Great products come from engineering teams who value quality and user empathy
When I get to LinkedIn I stumble upon memes that show testers celebrating or smirking when they find a bug. Painting a picture that tester thrive on “proving developers wrong”. This is upsetting. The root cause for this because there still prevails the mindset that quality of the product is owned by someone with a testing specific role, and user empathy is only something related to product and design. This sort of thinking will never deliver great products or processes.I am manage an engineering team for the client website of Northwestern Mutual. I do come from a background that strong values function and non-functional testing. However before all this I too was a developer. My team and myself believe in quality and that there is no segregation on who owns the quality of the product we deliver. My team is currently deep rooted in believing that whatever the product they work on it is marked as “Done” only if it of high quality. We have developed a great level of User Empathy, which leads us to provide solutions that could be really useful and extremely user-friendly. I will share with you the story of how we drive our work in order to build high quality and deliver products that are easy for end users to use. I will talk about how this values being firmly established help us improve the processes that we follow and help us deliver at ease.An engineering team that upholds values such as quality and user empathy is well-positioned to develop exceptional products. By valuing quality and adopting a holistic approach, you can establish a culture where everyone takes ownership of delivering a high-quality product. Let's explore how these values contribute to building exceptional products.
Key Takeaways
- 1. Collaborative Approach: Your team understands that quality is not the sole responsibility of testers or developers alone. By fostering a collaborative environment, you encourage open communication, knowledge sharing, and mutual understanding among team
Bio
Christina Thalayasingam is an experienced engineering people manager with a strong background in functional and non-functional testing. With 9 years of industry experience, she has gained a holistic view of software engineering through her diverse roles in development, automation testing, project management, and DevOps.Christina holds a bachelor's degree in computer science engineering, which has provided her with a solid foundation in technical knowledge. She has worked with UK consulting firms and government clients, as well as with Sysco's UK operations in the eCommerce and supply chain domain. Additionally, she has experience in the Clinical Trials space, working for Dassault Systèmes®.
Currently, Christina manages an engineering team in the Client Website Team at Northwestern Mutual. Her role involves overseeing the development and delivery of high-quality products. With her passion for testing, she ensures that the team upholds quality standards and follows best practices in functional and non-functional testing.
Beyond her managerial responsibilities, Christina has been an active speaker in conferences and meetups, sharing her expertise and advocating for software testing. She is recognized as a software testing evangelist, promoting the importance of quality assurance and testing in the software development lifecycle.
With her diverse experience and passion for testing, Christina brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role as an engineering people manager. Her holistic understanding of software engineering allows her to guide her team effectively and drive the delivery of exceptional products.
