Testing a Salt Shaker
"How do you test a salt shaker?" - This is a classic question that has been asked across many a lunch table, bringing a little too much discomfort and a little too much salt to the plate of a prospective employee, who sits there, neatly dressed up, hungry and silently cursing the person who invented the salt shaker in the first place!
Thankfully, the first time I heard this question, it was from a friend. Since, it didn't have any sinister motives associated with it and being a tester by profession, I actually felt intrigued by it and sat down to list the possible test cases. Upon completion, I 'googled' it with a hope to compare my performance with those of the intellectuals. Surprisingly, I wasn't able to find a single source on the internet!
The best I could find was a link to this blog http://blogs.msdn.com/jledgard/archive/2003/09/28/53689.aspx
Yeah, that was fun wasn't it? :)
I finally decided to put out my own views (hence this page), partly so that its of some use to others and partly hoping someone would crucify my answers (I always love a challenge! :)
So, How do you test a salt shaker?...
1. Make sure the shaker hole is big enough for an average sized
salt crystal, but not too big to let out too much salt.
2. The material that the shaker is made out of should not be reactive to sodium
chloride (salt).
3. The shaker cap should have a fail safe mechanism, so that it doesn't come off
by accident while shaking. Even human error should be taken care of, like not
allowing people to leave it half screwed on (perhaps a click-on mechanism?).
4. The holes must be designed to prevent salt clogs (How? you figure it out!)
5. Salt shouldn't get stuck in between the head and body of the salt shaker, so
that salt doesn't spill when opening the head for a refill.
6. Design the salt shaker head in such a manner that, water if casually dropped
on the shaker head doesn't drop in to the shaker and wet the salt (I guess you
will have to work with the hole size and water's co-efficient of viscosity).
7. The salt shaker should have a solid grip (You don't want it plop into your
food!)
8. Design in such a manner (or document properly) that the shaker is never
filled completely with salt (So that there is moving space during a shake). For
example, design the shaker to have a narrow neck. That way, while filling, it
appears full, when the salt reaches the top, whereas there is some space at the
bottom towards the sides.
9. The salt shaker must not be too big or too small. It should be just the right
size for the average hand.
You may post your comments to naveenjc@yahoo.com
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