NVP Software Solutions will be participating in the following software testing and quality assurance events happening this November in Ontario, Canada. The events are located in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and London in the coming two weeks. Check out the relevant websites for more information and to register. This is a great opportunity to connect with other software testing and quality assurance professionals. We hope to see you there! (more…)
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A Better Way – Case Study 3 – Test Plan in a Hurry!
A Better Way – Case Study 3 – Test Plan in a Hurry!
In our last several blogs we have discussed ‘A Better Way to Test”.
The issue is to apply this to actual situations. We have 5 Case Studies we plan to use over the next several weeks to address this. The third case study might be called “Test Plan in a Hurry!”.
This issue came up from an organisation that was part way through (as usual!) an engagement and suddenly required a test plan to satisfy the client. The request came from the Project Manager on Friday with a deadline of Monday afternoon. There was no prior exposure to the project; no knowledge that the request was coming; and very little in the way of Project Documentation (with certainly no time to review it). There was a temptation to ignore the request and had they not been an existing client, we might have been tempted to point out that this was not really an effective use of time. However, given the nature of the request and the people from whom it came, we went ahead with the attempt.
Clearly, we were not going to get detailed testcases or test objectives based on what we had been given. So we opted for a process based Master Test Plan. In other words, we put together a statement of how the project would be tackled from a Quality Assurance point of view when the information became available. We put in processes for all the Quality Assurance items and highlighted the risks inherent in testing under these conditions (including the lack of any understanding of the project) and went forward with that. We put a strong emphasis on what was required now in order to make this work.
If you want to discuss this further contact us.
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A Better Way – Case Study 2 – Thinking Like the Client
A Better Way – Case Study 2 – Thinking Like the Client
In our last several blogs we have discussed ‘A Better Way to Test”.
The issue is to apply this to actual situations. We have 5 Case Studies we plan to use over the next several weeks to address this. The second case study might be called “Thinking Like the Client”.
Even though many in IT have embraced Agile in some form or another and with some level of success, not all clients are so willing. We find this particularly the case with larger, older and more safety or image conscious clients. They are not willing to take the risk of everything not coming together at the correct time. They are not willing to live with constant change. In addition, they often have milestones that need to be fulfilled and quite frequently they have stated contract deliverables that need to be fulfilled so that payments can be made.
We received a call from the President of a development company with a large contract with probably the oldest, largest and most image conscious client you could get – the federal government. Even though the company had delivered projects successfully before and had a good record of coming through with what was required, the client still wanted a formal Test Plan completed.
In our experience, the client is normally okay with a High Level Master Test Plan provided it contains the following (this is not an exhaustive list by any means):
- High Level Objectives
- A listing of the types of testing needed and the risk around each type
- Processes for Test Creation and signoff
- Processes for Defect tracking and resolution
- Methodologies for executing the testcases
This reassures them that the developers have an understanding of what needs to be done.
If you want to discuss this further contact us.
Take a look at some of the seminars that we offer that address this situation and see if they apply to you. Testing can be better.
Contact us for further information. -
A Better Way – Case Study 1 – Thinking Outside the Box
A Better Way – Case Study 1 – Thinking Outside the Box
In our last several blogs we have discussed ‘A Better Way to Test”.
The issue is to apply this to actual situations. We have 5 Case Studies we plan to use over the next several weeks to address this. The first one revolves around a junior QA, a very successful (small) company and a need to test effectively and quickly for a large final client. The issue that came up was the ability to “Think outside the box”.
We received a call from the President of the company indicating that the new junior QA was having trouble considering things “Outside the box”. They were good with what was presented in the Use Cases or User Stories. Most people can generate testcases based on what is provided and the happy path from the Use Cases and User Stories. Experienced testers will apply other techniques and may specifically try Exploratory testing. However, you cannot explore or test what you don’t know or don’t think of at the time.
Rather than dictating “Outside the box” which is a contradiction in itself, we decided to go with more of a checklist approach listing some of the areas that would be considered to be non-Happy Path and see if it could lead to further extensions. We did not dictate everything but started with more of a charter and guidance list to see what would come of it. The process had two advantages:
- We would have some coverage of everything “inside” and “outside” the box.
- We could use the results to evaluate the suitability of the junior QA for further roles and projects.
The President came up with the basic list and ran it from there.
If you want to discuss this further contact us.
Take a look at some of the seminars that we offer that address this situation and see if they apply to you. Testing can be better.
Contact us for further information. -
October QA Events – Toronto and GTA
NVP Software Solutions will be participating in the following software testing and quality assurance events happening this October in Ontario, Canada. The events are located in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and London in the coming two weeks. Check out the relevant websites for more information and to register. This is a great opportunity to connect with other software testing and quality assurance professionals. We hope to see you there! (more…)
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A Better Way to Test – 7
A better way to Test – 7
In our last blog we discussed, testing to risk.
One of the methods we mentioned to address Risk was testing, even if it was not the only method. However, stating that we should test and actually completing the task are two different items. Testcases have to be written or at least understood. Results need to be gathered (in some fashion) and reports produced. Whether you are working very formally and need everything recorded or can just rely on what you have seen and experienced without proof does not matter. You will have to do some testing and to do testing you need some sort of statement of what you are going to do and accomplish.
We recommend building test conditions or test objectives in order to determine what is going to be tested. These don’t have to be in detail or have all the components of a standard testcase as long as they are commensurate with the risk of the project. This key point seems to be missed quite frequently. People (in particular those who are under time and budget pressure) want to reduce the level and detail of testing until it does not sufficiently address the risk.
The above reason is why we suggest connecting the testcase to the risk where possible. That makes it much easier to calculate the risk of doing or not doing a particular testcase during a testing cycle. It also, coincidentally, feeds your regression base immediately and allows proper selection when the time runs out.
Take a look at some of the seminars that we offer that address this situation and see if they apply to you. Testing can be better.
Contact us for further information. -
A better way to test – 6
A better way to Test – 6
In our last blog we discussed, as the last point in our list, testing to risk.
If you have the risks listed, explained, classified, calculated, ordered and entered into a database, it may be easy to attach testcases to them and determine when you have addressed the risk with testing. Not all risks can be efficiently addressed by testing, it is simply one of the possible techniques to be used.
However, people rarely agree on the risks and, as mentioned above, not all risks can be addressed by testing. So this needs to be flexible.
If you don’t have your risk recorded then the testcases may still be built to address perceived risks but they may be difficult to justify. Having both sides of the need (the risk and the testcase) can make each justify the other.
Once we have this for one release of the software, the only question is whether we can continue using the same testcases from release to release. Risks will change, some will disappear or be downgraded, new ones will appear or the ones we missed last time will be included for future releases. Like all project requirements, nothing is ever perfect and we progress (sometimes unevenly) to an end result of coverage that is sufficient for the project. Of course something will always surprise us.
The key consideration is not to become inured to the other methods of addressing risk – testing is not the end solution for everything.
Take a look at some of the seminars that we offer that address this situation and see if they apply to your situation. Testing can be better.
Contact us for further information. -
September QA Events – Toronto and GTA
NVP Software Solutions will be participating in the following software testing and quality assurance events happening this September in Ontario, Canada. The events are located in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and London in the coming two weeks. Check out the relevant websites for more information and to register. This is a great opportunity to connect with other software testing and quality assurance professionals. We hope to see you there! (more…)