Test strategy tldr

Test Strategy

Clem Pickering

clement.pickering@callcreditgroup.comClement Pickering@clem_pickering

The problem with traditional test strategy documents…

No one reads them

Suggest completeness

Invite sign-offs

Tendancy to boiler plate

Waste?

No one reads them!

But Test Strategy itself is a valuable activity…

How can we get people to take an interest?

And convey what’s really important?

The ideas behind a Test Strategy Poster

What if we made it visual?

And concise?

And stuck it on the wall?

People pay attention to visual information

<Insert Infographic examples>

Display where people congregate

Wall-Skills.Com

Suited to Agile…

Aim for Just Enough

What’s Appropriate?

Generates Conversation

Iterate and Evolve …

Review\Refine at Retros

Testers advocate, whole team participate

Enough theory, now for the risky bit…

Audience participation

A Testing ScenarioBalifax bank, the tropical bank of Bali are building a new online banking platform in response to customer demand for a modern “fully-featured” banking experience.

A brand new website is planned which will call a new app tier service written using .NET and delivered as a SOAP API. This new service will track customer activity and provide new website features but will integrate with the banks existing account processing systems.

A secure intranet admin function will allow bank helpdesk staff to reset\amend customer details and MI reports will delivered daily to the banks management

Balifax have assembled a crack project team of developers, testers and BAs and in an unheard of fit of trust empowered them to crack on as they see fit…

5 Mins on …

Principles

Examples: Testing is everyone’s responsibility

Treat test code as production code

5 Mins on …

Tools and Techniques

(Choose pyramid or quadrants)

5 Mins on …

Free choice!

Feedback

What’s missing?What could be improved?

Visual Test Strategy Posters …

Are Concise

Generate Conversation

Are looked at (more likely)

Radiate Information

TL;DR version:

Create a single page visual test strategy for your project and stick it

on the wall