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How would Michael Scott evaluate new software for Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton office? If you consider his approach to choosing between a new printer and desk chairs in “The Surplus”, I doubt we really want to know.
So how does The Office relate to software testing for legal tech products? Well, it doesn’t really.
But software testing isn’t exactly on the top of most legal professionals’ list of ‘fun’ work, so it helps to make it less boring. Oh, and creating reliable testing data is hard—that too.
Choosing a new case management system is an (understandably) daunting task for law firm owners. It’s a core tool with far-reaching impact across your business operations. With this in mind, how can you get the most out of a 2-week trial period in a ‘demo environment’ to properly vet your options?
I’m a big fan of adapting a ‘stress test’ approach, mimicking the behind-the-scenes product testing done by engineering and QA teams. A big piece of this process is using good quality test (or ‘dummy’) data.
But what does that look like in practice?
A simple way to create a quick set of dummy data is sticking to a theme.
It’s common for product teams to use a popular culture reference for grouping purposes—characters from a TV show, for example—to create test scenarios. Frankly, it’s easier than coming up with names, job titles, DOBs and key dates, and other details for each profile—all from scratch.
And aside from making it easier to generate test data, it also injects some fun into an otherwise boring task.
A personal favorite is (you guessed it): characters from ‘The Office’.
It's important that your dummy data reflects the variety of cases your firm handles.
For example, an immigration law firm handling both employment-based and family-based immigration cases would want to make sure their test data includes the corresponding profiles for each 'user' type—family members, employer representatives and managers, application sponsors, etc.. This helps in testing the conditional logic (and other variability) across features like intake questionnaires and task assignments.
Jumping back to The Office reference: make sure to create profiles for both Phyllis AND Bob Vance (Vance Refrigeration) to simulate specific scenarios, like a marriage-based Adjustment of Status (AOS) case. Again, a playful yet practical test library.
Go beyond simple test cases to include complex data associations, such as intricate family trees or corporate hierarchies. This complexity can reveal how the product manages linked/associated cases, profiles, events, etc.—a common requirement for legal workflows.
Sticking to Dunder Mifflin: As HR rep, Toby needs access to all cases associated with employees from the Scranton office—but not cases for Utica employees!
Incorporate scenarios that are less common but potentially disruptive. Testing how the software handles unusual or complex scenarios can help identify its limitations and the need for manual workarounds.
Back to The Office: What happens to case data when Dunder Mifflin is bought by Sabre?
Whether you’re using employees from The Office or characters from Sesame Street, a mix of creativity and thematic consistency is a great start toward building a strong testing framework for your law firm technology. This hands-on approach not only improves the software trial process but also injects an a little fun into the task.
What am I missing? Any other strategies to make software trials easier and more enjoyable for busy legal teams?