Last month, I was hurriedly booking a vets’ appointment using my surgery’s online form. In the process, I accidentally used test data instead of my own!
#testerproblems Absent-mindedly filling in the vets’ contact form with fake contact details rather than my real details.
— James Sheasby Thomas (@RightSaidJames) April 20, 2017
Not sure Mr Fakename (email: test@example.com) cares all that much about guinea pig grooming services, but you never know.
— James Sheasby Thomas (@RightSaidJames) April 20, 2017
While this was a case of using test data when real data was required, it got me thinking about some of the patterns I use when entering fake, placeholder or test data into forms or web apps.