Steps to become a better software tester - can do these over a period of time - Part 2

In the previous post (Improve testing skills), I had provided some steps in how a person could be a better tester. In this post, I will continue on this line and provide some more points on how a person could improve their testing skills.
- Being able to explore the boundaries of what has been provided. So, for example, an average tester will test only as per the test cases provided while skilled testers start to feel whether the test cases are adequate or not, when required, they provide updates that add to the test case coverage to ensure that the overall product quality increases. Such efforts are noticed, and in many organizations, there is measurement of the amount of such efforts that are made by individuals.
- Try and feel like the end use customer. A lot of testers start to feel much closer to the Dev teams, to the individual dev who wrote the code that they are testing, and so on. Instead, even while maintaining a relationship with the developer, they need to feel like the end customer; looking at the workflows that the customer uses, seeing things from their view point. Such testing is much more effective in catching defects that would be faced by the end user and lead to a much better impression of the product in the perception of the customers.
- Relationship with the developer and integration with the development phase. During the design and development phase of the product, the tester should be fully involved. The tester can bring their own value added to the product development strategy, and learn a lot more about the reasons why the design has been done in the manner in which it is done. During the development phase, the tester can also learn about which area does the developer feel that more emphasis need to be done, which area was written in a hurry or is more complicated, and so on. Such knowledge gives the tester a much better impression of the product and leads to a much better skill at testing the product.