Blogged By Michael Bolton based on

(FEW) HICCUPS) by James Bach

Requirements and

Specifications

Models

Past Experiences

Contexts

We seek out Known

Familiarities!

which may close off our thinking about other possible interpretations!

While Comparing two Products

That’s not a big problem in

simple, stable systems

It’s a bigger problem in software development

The Heuristics Test Strategy

Model is a set of patterns for

designing a test strategy. Project Environment

Perceived Quality

Testing Techniques

FEWFamiliarityExplainabilityWorld

HICCUPPSHistoryImageComparable ProductsClaimsUser ExpectationsProduct ItselfPurposeStatutes

What can be its Comparable products?

The Closest match in comparison is:

But what if…

You are asked to compare it with WCutility in Linux!

Option Explanation

-cCounts only characters

-lCounts only the number of lines (newline delimited)

-w

Counts words only (defined as separated by a tab, space or newline)

http://snap.nlc.dcccd.edu/learn/selena/wc.html

Let’s make it more interesting

Comparedwith

Is it even possible?

It (Halo) blows people’s brains out…sometimes I want to do that with MS Word ;-)

Halo is a game and does require interaction with a user

From a UI perspective, there are menus and other forms of cause-and-effect type of interaction—that is, when I do X, I expect Y

When I start a new game, save a game, reopen a game I have expectations about the state the game should be in

I may also expect certain behavior with pausing or crashing the game in terms of recovery that could be compared to MS Word.

it can also mean “anything or any aspect of something that you might use as a basis for comparison“.

“comparable” doesn’t necessarily mean “highly similar”;

“Comparable product”, in the context of

the FEW HICCUPPS oracle heuristics, can mean:

any software product,

any attribute of a software product,

or even attributes of non-software products

that we could use as a basis for comparison

An alternative product

A Commercially Competitive Product

A Product that is member of the same suite of products!

Two Products that are Subcomponent within the same larger product

An existing product whose sole purpose is comparable to a specific feature in our product

An existing product that is different, yet shares some comparable feature, function, or concept.

A Chain of events in some product

Function or Algorithm of Product 1Sin(x) function in Open office

Function or Algorithm of Product 2API in Microsoft Excel

A product that we develop specifically to implement a comparable algorithm

A Report or a Print Format built on Excel or an Algorithm in a utility Language

Print Format or report used in an ERP

A reference output or artifact

An output result on another medium of reference

An output result on the compared product

A Product that we don’t Like!

Patterns of behaviour in a range or sphere of Products

Even when products are dissimilar in important respects, even one point of similarity may be useful.

Technology and

Functional Aspects

• User Interface

• Business / Workplace

Domain

• Background Information

• Culture

• Aesthetic

• Design Heuristics

Bugs thrive on overly narrow or overly broad interpretations of “comparable”.

Know what you’re comparing, and why the comparison matters to your testing and to

your clients.

Lets Discuss…