DEV Community: Amyreichert

Test Case Design Techniques & When to Change Them

Amyreichert — Thu, 04 May 2023 06:47:39 +0000

QA Testing involves developing test cases using various test design techniques to keep them fresh and actively identifying defects. Test case design and development have a singular purpose in determining if application features satisfy documented and undocumented functionality. The purpose of developing applications for customers is to satisfy a customer’s business or personal needs by providing a secure, accurate, and efficient application that works as expected.

Works, as expected, are three words with a significant impact on test case design. Works, as expected,, means the application function being tested works as a customer expects. Again, the functionality a customer expects should be documented through use case scenarios, requirements, or user story acceptance criteria. Test case design must accurately capture the intent of the application function so features can be tested repeatedly over time to ensure the application performs as intended between code releases or versions.

This blog describes what test case design means, its impact on ensuring software application quality, how to create or choose an effective design, and when to update it.

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Key Takeaways:

What does Test Case design mean?
Why is Test Case design important to software quality?
Why is Test Case design part test technique and part design format?
Find out how to choose Test Case design methods.
Should the Test Case design always be the same, or when to update the design?
Learn the value of test case design for finding defects and ensuring quality.

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What does Test Case Design mean?

Test case design refers to the format of a test case as well as the test case content. The goal of creating test cases is to identify defects in the software application. A solid test case design strategy enables a QA testing team to provide business value by repeatedly and efficiently identifying defects before customers experience them.

Test case design requires a thoughtful approach to identify missing requirements and defects without wasting resources or time. In other words, a solid test case design strategy creates tests that are useful, concise, and re-usable over the application’s lifetime. Test design techniques influence how test cases are written to provide maximum code coverage. Effective test technique and test case design combined enables QA test teams to create fewer tests that still verify and validate all application functionality.

When developing a test case design strategy, consider using some or all of the following types of test design techniques:

Specification
Boundary value analysis
Equivalence partitioning
Decision tables
State transition
Use case scenarios
Structure
Code statement
Decision statement branches
Condition code coverage
Experience
Error guessing
Exploratory testing

In most QA testing teams, using all test design techniques is not realistic. Consider choosing one or two that best suit the development team structure, QA resources, and the software application’s needs.

For example, a test case design strategy for a mobile app that tracks patient lab results and alerts doctors when a lab result is in a negative range must be thoroughly covered.

For more thorough test coverage, use decision tables combined with use case scenarios or user story acceptance criteria and exploratory testing. The combination provides detailed input and output verification while also ensuring all requirements are met. Adding exploratory testing techniques helps to uncover defects caused by missing requirements or design features.

Define the strategy based on what works best for ensuring the application release exceeds customer expectations consistently across releases.

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Why is Test Case Design important to Software Quality?

Test case design is important for producing high-quality software applications that satisfy customer needs and create positive user experiences. Effective test case design documents application functionality based on requirements, acceptance criteria, or expected use case scenarios. Exceptional test case design also identifies defects in design or missing requirements. For example, test cases may find a story or feature that requires more work to function properly.

Well-designed test cases also provide application feature documentation that serves as the basis for help documentation or even end-user training or documentation needs.

Other benefits of test case design include:

Thorough code test coverage
Reduced maintenance and documentation creation costs
Software validation for user acceptance
Improved customer experience
Reduced customer support tickets for customer defects and inquiries

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Why is Test Case Design one part Test Technique and one part Design Format?

An exceptional test case design strategy includes both test techniques and an effective design format. Test case design format refers to how a test case design is structured. Many QA test teams use Test Case Management tools that enable different types of formats.

Common test case design formats include:

Sequential steps
User journey stories
Functional tours
Feature Checklists

The format impacts the technique used when developing test cases. QA teams frequently use sequential or ordered steps that test a single functional verification point. A series of sequential steps are used to create an end-to-end or system test that verifies the functional workflow of the application.

User journey stories are test cases written in paragraphs that describe how a user steps through a function in the application. The text does not list the exact steps taken in a specific order but rather leaves the steps up to the user. User journey stories are an excellent approach for including positive and negative test scenarios in a single test case.

Functional tours are typically also written in paragraphs that describe the function to be verified. Functional tours can be based on customer workflow scenarios or simply exercise and verify separate functions within an application. Tours are excellent ways to test integration points between applications and dependent systems such as APIs and databases in an indirect fashion that simulates a real user experience.

Feature checklists are test cases formatted in the form of a list. Checklists are quick to write and can ensure all critical points are covered for each application function. One problem with checklists is they don’t provide the detail necessary for user or reference documentation.

When choosing a test case design strategy, including selecting the format(s) combined with the testing technique(s) that work best for ensuring customer satisfaction and exceptional application quality.

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When to Update Your Test Case Design

It’s best to review your test case design regularly as part of a continuous improvement effort. Test case design should be updated or changed if test cases are too difficult to follow or are missing defects. For example, if you find that test cases are executed but defects still end up in the customer release, then it’s prudent to review the test case design and format.

Don’t fear changing the test design format. If change is needed, then simply try a different format, and see which format identifies defects more effectively. Quality metrics are handy for this use and may provide real-time feedback on test design effectiveness over time. Changing formats does not mean re-writing every test. Simply use the new format going forward for new test case development.

If the organization is moving towards increasing test automation, then the sequential step format may enable automated scripting more effectively. The designation of each step helps create small, automated test scripts focused on a single verification point. Automated test tools often struggle with complex workflows with undefined steps. Sequential steps or checklists may assist in creating working automated scripts that are easily maintained.

The test case design is important to providing verification and validation of application functionality across an application’s lifecycle. Effective test case design includes selecting test techniques and deciding on a format. Remember when deciding on a test case design, that the purpose is to identify defects and improve the application quality when released to customers. Higher-quality application releases result in positive customer experiences. The happier the customer with the application, the higher the business value of QA testing.

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Are Agile Self-Managing Teams Realistic with Layered Management?

Amyreichert — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 08:06:57 +0000

Agile software development stems from a philosophy that being agile means creating and responding to change swiftly. Agile means having the ability to adapt and respond to change without dissolving into chaos. Being Agile involves teamwork built on diverse capabilities, skills, and talents. Team members include both the business and software development sides working together to produce working software that meets or exceeds customer expectations continuously.

Agile success stems from delivering quality, working software to customers. Agile includes a manifesto and a list of 12 principles to follow. One of those core principles proposes using self-managed teams to foster innovation, quality, and team productivity.

The principles are meant to steer software development in a positive direction while accepting and adapting to changes as they come along. Agile teams must work together and continuously change processes and procedures with the shared goal to improve the software as well as the development process.

However, in a business world that is typically layered with management levels, are self-managing Agile teams realistic or possible?

This guide discusses the reality of using self-managed Agile teams when a business includes multiple management layers.

Key Takeaways:

What does the term Agile team self-management mean?
Learn if it’s possible to allow self-managed teams according to the Agile principles.
What is layered management?
How do layers of managers impact the ability of Agile teams to self-manage?
Discover the benefits of enabling and promoting self-managing teams.

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What does Agile Team Self-Management Mean?

Self-managing teams are Agile teams that draft their members, identify team issues, and resolve all work or team problems internally with the guidance of a Scrum Master. Self-managing Agile teams collaborate with other teams and keep the lines of communication open with Product management and design. Teams are allowed the freedom to become productive and successful or fail, re-evaluate and try again without repercussions.

Most development teams expect management intervention. However, the extent that management intercedes tends to interrupt or break a team’s ability to self-manage. Most organizations are not willing to let Agile teams manage themselves. Large organizations with layers of management roles have trouble letting teams self-manage regardless of the success of the team. Even teams close to perfect, that are highly productive and working at an exceptional level often suffer from management interference.

Effective management for Agile teams provides goals, guidance, and an operating framework but leaves the team to manage all other aspects. The reality is that organizations with layered management cannot let go of the need to direct. Self-management within teams is not a natural occurrence and it’s not an easy one to adopt.

What is Layered Business Management?

Layered management refers to organizations that have top-level managers in the form of Development and QA Vice Presidents or Directors, followed by Development and QA Managers, and Development and QA Leads. In this simple example, there are 4 layers of management. Layered management refers to organizations where multiple manager roles interact to manage an application development group.

Add to that the possibility of a Product Management Director, Product Owner, and Product Manager also impacting the work within an Agile team. Layered management tends to manage by directive and often tends to produce micro-managers. The problem becomes each manager’s role works from different directives to build the business and produce software but rarely agrees on a direction. The direction and even software development methodology of the organization tends to change frequently based on which manager becomes dominant.

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What are the Impacts of Layered Management on Self-Managing Teams?

Signs that management is interfering with Agile team management include:

Team members are given an immediate mandate to change approaches from an external source
Any team changes that require approval from a manager or committee.
Team members are removed or added without input from the team.
Development or testing directives are significantly changed externally but the team is expected to immediately adopt changes.
Managers from any level step in and take over managing the team’s work process and deliverables.

Management interference often comes from the upper levels such as Directors or VPs. Typically, when upper-level management interferes it changes the focus and intent of the Agile team by altering work processes or team alignment. Middle management layers are even more disruptive as managers work towards moving up their career ladder. Often middle managers push process changes external to the team, that team members must incorporate into their work processes even if they don’t fit with the Agile team’s chosen workflow.

Wherever the external management changes come from, they disrupt the team’s workflow, processes, structure, and working relationships.

Removing the Fear and Reaping the Benefits of Agile Self-Managing Teams

Most Agile teams, in my experience, are not self-managing with the guidance of a Scrum Master. Rather, the team develops an internal management mechanism and then also adapts to the changing external management requirements. There’s never a point where the Agile team is truly self-managing.

When or if an organization’s management has the courage, foresight, or ability to let go a bit and encourage the team to self-manage, then employee productivity and engagement improve rapidly. Encouraging team ownership and accountability improves team performance and produces teams that are productive, profitable, loyal, and customer-focused.

Layered managers must learn to take several steps back and allow the trust to grow by allowing the Agile team to make decisions. The rewards gleaned from allowing Agile teams to self-manage include increased job performance levels, engagement, and significant productivity improvements. Teams are not only more productive, but they produce higher quality work products. Self-managing teams foster greater innovation by using continuous improvement. Continuous improvement may mean experiments fail, but the team needs to be allowed to regroup and try again without retribution or punishment.

Can Agile teams truly be self-managing? They can if an organization allows them to without constant external interference. Layered management is often the structure associated with larger software development organizations and impacts the ability of Agile teams to create innovation and improve productivity and employee engagement.

If an organization’s management can step back and advise, coach, and guide an Agile team without controlling it, the process works. Self-managing Agile teams are possible but rare. Take advantage of the benefits of allowing, encouraging, and guiding the Agile team rather than controlling them — see if stepping back produces improvements in employee morale, loyalty, and the drive to build a higher quality product for customers.

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QA’s and Unit Testing — Can QA Create Effective Unit Tests

Amyreichert — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 11:56:23 +0000

Unit testing is typically software testing within the developer domain. As the QA role expands in DevOps, QAOps, DesignOps, or within an Agile team, QA testers often find themselves creating unit tests. QA testers may create unit tests within the code using a specified unit testing tool, or independently using a variety of methods.

The overall goal is to leverage the benefits of unit testing to produce a higher-quality application. What role creates the test is less important. For QA testers, understanding and having the skill to create effective unit tests is a bonus. QA tester’s skills need to be multidimensional as well as adaptable to retain business value across the full spectrum of software development. The more tasks a QA can perform, the better the job opportunities available.

Why is unit testing important and how does it benefit application quality?

Unit testing is important because it provides the first opportunity to test software application code. By creating and executing unit tests, software testers can effectively assess the quality of code right from the start of the coding effort. Unit tests provide code isolation that allows for issues or defects to be quickly identified, fixed, and retested. The more defects fixed early in the coding process, the more costs are reduced by having to fix errors at later stages or just before, or right after a release.

Key Takeaways:

What is Unit Testing?
What are the basic concepts of unit testing?
How can QA testers create unit tests?
What are alternative options for creating unit tests?
Learn how QA testers can create effective unit tests with or without code.

This guide describes how QA testers can create unit tests in a variety of ways to test code from beginning to end and reap the benefits of finding defects early and often for improved application quality.

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What is Unit Testing?

Unit testing is a type of software testing where individual and testable code components are tested independently. Unit tests create a repeatable test suite that can be executed throughout the development lifecycle. The advantages of unit testing include being able to test as you code. After all, the further you get through the coding process, the more complex the testing paths get. Writing unit tests simplifies testing each testable code component before the code becomes complex.

Unit testing provides a step-by-step method of gaining an understanding of how a functional set of code works. Many teams also use unit testing as documentation. Documentation on code functionality is created by adding the details on the libraries used or the coding framework employed. Granted, it’s not a full set of documentation but it gives developers and QA testers an understanding of the application’s implementation and functionality.

Other advantages of unit testing include:

Creates a re-usable regression suite
Improves application software quality consistency
Enables accurate defect or issue debugging and tracking
Isolates defects to specific code components for easier debugging and repair
Aids in design improvements or establishes the possibilities and limitations of a design

Unit testing benefits application software quality by creating basic documentation and enabling frequent testing throughout the development cycle. However, unit testing is only for single code components and has a few disadvantages.

Disadvantages of unit testing include:

Limited to code components so cannot catch any defects within functional, integrated, or system test scenarios
Time-consuming to create and manage manually
Adds to test maintenance when automated tests are used
Automated tests also require failure analysis to determine defect validity
Requires mocks and stubs to simulate dependent connections like APIs and databases

What are the Basic Concepts of Unit Testing?

Unit testing is the smallest testable part of an application that can execute independently. Code components are defined by the type of programming used and the architecture employed. Unit tests may test a line or more of code, a class, a single function, a procedure, or even an entire feature code set.

As a QA tester responsible for creating unit tests, the first step is to identify testable components and the code structure. Next, use the AAA (Arrange, Act, Assert) method. Create unit tests that start by initializing the component to be tested and then perform an action. Once an action is executed, then the test must include an assertion or result. In other words, unit tests must include the test execution and the ability to quantify the result as pass or fail.

When developing unit tests keep the following test characteristics in mind:

Each test must be able to execute independently without any dependency on other tests or the test execution order
Ensure unit tests truly pass or fail by including negative testing to ensure the test fails when it should
Use specific data sets for input and avoid using random data input
Unit tests must be repeatable and generate the same output in each execution
Create unit tests that are self-validating so there is no manual interpretation or analysis necessary

Unit testing may require mocking to test dependencies. Mocking helps to simulate functions of code not yet created. If mocking is necessary for effective testing work with developers to help create mocking or code stubs to use for each function needed.

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How can QA Testers create Unit Tests?

QA testers writing unit tests will need access to the codebase and coding tool(s). Additionally, unit test development may require a unit testing tool. There are multiple tools that assist with unit test creation. Check the development tool and architecture used first to see if a unit testing tool is included by default. QA testers need time to learn and understand the tool before creating unit tests. The time spent learning benefits the team in the long run when QA testers create higher-quality unit tests that are valid, effective, and easy to maintain and execute repeatedly.

Sample list of unit testing tools includes (small sampling only, search for more alternatives):

Junit — Free testing tool used for Java
Nunit — Popular unit testing framework for .NET
JMockit — Expansive and adaptable tool for multiple coding languages
EMMA — Open-source toolkit for testing Java
PHPUnit — Used for PHP that enables pre-defining assertion methods to match code behavior
Postman — Popular tool for API testing

QA testers can also create unit tests outside of the codebase. Unit tests outside the code? How is that possible?

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What are Alternative Options for Creating Unit Tests?

Unit testing does not always have to mean tests built into the codebase. Many QA testers create effective unit tests using the following methods:

Black box functional test snippets
Smoke test suites
API tests
Automated tests using a modular test design

QA testers can create a series of black box functional tests for each function or code component when enough coding exists to perform the test in the application. Testing can be awkward at first when testers are used to system or end-to-end workflow test execution. Testing using small, specific tests per function is possible and serves to create a reusable base for later test case development and execution.

Smoke test suites are simplified tests that test the smallest function possible for each entity or functional area. Smoke test suites can be manual or automated to ensure defects are not found in the basic application functionality. Smoke tests are repeatable and easily debugged as specific units when defects are found.

API test creation is a form of unit testing. Creating manual or automated API tests creates an easy-to-maintain method of unit testing all application APIs continuously. In the same manner, an automated test tool can be used to create small, specific tests in a modular design. Modules can then be executed singly or combined as the code matures. Modular automated tests build a stable foundation of application functions that can be leveraged and reused for later testing efforts.

Unit testing ensures application quality throughout the software development process. Unit tests can be re-used in many ways including as smoke test suites or even an efficient form of regression testing individual functions. Even though unit testing does not find all defects and cannot be used for system or end-to-end testing, it builds in application quality from the start of the project.

Unit testing finds defects early when they are easier to isolate and repair. The sooner defects are found and fixed, the higher the application quality by release. When developers cannot perform unit testing, consider getting the QA testing team involved. Determine the unit testing method that works for the application, whether it’s traditional unit testing built into the codebase, or executed as API tests, black box testing, smoke test suites, or modular automated tests. QA testers can create effective unit testing that builds business value and better ensures software application from the beginning of the project through to the release.

Options for Manual Test Case Development & Management

Amyreichert — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 07:28:28 +0000

The purpose of developing test cases is to ensure the application functions as expected for the customer. Test cases provide basic application documentation for every function, feature, and integrated connection. Test case development often detects defects in the design or missing requirements early in the development process. Additionally, well-written test cases provide internal documentation for all application processing. Test case development is an important part of determining software quality and keeping defects away from customers.

Test cases are the glue that holds the testing and release process together. Why include the release process? Without significant test case coverage, the application will fail when released. So, test cases are the backbone of ensuring the application performs as expected for customers. Simply put test cases and find defects before customers experience them.

What tools can you use to develop test cases? Do you even need tools? There are multiple methods or options for manual test case development. Let’s review a few options and their impact on test organization and management.

Key Takeaways:

How to develop, store, and manage test cases?
What are the options for test case development and management?
What are the advantages of using a Test Management tool?
How do test case development and management become disorganized?
Learn tips for organizing test cases without using a Test Management system.

This guide presents a variety of options and methods for developing test cases and tips for managing an ever-growing test case suite.

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How to Develop, Store, and Manage Test Cases?

There are so many options for tools to develop test cases. The trick is selecting one and developing a plan to keep tests consistent, easy to update, and organized. The tool(s) required depends on test management needs, and the size of the team developing, executing, or using test cases for documentation purposes. Additionally, if testers plan to create Test Summary Reports or other test documentation, being able to easily find and determine the test’s objective is critical.

Additionally, when teams re-use tests or need to update or maintain them, the tests must be easy to track down. When the tests cannot be easily located then testers or users create another test or update the incorrect test case. Test cases improperly edited or changed create invalid tests that no longer represent an accurate application function or workflow.

When selecting tools for test case development and management, consider the following:

How many team members are developing test cases?
How often are new features added to the application?
Does the team expect to update, maintain or re-use test cases?
Does testing occur continuously or only during scheduled test execution periods?
What other roles plan to use the test cases?
Do you plan to share test cases with customers?

Consider the above when choosing which tool to use. Of course, test case development can start in one tool, and then move to another if the need arises. The problem is exporting and importing tests doesn’t work as well as one would like. You’ll end up spending significant time re-writing or copy-pasting tests to a new system.

What are the Options for Test Case Development and Management?

The options are nearly endless. First, there are the traditional test development and management tools like Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet tools, and Microsoft Word or other writing software tools. Google, Apple, and Microsoft provide cloud-based tools that serve the same functions. Most of these tools are free except for Microsoft tools which require a subscription.

The beauty of cloud-based tools is the ease of sharing documents with team members. Files are easily shared, edited, and even copied. Test documents are stored long-term and available for the full team at any time. An organization can do the same functions within JIRA’s Confluence and similar online tools meant for creating user stories, and user requirements. Many developer toolsets often include a text or spreadsheet file creator as well.

Other tool options to consider:

Trello, JIRA, or other task management tools
OneNote, Sticky Notes, or other note-taking tools
Notepad or simple text editor tools
Test Management Tools designed for managing test case
MindMapping

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What are the Advantages of using a Test Management Tool?

Test management tools provide structure and standardization for test cases. Test case development can be standardized with templates and other items to enforce a test case standard. Additionally, test management tools provide test development tools as well as test suite creation, test execution, and reporting. Essentially, test management tools provide the infrastructure to create, organize, and manage tests while also providing automatic or built-in reporting.

Other advantages of using a test management tool include:

Single tool access for all test cases
Version control
User access control for deleting and editing tests
Integration with automated test tools
Test storage with search options
Custom organizational framework for tests based on function or module
Accessible to all team members within the tool

Test management tools provide single-tool access for all team members. Test case development and management are simpler when stored in a tool. Research on tools that best fit the organization and size of the testing team is required. There are hundreds of Test Management tools from full application lifecycle management tools to simpler add-ons for JIRA and other similar task management systems. Plan to spend time testing out free demos and researching costs before selecting a tool.

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How Test Case Development and Management become disorganized

When testing teams use spreadsheets, writing programs, or online wiki-type tools to create test cases they can easily get disorganized rapidly. For example, our organization has 3 testers responsible for test case development, execution, and maintenance. Tester 1 uses a specific format in a spreadsheet, while Tester 2 uses a table in Word, and Tester 3 uses JIRA confluence and writes in a user story style.

The test suite will differ widely in tool, style, and form. Not to mention where or how you’d store the files. Many teams share files within DropBox, Sharepoint, or even JIRA Confluence. The problem arises when one has to find and share tests with others. Unless the team creates a standard test organization framework and testers agree on the style and tool type, the result is a mishmash of styles, tools, and writing styles.

If you plan to use spreadsheets or writing programs, then start by creating a standard format. When all test development is created within the expected standard format, sharing, understanding, and editing tests become simpler. Additionally, create a pattern or file folder system where test cases can be stored, version controlled, and easily located. Otherwise, the team spends more time simply trying to find the test cases than they will spend executing tests.

Before developing test cases, decide on an approach and plan test organization. The testing team needs to create a test management strategy that includes the standards for developing, storing, and managing test cases. The numbers of test cases tend to balloon rapidly, so organize them at the beginning to avoid having to redo any work.

There are many options for tools to develop and manage test cases. Anything from a simple spreadsheet or writing program to a full test management tool. Each has its advantages. Businesses may choose to use Excel for example simply because they already pay for it.Many organizations prefer Google Docs and Sheets because they’re easy to share amongst team members.

Remember to develop a strategy for developing, managing, and storing test cases before starting test case development. Once a test set becomes disorganized it’s next to impossible to fix without significant re-engineering and re-work. Keep test cases organized for more effective and efficient application testing.

QA Innovation — Using the senseshaping concept to discover customer needs

Amyreichert — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 11:32:17 +0000

QA testers have a unique role and responsibility to serve the customer. Serving the customer in software testing means protecting customers from application defects, failures, and perceived failures from missing or misunderstood requirements. Testing for known requirements based on documentation or discussion is the core of the testing profession. One unique way QA testers can both differentiate themselves and be innovative occurs when senseshaping is used to improve the application user experience.

Testers that test above and beyond the documented customer requirements understand that 90% of the time there are missing or misunderstood and thus incorrectly coded customer requirements in every project. Typically, the testing team blames the product group, the product group blames the developers or testers. Blame is unnecessary. What needs to be the focus is using senseshaping within the entire development, design, product, and test teams to better understand, define, and code an application for improved user experience.

The QA tester role typically has little or no control over where or how the requirements are obtained. However, QA testers can control requirements or user acceptance criteria analysis and review. The control comes from providing a thorough review and using senseshaping to detect missing or misunderstood customer requirements.

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Key Takeaways:

What is senseshaping?
What is sensemaking and how does it relate to senseshaping?
How does senseshaping impact application design?
What can QA testers do to use senseshaping to benefit application user experience?
Learn how to recognize missing requirements using senseshaping techniques.
Discover how QA testers can use senseshaping to uncover hidden defects.

This blog provides information on how QA testers provide innovation and improve user experience using senseshaping to detect missing or misunderstood requirements as part of a software development team.

What is Senseshaping?

Senseshaping is a process of interpreting customer needs and communicating them effectively to a diverse team. Senseshaping is used by Product management and design personnel to drive application feature design. Product managers and designers gather feature ideas and requirements by observing customer actions and holding dynamic requirement discussions.

The purpose of senseshaping is to create innovative application features with an accurate understanding of customer needs. Senseshaping uses the human concept of sensemaking to help team members interpret and respond to cues, events, or customer actions. Senseshaping and sensemaking enable the development team to create the application features in the manner the customer needs and expects even if exact intentions are unclear.

In this article, we look at what Regression testing is, its importance and types, and how to perform it.

What is Sensemaking and how does it relate to Senseshaping?

Sensemaking is the process humans use to recognize, interpret and assign meaning to actions. Sensemaking answers two questions: What’s going on and what do we do about it? Using sensemaking skills enables software development teams to improve product user experience by developing and designing based on customer needs, directly specified or indicated through actions or cues.

Sensemaking informs or formulates senseshaping. Essentially, senseshaping is a result of sensemaking. As humans, we start out making sense of actions, cues, and situations around or happening to us. As a result, we automatically begin to practice senseshaping or use our experiences and interpretations to answer what’s going on and formulate an approach to manage it.

Sensemaking can be difficult because it gets compromised by the desire to normalize situations or apply preconceived notions. When cues and actions are not considered uniquely but normalized or covered over then we likely respond in incorrect or conflicting ways. Often people communicate with others and then act together to form a response. Or team members disengage or come up with a new response that addresses the issue or situation. The question then becomes, does the solution still fulfill the customer’s need or requirement?

How does Senseshaping impact Application Design?

Senseshaping takes the feedback gained from sensemaking and in the case of product development, creates a design or function that best satisfies the user or customer. Using continuous feedback loops between software development team members enables a natural communication of user needs. The back and forth communication and understanding of the requirements is the goal of the senseshaping process.

Senseshaping process steps include:

Use sensemaking to gather information and context from diverse sources.
Communicate with other sources not previously used to assimilate different views.
Combine the sensemaking information acquired to merge both views and develop a unique perspective
Communicate a common perspective or approach that most credibly meets the need or solves the problem

Essentially, the software development team uses senseshaping to create an application feature or product that solves the customer’s need. By listening to customers and other team members the group creates an application that’s innovative for the customer. If a product manager or designer works alone or only with team members with the same senseshaping experiences, then they lose touch with the customer. Likewise, if developers or testing team members spend more time innovating new items outside the senseshaping norm, they waste time and lose touch with the application’s intent for the customer.

The best application design comes from a shared set of experiences. By using a wider array of sensemaking results, teams better understand customer needs. Instead of focusing on providing the latest and greatest technology for its own sake, the team comes to a better understanding of ways to solve problems and provide the functionality the customer needs.

How can QA testers use Senseshaping to benefit the Customer Experience?

QA testers and testing teams can use senseshaping data or results to analyze if the customer needs are met. Are there functions customers want but haven’t expressed? Are there cues the customer is not engaged with the application? Are customers dreading a new release? All questions are answered by analyzing the senseshaping information gathered from development team meetings and discussions.

Finding missing requirements during the requirements or user story analysis saves time for the development team and the customer. Missing requirements are missed cues or misunderstood requests that become defects after a code release. How can a QA tester determine if a cue has been missed or understood? Ask questions, if not of customers, then of developers, designers, and product managers.

Determine if any team member has a different understanding of the customer’s need. Another option is to mindmap or create a prototype of the functionality. Analyze the result for gaps, or where a function is implemented but fails to deliver on the customer’s implied need. As a QA tester ask yourself if a feature truly solves the customer’s need or request.

Next, analyze if the feature or application is normalized. Is the team developing what works for the customer or what has been accepted in the past? In other words, is the team using their senseshaping information to create something innovative that responds to customer cues and actions, or is the design the same old status quo approach? The tendency to return what once worked or a standard design is easier, but it may not meet the customer’s needs or expectations. QA testers can use senseshaping techniques and team data to ensure application features or solutions truly meet the customer’s needs.

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Conclusion

Senseshaping enables software development teams to create customer-focused applications that improve user experience. By using senseshaping to collect, analyze, and discuss, from various perspectives, development teams create applications that meet customer expectations. Meeting customer expectations improves user experience and creates a strong, loyal customer base.

Understanding that everyone makes sense of actions, cues, and life situations differently enables teams to use senseshaping to create an accurate understanding of customer requirements. An accurate understanding of customer needs ensures accurate functionality and design with the customer at the center. The tendency to normalize situations or make them fit a specific mold creates applications that fail customers and creates large defect or technical debt loads.

Use senseshaping with the software development team to enable a better understanding of customer requirements across the product, design, development, and testing team. QA testers can leverage senseshaping to analyze requirements or user stories and discover missing requirements and hidden defects before the release. QA testers can use senseshaping to ensure a higher quality application that meets customer needs and improves the customer experience.

Feeding your QA Career — Developing Instinctive & Practical Skills

Amyreichert — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 11:04:40 +0000

The QA testing profession requires both educational and long-term or experience-based learning. One can learn the basics from certification courses and exams, boot camp courses, and college-level courses where available. However, developing instinctive and practical skills works best when built with work experience.

QA testing requires a combination of skills that are part of your persona or are learned over time. Technical skills are acquired through education done on your own or purchased through an educational source. There are distinct human or personality traits that make the best QA testers. One can learn to code and understand numerous testing techniques and methodologies. However, the skills that set exceptional QAs apart are instinctive and practical, but not necessarily technical.

What are the most valuable skills for a QA tester? What are instinctive and practical skills and how can they set you apart as a QA tester? How do you develop instinctive and practical skills when working as a QA tester?

Key Takeaways:

What are instinctive skills for QA testers?
Why are instinctive skills important?
What are the practical skills needed for QA testers?
Learn about educational options for technical and practical skills.
Discover how to grow instinctive and practical skills and nurture your QA career.

What are Instinctive Skills?

Instinctive skills are human-based. In other words, you cannot learn them from a course or reading material. Instinctive skills can be nurtured and developed, but they stem from a QA tester’s persona or personality. For example, one critical instinctive skill that’s important for a QA tester is the ability to read people. In other words, the ability to discern what the person says from what they mean. Are they honest? Are they telling the truth or simply giving you an answer to send you on your way?

Another important instinctive skill in a software development team is the ability to communicate across gender and cultural lines. In other words, the ability to effectively communicate with anyone in a positive and non-combative manner. Many call it manipulation, but QA testers with exceptional communication skills have few issues communicating with developers, designers, product managers, or CEOs. Instinctive communication skills may be passive or assertive, but they get results without using force, intimidation, or coercion.

Building trust by using exceptional communication skills combined with empathy helps to foster a collaborative and positive workplace. More collaboration equals stronger and more productive development teams.

Other instinctive skills for QA testers include:

Ability to distinguish the truth from the fiction
A fearless need to discover how objects function
Keen understanding of human interactions and personal communication differences
Ability to command respect without force
Acting in a calm but assertive manner and standing your ground without being combative or defensive
The art of persuasion or the ability to convince others to join your way of thinking using logic and reason
Remain positive in the face of disorganization and chaos
Maintaining resilience during both low and high work experience times

In this article, we look at what Regression testing is, its importance and types, and how to perform it.

Why are Instinctive Skills Important?

Possessing or nurturing instinctive skills creates exceptional QA testers. Without the need for management intervention or interference, QA testers use their ability to communicate and read or understand human actions to enhance their drive for a higher-quality product. Better tools, improved work processes, realistic release schedules, and reasonable sprint or work planning are all benefits of using instinctive skills.

Instinctive skills go beyond the everyday how-to of practical skills and focus on gaining benefits over a longer term. In other words, the ability to read and understand people’s spoken or unspoken motives, concerns, and needs helps QA testers adjust their working relationships to gain the best benefit for customers. Application quality can often be affected by the trade-off of time versus money. There’s very little time to test and the application release provides the money that funds the continued operation of the company.

Striking a balance between customer experience and speed is essential for QA testers. Many times, the ability to rapidly adapt to change includes testing on shortened timelines to make promised customer dates. How a QA tester manages their workload remains consistent when organization is an instinctive skill. Staying organized under pressure keeps the focus on testing rather than getting frustrated, or negative when work doesn’t go as planned or isn’t as organized or structured as it could be.

The ability to continue to move forward in an organized and effective way is a strong instinctive skill that enhances the enjoyment of the testing job and creates longer-term employees that work towards solutions to improve the business.

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What are the Practical Skills needed for QA Testing?

Practical skills include understanding coding to participate in code reviews and demos effectively. Another practical skill is the ability to read and picture requirements and user stories to develop effective test cases. The ability to communicate in writing to create usable reference or training information is also a practical QA skill.

Additionally, QA testers that learn the workflow process used within the development team, the overall business and then apply it to their workflow would have developed a distinct practical skill. The ability to analyze and apply workflow processes ensures team collaboration and a higher quality testing effort. Another practical skill is developing an understanding of business metrics and applying them to the QA or development team to improve process efficiencies and organization. Another practical skill is the ability to leverage analytics and metrics to innovate solutions that improve the application for customers. Another practical skill is the ability to read code, understand and use code parsers and create test automation to expand the QA team’s test coverage capabilities.

Practical skills for QA testers also include:

Ability to organize and re-organize as needed
Coding and interpreting code variances
Adaptability to change
Focus on the task at hand rather than what’s not possible
Ability to manage chaos both internally and externally
Execute test scripts
Understand and fill in missing steps or gaps when test cases are incomplete
Eye for detail or noticing errors even without error messages

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Growing Instinctive and Practical Skills to Feed your QA Career

The first step is to say yes — yes to new projects, project management, or lead opportunities. Volunteer to start up a test automation project, or research and try out a test management or database tool. Sign up for a variety of options, whatever one stretches your existing skill set and allows you to meet and work with new team members.

Many QAs often hold back either due to being treated badly in a prior instance, lack of trust, or an existing overwhelming workload. The problem with holding back is it keeps you from meeting and interacting with others. Without interacting with others, you don’t learn or nurture either your instinctive or practical skills. Even if you’re overwhelmed with work, consider saying yes to new opportunities or special projects. Take a chance, go out on a limb and if it works, you’ll have gained a piece or two of additional knowledge and refreshed your skills.

Do you tend to be quiet and reserved? Then move out of your comfort zone and tackle something new. Do you find yourself in the limelight and you’d rather just do your job quietly and without being noticed? You think you do, but you don’t. Keep your name out there, command a sense of respect and dare I say, admiration. Even if nothing seems to happen, you may find a network connection later that remembers when you managed a project. It may not serve you immediately, but it may in the long run. Building instinctive skills is an ongoing task.

Build your practical skills the same way. Sign up for new projects or volunteer to manage or run something new. For example, perhaps you volunteer to review workflow processes and find where teams are running into issues. Perhaps there’s a project to reduce the number of tools used or condense development tools used to save time and reduce duplicate work.

Build additional practical and instinctive skills by actively communicating with others. Ask their opinions, give training, ask for insight, and learn new technologies. As a QA tester, find a willing developer who will train or show you how to automate API testing or create unit tests. Whatever it is, learn and communicate it. Then, offer training to others. Nothing solidifies your understanding of a topic like having to explain it to someone else.

QA testers can build on their instinctive and practical skills through performing software testing beyond the obvious. Take your tests further and deeper. Find the hidden critical defects under the surface. Build a reputation for finding critical defects by searching in different areas or areas that are harder to use. For example, APIs, database connections, or other backend processing engines and third-party code.

Building instinctive and practical skills are both important, but the instinctive skills set a QA tester apart. During work, engage with others as much as possible and say “yes” to new opportunities. Observe how people work and communicate and use your instincts to best work with them productively and positively whenever possible. Being positive doesn’t mean accepting abusive behavior, it means starting positive and building a working relationship. If you run into abusive coworkers, stand your ground and report the situation to your manager and human resources.

Offer training, advice, and mentorship and build your skills while at the same time developing trust. Discover the strength of building on your personal instincts to nurture, build, and grow a thriving QA career.

Starting & growing a QA Testing career

Amyreichert — Thu, 24 Nov 2022 11:16:35 +0000

The QA testing career includes following an often long, winding road filled with fun, chaos, challenges, and complexity. Financially, the spectrum is broad and influenced by location, company type, company size, and the QA tester’s experience level. QA testing is a profitable, enjoyable, and thriving career choice.

The most confusing part is how to get started. College course-level training still only exists at a few universities and is generally taught as a foundational or informational course associated with a computer programming degree.

A person can find effective career education outside of a traditional college or university. QA testing courses are popular with coding Bootcamp courses, as well as a variety of online courses and professional certification opportunities. In short, there are no shortages of QA testing educational opportunities but which path to choose?

As an experienced QA tester, how do you grow your career? It’s essential to keep pace with current trends and tools on an ongoing basis but which tools and trends?

This guide provides information and tips for starting a new QA testing career as well as how to grow one, what educational options exist, and how to choose the best path and change paths as needed.

Key Takeaways:

Why choose QA testing as a career?
Find out about a day in the life of a QA tester. Is it for you?
Learn the typical personality traits needed for success as a QA tester.
How to get started as a QA tester?
Learn various educational options for gaining knowledge and experience.
Discover what software development tools to understand or become familiar with.
How to grow an existing QA tester career?
Find out the optional career paths associated with a QA testing career.

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Why choose QA testing as a career?

Software application development is a strong business field that is forever growing and changing. Software testing is part of software development and is both necessary and in some cases, required.

There’s no shortage of web and mobile applications that need testing especially with the current impact of customer experience on a business. Customer experience controls a software application’s business success. Today, more than ever before, customers can easily switch applications, with lesser impact than in the past.

Positive customer experience scores demand that the quality of software functionality and the user’s overall experience take center stage. The need for software application development organizations to please the actual users has increased and is forcing businesses to spend time and effort on ensuring application quality. Essentially, testing software in some method will always require a human to judge an application as a potential customer. Whatever new forms software testing takes, there will always be a need for software testers.

A typical day in the life of a QA tester

The typical day in the life of a QA software tester depends on the software development methodology used by the software development team. When a team uses the Agile methodology the software tester’s workday includes:

Daily standup meeting with the development team(s).
Daily standup with QA team, lead, and/or manager.
Assigned user story review followed by test planning, test case development, and test execution.
Ensuring test servers are updated to required code build levels. QA testers may deploy code builds to test servers or request new builds get applied.
Test execution based on assigned user stories, and defect entry or writeup.
Regression test execution often occurs continuously when testers complete their assigned user stories. Test teams often divide regression suites by functions and execute them as time allows.
Attend sprint grooming meetings once a sprint is completed.
Test management tasks include updating test cases to reflect changed functionality.

When other software development methodologies are used, the daily software testing tasks typically include the same general tasks but on a different type of schedule. For example, instead of daily standups, you’ll attend weekly or daily status meetings. Test case planning involves formal documentation and sign-off by management before test execution begins. The tasks performed by the QA tester are similar but occur at different time intervals.

Keep in mind, that the work tasks listed above vary based on the software organization, the size of the team, and what business processes are defined.

Also check out about what Regression testing is, its importance and types, and how to perform it.

Personality traits for QA tester career success

Most successful QA software testers are curious and adventurous. Many QA testers enjoy putting together puzzles with no pictures and missing pieces. Professionalism abounds with exceptional skills in emotional intelligence. Testers are patient but assertive. QA testers enjoy learning new technology and enjoy researching and asking questions.

Software QA testers need creativity and imagination. The ability to develop creative and investigative testing is essential for finding defects outside of the visual UI. Testers are comfortable with competition, and a global workforce, and are inclusive and aware of their own bias.

Other common software tester personality traits include:

Skilled in team dynamics or working with varied personalities
Self-secure, calm, but professionally assertive
Willing to share ideas and ask questions
Looking to build a positive working reputation based on skill and results
Always willing to learn and explore new technology skills, tools, or methods.
Exceptional skills in understanding customers and their tendencies.

Where to start?

You’ve decided to become a QA software tester, now where to start? In good news, there are several options at varying price points for consideration. First establish your career goals, financial limits, and the time available for research and education. Start by searching through technology job sites online.

Read through the entry-level job descriptions as well as those requiring significant prior experience. The job descriptions include relevant information for choosing which tools to learn, and what type of software testing you’re interested in. For example, job openings in medical device software testing often require significant prior experience and a specific understanding of government medical device regulatory requirements. Job openings for testing a healthcare management app on a mobile device simply require an understanding of the customer’s use of the application and specific company-supplied tools.

Make a note of the most common tool names and skills mentioned in the job openings. You’ll have a long list, but it’s important to narrow down the list of tools to become familiar with.

Next, determine your educational options. Are you looking to attend a 4-year university program and major in computer science? It’s still unfortunately rare to find dedicated courses in software testing, but some universities offer at least one course associated with a computer science degree.

If you’re not interested in a long-term program, consider various options that coding bootcamps offer. By investing in a coding bootcamp program you’ll programming and coding skills along with dedicated education specifically in software testing. Coding bootcamps such as DEVMOUNTAIN provide education in both coding and QA software testing in a shortened time frame for a lower cost than a 4-year degree. Research options by searching online.

Additionally, there are free and low-cost online courses in software testing from professional organizations of various types. For example, certification groups like AT*SQA offer a variety of educational courses relevant to software testing in addition to their certification options. Courses are offered in specific areas and can be taken at will. Search online for a wide variety of software online education options.

Finally, perhaps self-study works best for your needs. Consider reading books and attending testing conferences in your local area. Many major cities have QA testing groups that sponsor testing conferences that include discussion panels, educational opportunities, and networking events.

The following books are personal favorites combining real-world experiences with valid technical topics that remain relevant to both Agile and non-Agile development practices:

James A Whittaker:
Exploratory Software Testing
How to Break Software
How to Break Web Software
How to Break Software Security
Cem Kaner, Jack Falk, and Hung Nguyen
Testing Computer Software

The Whittaker books are timeless, but Testing Computer Software although dated for Agile testing, does give the learner a great deal of useful and valid information on testing techniques and practical applications of various testing techniques. Pair these selections with more specific types of testing like Agile, security, and automated test development.

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How to grow a QA Testing career

QA software testing involves tools used to support testing. From test management tools that organized manual or automated test scripts and assist in tracking test execution from database viewers, and task management tools. Throughout a QA software testing career, new tool use and education become essential.

As a software tester, there are types of tools you’ll need to be familiar with. Most tools offer free trials that allow you to open it up and gain some idea of how it works. Frequently, one can’t get all the experience required from a free trial but understanding the basics gets you started. Avoid the temptation to become an expert in a single tool. Over time, it’s natural to gain expert understanding but typically tools don’t last long before they get replaced by the next latest and greatest tool. Plan to keep learning tools throughout your career.

Rather than focusing on specific tools, gain a general understanding by using a free trial, or reading through online documentation, blogs, or user group materials. A QA tester picks up a great deal of information from documentation.

Practice learning by documentation by reading about tools that perform the following functions:

Task management (user story planning, task planning, and work assignments)
Database query or data viewers (access to view and manipulate database records)
API connection testing (checking connectivity for API endpoints)
Automated test tools (developing scripted automated tests)
Performance/Load testing tools (testing application speed and load handling)
Defect management (inputting and managing defect records)
Security testing (executing basic security tests using automation or manual testing)
OWASP is an organization focused on security, all day every day. It’s worth reading over and incorporating into testing suites.
Development tools (coding and code management)
Device Testing Farms

Aside from tool changes, a QA tester grows by learning both the depth and breadth of the applications they test. Gaining an understanding of the front and backend functionality, connectivity details, and how the entire, integrated application functions is critical for growth. The more experience in all layers of an application, the greater a tester’s understanding develops on how and where to find defects.

Resources for growing a QA career include acquiring certifications or further education. Certifications carry weight, especially when hiring into a new organization. Certifications often set a tester apart when employers are wading through hundreds of applications.

Gaining knowledge as a QA tester comes with time spent testing, and using the educational resources the same as a new tester. Learn about testing that isn’t typically performed in your organization. Propose new testing techniques or additions to typical testing to improve application quality and be prepared to train teammates.

As a QA tester, if you’re interested in becoming a developer, volunteer to learn automated test scripting. It’s a good start in the world of development where you’ll gain skills on the job. Take online or other education for programming in the code languages currently used for developing on the web, mobile, or network depending on your interest.

QA testing is a solid career choice where duties vary and are rarely stagnant. Granted, a professional QA tester often performs repetitive tasks with the constant goal of finding application defects. However, how testing is performed, what types of testing are executed, and test design concepts and tools are continuously evolving.

The QA testing career is sustainable on its own or can be a way to open doors for career moves into development, product management, project management, technical documentation, or technical support. Additionally, in larger software development organizations there are multiple management roles within the QA group. Good luck!

How to Get Practical Details from PMs to Reduce Defects & Missing Requirements

Amyreichert — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 09:40:20 +0000

As a QA tester, you often find yourself with a set of user stories or requirements that are incomplete, or lacking sufficient user scenario details. What to do? The first logical step is to meet with or discuss the missing details with the product manager. Often the QA tester experiences pushback from the Product Manager saying the stories or requirements detail the business objective and not the specific use case scenarios.

Product managers are responsible for producing a quality product that works for customers. However, it often seems that customer supporting details or use case scenarios are extremely basic and frequently missing essential customer use case scenarios. Why are missing use case scenarios important? The most important reason is meeting customer expectations or the application providing a quality user experience. The next reason is missing use case scenario details result in defects, coding re-work or re-design, and release delays.

QA testers must get creative to discover the missing requirements while coding is still in progress. What are the options?

Gaps in requirements come from various places. The Product Manager (PM) may misunderstand the customer’s needs or fail to communicate the functionality effectively. The PM may not understand the inner workings of the application and not realize the impact of not supplying full user scenario details to code design, development, or testing.

Missing details results in developers and designers making assumptions on user functionality. Assumptions create defects or the need to re-code the feature. Re-work limits the team’s ability to release quality code to customers on time and meeting the customer’s expectations.

Key Takeaways:

Why are missing requirements or lack of user scenario details a problem?
Learn the importance of analyzing requirements or user stories for accuracy and completeness.
Discover steps for analyzing product manager documentation to determine the missing customer use case scenarios.
How can QA Testers fill in the missing customer use scenarios to reduce defects in the final product?
What is mind mapping and how does it benefit finding missing customer use details?

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What Problems do Missing Requirements or Missing Product Details cause?

Defects, additional stories, re-work, chaos, and frustration for the software development team are caused by missing user story details. For the business, missing details results in lost revenue from unsatisfied customers and a reputation for not meeting expectations. Customer use case scenarios are critical for getting the design, coding, and testing of the application correct.

Other problems caused by missing requirements or use case scenarios include:

Incorrect design and coding of features or defects
Missing support code for dependencies
Inaccurate test case development
Increased tech debt over time
User experience failures in production

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Why are Customer Use Scenario Details Important for QA Testing & Application Quality?

When details are not provided for all expected user scenarios, then developers and testers make assumptions on how the end user experiences the application. In other words, where details don’t exist, they’ll get created on the fly during code development. Developers must get coding done and will fill in any missing details with assumptions based on their understanding of the application and how it may be used by customers.

Developers and testers may individually or in combination analyze the story, define what’s missing, attempt to get further details and then continue to meet work deadlines. If their analysis is incorrect or the customer use scenarios inaccurate, then the resulting code and tests are also inaccurate. When Product Management performs UAT testing then defects may get entered for the misunderstanding of the user scenarios or customers receive the release and report defects and poor user experience.

Applications with poor user experience levels aren’t successful and reduce the brand’s value as well as business revenue.

How to Analyze User Stories & Requirements to Prevent Defects

If the Product Manager isn’t supplying details on user scenarios, then testers have several options:

Make them up on your own based on how the developer codes the features or discuss with the developer.
Create a prototype based on the information provided and then analyze and determine where there’s gaps, probable defects, or missed coding needs.
Use the mind mapping technique to flush out possible user scenarios.
Discussions with the software development team

Start with your own analysis first, be it using mind mapping or creating a prototype.

Mind mapping provides a visual method of brainstorming, problem solving, and evaluating software application workflows. Mind map diagrams allow testers to expand expected testing scenario paths and discover missing customer use case scenarios. By mapping out all customer workflows the testers create a visual map of user functionality and where options exist that aren’t covered by the user story or provided requirements.

Mind mapping is an effective method for analyzing user stories or requirements and finding defects or missing code especially with integrated dependencies and backend communication.

If mind mapping is too informal, try creating a prototype of the software application feature based on the supplied use case scenarios. Testers can draw up a wireframe prototype or use a tool to create a functional prototype that mimics the expected functionality.

Test through the prototype and document any gaps or missing features. For example, do the details in the story account for dependencies on data or data transfer? What about API integration or integration requirements with existing third-party applications?

Once you’ve done the analysis and documented any gaps or defects then schedule a meeting or discussion with the Product Manager and developers working on the story. During the meeting, resolve any missing requirements and misunderstandings with the user scenarios if possible. If missing requirements are not addressed, then enter defects for review and resolution. The most important factors is ensuring the quality of the application release and providing a positive customer experience.

The impact of defects from missing requirements or user scenario details affects the entire team, the application, the business, and the customer. As a QA it’s not technically your responsibility to fill in the missing details for the Product Manager. However, think of it as looking both ways before you cross the street. Yes, it’s the bus’s duty to stop, but you’re the one getting hit if it doesn’t.

Avoid the bus by using QA analysis skills to flush out missing requirements and gaps in customer use case scenarios. Use mind mapping or prototyping combined with active discussions with the team to avoid defects caused by missing customer scenario details.

A comprehensive Exploratory Testing tutorial that covers what Exploratory Testing is, its importance, benefits, and how to perform it with real-time examples

Exploratory testing — Building skills through science, creativity, and intuition

Amyreichert — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 07:58:40 +0000

QA testers must continuously learn and build their testing skills. The testing process changes constantly with ongoing speed to release pressure. The problem remains that defects find their way into every release seemingly regardless of the amount of time spent testing with formal manual and automated test scripts.

Traditional testing has changed with Agile, but Agile testing still needs improvement in overall release quality. How can a tester be fast, efficient, and find bugs before the release to customers? How best to continuously find bugs and protect customers from ever experiencing even minor, yet annoying defects? In the modern software application development world customer experience is critical. Defects whether severe, minor, or the simply annoying aren’t tolerated long with a customer’s ability to switch apps nearly at will. So, how best to build testing skills using creativity, science, and testing intuition?

Key Takeaways:

What does exploratory testing entail?
Learn the skills needed to be productive and efficient at exploratory testing.
Is it simply random testing, or is there a method to the madness?
Find out how to get started and what techniques to use.
How to blend science with creativity and intuition to find defects.
Build automated and manual testing skills using exploratory testing.

Think about enhancing quality and QA skills by embracing exploratory testing. Using exploratory testing techniques, QA testers use their technical experience and understanding of human behavior to test. Exploratory testing works perfectly with Agile development as well as other methodology types — be brave and embrace creative testing.

Exploratory testing works well with Agile because testing starts as soon as the code is in a testable-enough state. Beginning with design, and requirements or acceptance criteria review, and through to the theoretical end of the development cycle, exploratory testing is continuously effective.

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What is exploratory testing exactly?

Exploratory testing involves combining planning, testing, and execution into a rapidly occurring set of simultaneous events. The exploratory testing effort may be planned out by creating a team “charter.” The team charter outlines what areas or functions are tested and by whom. Regardless of whether you are a part of a small or large testing team or are the lone tester creating a charter, it essentially defines the test coverage. Charters provide test coverage documentation for management, and other development team members, or serve as release test documentation for regulatory requirements or basic release tracking.

The charter also defines the general style of testing. For example, are you using testing tours, or simply taking each major function and creating tests as you go — in other words, exploring the application as a new user, or an experienced user looking to try a new feature.

Exploratory tests may be developed into written scripts, checklists, done on the fly, or executed based on design, user story description, requirements, or the development documentation. The many beauties or benefits of exploratory testing are flexibility, speed, efficiency, effectiveness, and a do-as-you-will approach.

Exploratory testing requires the will to explore, literally, an application in totality. The only requirements are access to the application and functions for testing. An understanding of the application’s purpose, design, and expected results are helpful but not necessary. Testers simply need a sense of adventure and willingness to think outside the script.

Exploratory testing — Getting started

A tester’s skill with exploratory testing comes from experience, understanding of the application, and a knack for asking questions of developers. I call it investigative testing.

The tester investigates design and function by:

Talking with developers and asking where code has changed.
Ask where developers believe high-risk or complex code lives.
Get actively involved early, attending design reviews, debates, and developer code reviews if feasible.
Essentially, understand as much as possible about the code design and intended functions from the developer’s view.
Discuss the requirements or user story acceptance criteria with the product manager to gain a full understanding of the intended application function from the customers’ and product team’s point of view.

Hold on to the results of the investigation. Next, map out the application functionality needing testing keeping the following key points in mind:

Go beyond the “happy path” — look for the unhappier paths through the application.
Don’t simply confirm the application’s functions — test to break the code.
Review your testing map. Discover gaps in functionality, otherwise known as “holes” or points of no return.

Once you’ve done your investigation and understand how the application intends to function, edit the test map or mind map for accuracy.

Mind mapping application functionality effectively generates a brainstorm of ideas on where to test. You’ll discover back-end processes, and often forgotten vulnerabilities in third-party applications, database connections, and integrated messaging systems. Even the simplest applications be it mobile or web, connect with another API or a database.

If mind mapping seems non-technical, the same information may be captured effectively with a workflow diagram. Whichever tool helps to best visualize the application, use it and compare it to any documentation from the development or the product team. Find any differences? Typically, gaps occur as well as contradictions. Mapping or workflow charting makes gaps, contradictions, and missing functions visible for effective testing.

Give yourself time to dig around and find the gaps. Analyze where and how the application pulls or pushes data to the database, or other connected applications. Check when and how the page data refreshes. If the application allows a user to generate email or SMS messages externally or internally, test if the functionality works as expected. Connection issues with third-party messaging systems are plentiful — see how many you can find that are not documented.

Many testers continue by writing out stories or testing tours through the application functionality. If time exists, writing out testing flows works. I prefer to save time and test from my mind map or flow diagram. The important part is to identify variable paths for single users through the application’s functions in expected and unexpected ways.

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Use your own experience to test beyond the Happy Path

Exploratory testers find defects by using their own app experiences. We’ve all found defects in banking, retail, and game apps. How did you find them? You find them by trying to perform a function in an unpredicted way. Use the ability to mess up apps to your advantage and look for similar defects when testing applications.

For example, in my experience I find many documentation software applications handle bulleted and numbered lists poorly. I have struggled more with editing lists than any other feature. Often it’s easier to wipe out the list, save the document, and then put a new one in rather than try to edit the existing list. Typically, the text is off a line somehow, a carriage return or space throws off the entire list making editing impossible.

Another example, logging into a banking application and checking the box next to Remember me or the Remember this device for 30 days. These login options are a bad idea for security reasons, and most of these features simply don’t remember anything even when cookies are enabled. I use several banking and HR applications that simply never remember me, even before or after I clear the cache and cookies.
Collect defects found when using other apps and leverage the knowledge by testing them in the application under test. If friends or family bring up defects in apps, try those as well. Each individual’s negative experience with an app represents a gold mine of exploratory test information.

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Building testing skills

As a QA tester, the more one explores the entire depth and breadth of the applications, the faster testing skills and instincts improve. The science of exploratory testing revolves around learning, exploring, and fearlessly disturbing all the code aspects one can access.

Over time, testers learn the exploratory testing approach that helps them visualize missing functions, gaps in functionality or spot application design weaknesses. By continuously exploring, QA testers discover defects both superficial and those deeply embedded and persistent in the backend processing code the application relies on.

Up to now, the focus has been on manual testing methods for exploratory testing. What about building skills in test automation while exploratory testing? There is no reason test automation tools cannot be leveraged for exploratory testing. For example, codeless automation tools require no programming knowledge and are useful for creating automated test suites.

One could take their mind map, flow chart, or written descriptions of application functionality and create automated tests using them. Test automation works best in small functional groups or modular-style testing. However, one can simply break the visual tool into functional modules and automate each.

Prepare for frequent failures in test execution. When using automation for exploratory testing, expect frequent failures and re-work. Remember the purpose of exploratory testing is to find defects. Instead of manually walking through tests, use the automation tool and record modular tests and execute them repeatedly as tests are completed.

If tours or longer workflows are used for exploratory testing then attempt to automate full end-to-end paths through the functionality. See how far through the full workflow the automated tool gets. Best case scenario, the result is an automated test suite covering certain workflow paths. Such tests are handy for smoke test execution or adding to automated test suites executed against each release or code build.

Adding in science, creativity & intuition to build testing techniques

Creativity in test execution is an underrated QA tester skill, but extremely valuable in any type of testing. For success in exploratory testing, creative testing becomes essential. How can a tester use creativity, science, and intuition to build exploratory testing skills?

As previously discussed, don’t disregard using personal application experiences and gleaning them for testing options. An annoying app, login defect, or failed functionality from personal use becomes a gold mine of information when exploratory testing applications. Fearlessly test outside the expected, or happy path and create creative test scenarios. The beauty of creative testing is not having to execute the same test over and over again. Creative tests find more defects that customers won’t need to experience.

What about science? Use psychology to analyze developer and product team strengths and weaknesses. Analyze team members to understand common behaviors. When working with a development team over time, learn the mistakes team members tend to make. Some may work fast and get a lot of code checked in, but did they test it? Is there a unit test for it? When testing a code of theirs, how often does testing reveal a similar type of defect? Developers that don’t test their code, or after merging to the main code branch produce defects not seen in their local environment. Experience with developers allows a tester to use exploratory testing to quickly find defects without digging deeply.

Analyze yourself as well. Do you tend to test quickly? Or do you test too much? Understanding personal tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses assist in finding defects.

For example, development teams experience communication issues frequently especially when application code stretches between integration application systems. When one team changes a function in the backend, it breaks another team’s code. Integration testing using exploratory methods yields frequent defects. In another example, one team changes API code, and the application fails in another team’s area. Integration issues are a boon for finding defects by exploring the UI and backend processing.
Exploratory testing methods depend on fearless tester creativity. An exploratory tester finds the alternative answer, goes the wrong way, performs functions incorrectly, goes backward, and clicks buttons repeatedly. Exploratory testing tests outside the box and uncovers problems in areas otherwise untested. Be fearless, like an end-user who knows no bounds and doesn’t read instructions, but simply goes for it to get their work done.

Testing Centers of Excellence & Standardized QA Processes

Amyreichert — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:50:10 +0000

TCoE or Testing Centers of Excellence refers to creating, supporting, and training QA testers using standardized testing procedures and processes. Long referred to as the QA Process, TCoEs are useful for establishing test organization in an Agile development environment.

Agile testing teams are usually automation focused but often become chaotic, and inefficient when it is time to train team members or switch QA testers to different Agile teams. After all, without organization, each QA team member within an Agile team tends to make their processes. When changing teams or trying to train new QA testers, it becomes difficult to manage and learn yet another new process.

Making QA testing more efficient and effective, while giving QA testing greater business value means supporting and nurturing a strong TCoE.

Key Takeaways:

What does TCoE or testing center of excellence mean?
Keys to creating an organized and effective testing team.
Learn the ways standardized testing methods improve software quality.
How to create an effective TCoE within an Agile development team?
Find out the benefits of standardizing QA testing processes in a TCoE.
Discover how effective and efficient testing is when it’s part of the development effort rather than a support function only.

This guide describes what a TCoE is, how to create one within your organization, and the benefits a TCoE provides for the software development team. Additionally, this guide provides information on building a cohesive, organized, and flexible QA testing team by utilizing a TCoE.

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What is a Testing Center of Excellence (TCoE) in Software Development?

The TCoE is the center of QA testing activity. It’s the standardized or organized process documentation, training, and support center for QA testers.

In an Agile development team, the QA tester typically performs testing for one, two, or even more teams. Additionally, testers are often moved to a different team depending on the need or workload. There’s certainly nothing wrong with flexibility, the problem is when teams have different work processes, rules, or procedures. Changing teams takes the focus off testing and puts it on spending time figuring out what to do.

For example, when working do you lose focus, attention, and time when you are forced to switch gears often? How often is too often? When teams are testing and operating under different processes and expectations, or worse — no process at all, how does a new QA team member get started without wasting time struggling to catch up or catch on? The answer lies in establishing a common goal and work processes as a team. The TCoE is the repository of process information and knowledge. One can think of it as a library of all the information a QA tester needs to execute testing both effectively and efficiently.

The types of processes standardized in a TCoE include:

Defect Entry
Defect Tracking tool procedures or instruction
Manual testing procedures and techniques
Manual test examples
Manual testing tool use instruction
Automated test development procedures
Automated test examples
Automated tool use instructions
QA role definitions and description

Successful TCoEs have full support both in words and actions of development management. TCoEs are meant to improve quality using continuous improvement methods and by increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the QA testing team.

The TCoE has to be owned and operated as an independent voice for application quality. Typically, a QA Lead or Senior QA manages a team of QAs responsible for implementing processes, educating the QA team, and keeping documentation up to date. QAs may serve in a TCoE committee for example, and review processes after each release, quarterly, or yearly. The point is that the TCoE creation and evolution is the responsibility of a team, not an individual, regardless of ranking.

Benefits of Standardized QA Processes

Organized testing improves testing speed and effectiveness. Testers, developers, and the rest of the development team know what to expect from testing. Testers themselves better understand the tasks to execute and spend more time testing than trying to figure out how to test.

QA testers can better focus on providing quality test execution in the early development stages rather than waiting for developer code to drop. More time and focus on testing, the more defects are found and the scope, breadth, and depth of testing increases.

Organized testing with a TCoE does not mean testers lose creativity or innovation. Creativity, innovation, and imagination in finding and locating defects are critical to testing success. Standard procedures provide the backbone of testing procedures to follow, they don’t limit the testing effort. Organized testing is easier to track, document, prove, and eliminates wasted time spent trying to figure out how to test.

Other benefits of standardized QA Processes via a TCoE include:

Ability to move team members without the need for training.
Increased business value with a knowledgeable team of testers.
Organized testing to ensure testing coverage and depth.
Known procedures eliminate guesswork and re-work.
Being part of the TCoE committee builds leadership and training skills.
Improved adherence to release schedules
Consistent tool use

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How to Create a TCoE?

Creating a ToCE can be as simple as using a Dropbox folder, or other shared, secured accessible digital storage folder and storing procedures within it. Many test management or development tools include a library or repository function that can be utilized for accessing and storing TCoE data or deliverables.

Make sure users cannot delete or edit the TCoE folders or data. As a team, create the committee team and get started on creating processes and procedures that apply. Include team members from development and product, if possible, to include varying views and testing expertise. The committee works best when it’s a mixed group of QA experience from beginners to seniors. Innovation comes from diversity and inclusion of different ideas, views, opinions, and experiences. Use it to build a strong TCoE team.

Steps to creating a successful TCoE also include:

Defining tools for tasks such as defect management and test development.
Developing processes with intuitive detail for new users to follow and understand.
Ensuring easy accessibility and understanding for all users across the software development team.
Keep processes clear, succinct, direct, and to the point. Clear and accurate communication is the goal.

Keys to Creating a Cohesive, Organized, and Effective QA Team

A function of a TCoE is providing education and support for QA testers around processes and procedures to follow regardless of the team they’re assigned to. Another aspect of TCoE leadership is making the QA voice heard and respected. Being a part of every development conversation and decision is critical.

A TCoE and the QA testers within the team need to be part of the development process as a whole, rather than playing a support role. Ownership and accountability for QA testers increase when testers are included within the development team rather than viewed as an outsider, or as an unnecessary support role. Being an integral part of application development improves QA tester engagement, focus, energy, and enthusiasm for providing effective and efficient testing.

Inclusive and diversity benefit team innovation, and cohesiveness. Diversity and inclusion affect not only factors like race or gender, but also include experience levels, roles, and leadership skills. Team members contribute more when they have a variety of experiences to share concerning work, life, management, and software development.

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TCoE & Creating a Successful Agile Software Development Team

TCoE focuses on organizing the QA testing process and procedures. However, an effective TCoE benefits the entire Agile software development team. By moving QA out of a support role and into an active part of overall development, there’s an increased chance of finding defects and discrepancies in both code and design early in the development cycle. Finding issues early reduces costs and chaos while improving release quality.

Organized testing in a TCoE assists development teams in moving QA testing resources where needed, whenever a move is needed. With standardized processes, QA testers already understand the expected outcome of their work and can focus on testing rather than struggling to follow new rules or guidelines.

Overall, a development team works more cohesively when processes are organized and standardized. By reducing the chaos, application code quality increases as does team productivity. Continuous improvement eliminates stagnation in procedures and processes and keeps innovation actively flowing. Less stress and active, engaged team members result in more releases that are on time, on budget, and an application with higher quality for users.

Chaos Engineering — Making Chaos work for Software Testing

Amyreichert — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 12:15:14 +0000

At first glance, chaos engineering sounds similar to extreme programming in the early Agile days. Chaos meant random changes and continuously shifting requirements and application functionality. Chaos engineering isn’t about the application functionality per se, it’s about the stability and functionality of the production server after a new release deploys. Chaos engineering, otherwise known as chaos testing, attempts to address testing coverage gaps between a test server and a live server with real customers, data, and transactions.

As software applications get more complex and integrated, they fail. Companies like Netflix and Amazon have frequently been victims of their success. Several times a thundering herd issue hits the system in varied ways and causes significant system failures where customers lose access to the service provider.

Think about it outside of a retail/service environment for a moment. Having to wait to shop or stream doesn’t sound like a critical problem. But consider a complex healthcare system that functions using integrated and dependent systems including APIs, microservices, third-party software, and medical devices. What happens when the system goes down? Patients are adversely affected, providers are at risk, and physicians go back to manual processes which are slow, inaccurate, and time-consuming.

This guide describes the basic principles and benefits of chaos engineering, and how it impacts the QA testing team and provides higher quality software application design and function for improved customer experience.

Key Takeaways:

What is Chaos Engineering?
What are the benefits of Chaos Engineering?
How to improve testing and application design using Chaos?
Determine how the QA testing team can manage chaos engineering test design and execution.
Discover the value of executing chaos tests on production.
Learn the importance of a blast radius when testing in production.

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What is Chaos Engineering?

Chaos engineering means testing a distributed computer system using random and unexpected failure conditions to identify weaknesses present in the system. Random and unexpected actions, failures, and conditions equal chaos.

Chaos engineering is a software development methodology that enables testing creativity and expanded test coverage to discover and plan for system errors. Not the average system error, but catastrophic errors that take down the network and cause customer access interruptions for any length of time.

Originally established by Netflix when transferring their entire infrastructure to AWS. Netflix developed two principles to test to prevent or minimize the impact of the move on customers.

Chaos engineering principles include:

Systems never have a single point of failure.
A single point of failure refers to the possibility a failure in the system leads to customer interruption or significant access downtime.
Systems always have at least one single point of failure.
Software development teams must create effective tests and monitor the system to ensure there is never a single point of failure.

Chaos engineering proactively identifies errors to prevent production server outages from impacting customers. Chaos engineering is not random, or undisciplined testing. Chaos engineering relies on the ability to monitor the production server and execute real-life test simulations to determine how the application responds to failures in integrated or connected services and systems.

Chaos engineering includes performing the following functions on the production server:

Define a steady-state or baseline to measure the application and server against.
Determine if the defined steady-state holds during experimental testing.
Test with minimal impact on users by defining and implementing tests within a blast radius.
Defining a blast radius means chaos tests are focused on a particular area and the resources are available to immediately respond to failures.
Introduce the planned chaos events in order, contained by the defined blast radius.
Introduce scenarios to mimic real-world failure scenarios. Failure scenarios examples include:
Server crash
Hardware malfunction
Connection failures
Third-party application failures
Monitor testing and repeat test scenarios being as creative with failure scenarios as possible.

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Benefits of Chaos Engineering & Chaos Testing

Chaos engineering benefits an organization by identifying server and application vulnerabilities, integration failures, and system crashes before the customer experience is impacted. The production system continues to perform as expected with each new release regardless of the nature of the changes or updates.

Other benefits of chaos engineering include:

Faster issue identification and correction not captured by other QA testing efforts.
Fewer unplanned outages and downtime.
Provides ongoing system monitoring on the production server.
Increases test depth and coverage with controlled testing in production.

QA and Chaos Testing — Mix & Match

Chaos engineering appears similar to stress, load, and performance testing. However, the primary purpose is chaos or the randomness of the testing. For example, in chaos engineering, the system’s optimal or baseline state is set. Then, testers consider potential weaknesses and the effects of those on the customer experience and create a test scenario for each. Each test is then executed with assistance from DevOps and with resources available to repair the production server when tests successfully find problems.

In other types of performance testing, the application performance is tested when running on a test or development server. Often functional application tests are transformed into performance tests based on the user workflow. In a typical performance, stress, or load test, testers execute based on known factors against an expected result, rather than crash or cause production server failures.

Chaos engineering also must involve IT or DevOps to manage issues on the production server. If failures are caused by testing in a blast radius, resources must be ready to reinstate the production server as needed.

It’s common for a DevOps engineer to execute chaos engineering testing. However, there’s no reason QA testers cannot also design and execute chaos engineering testing. Coordination and cooperation between QA testing and DevOps during testing are key. QA testers have the skills to break software including hardware and backend connections, but they may not have the skills to restore the production server to normal operations rapidly. Leverage the QA tester’s ability and desire to break software to the business’s advantage with chaos engineering.

Mix and match QA testing resources with DevOps to ensure optimal chaos test development, execution, and support when testing in production. Add chaos test scenarios to scheduled regression testing even on a test server. Determine what all can be tested first on the test servers and then move into production. Adding chaos tests improves the depth and test coverage of QA testing while providing business value.

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Testing with a Blast Radius

Using a blast radius enables production level testing without negatively impacting the production server or taking it down completely. Designate distinct blast radius zones for similar functions. Next, group test scenarios into their related blasting zones. Executing tests by blast radius ensures failure control and reduces the possibility of unexpectedly and completely crashing the production server.

During chaos engineering testing, expect disruption. Coordinating efforts between IT, DevOps and QA testing is critical to minimize adverse effects on the production server and the customer experience. Ensure redundancy measures are in place to keep the server operational when chaos engineering testing causes issues.

One basic blast radius worth considering is the timing of test execution. Execute tests at non-peak periods to minimize performance impact on customers.

Productive Chaos

Chaos engineering creates real-world hardware, distributed software, and application failures in distributed systems. Chaos provides deeper testing into the vulnerabilities present in complex, integrated computer systems and the hardware they use. The purpose of chaos engineering is to ensure production server integrity.

Chaos engineering improves customer experience by reducing the number of failures or system crashes possible or present in production. Chaos engineering testing is executed by DevOps or QA testing teams on production servers with resources ready and able to keep production running in case of issues. The key to success is coordination and cooperation between DevOps and QA testing teams. Chaos works better by leveraging operational, test development, and defect-finding skills. Eliminate downtime on production and disruptions to the customer experience by executing chaos testing frequently.

Agile — Kanban, Scrum, Scrumban — Which One Works the Best?

Amyreichert — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 11:54:33 +0000

Agile software development stems from a philosophy that being agile means creating and responding to change. Agile means the ability to adapt and respond to change without missing a beat or dissolving into chaos. Being Agile means working together as a team that’s built with diverse capabilities, skills, and talents. Team members include both the business and software development sides working together to produce working software that meets or exceeds customer expectations continuously.

Agile success stems from delivering quality, working software to customers. Agile includes a manifesto and a list of 12 principles to follow. The principles are meant to steer software development in a positive direction while accepting and adapting to changes as they come along. Agile teams must work together and continuously change processes and procedures with the shared goal to improve the software as well as the development process.

As part of Agile software development, there are generally three standard options for managing team tasks and work progress. Each of them is considered Agile, but they are separate approaches that cover a variety of working situations. Agile teams use Scrum, Scrumban, or Kanban to manage work using an Agile approach. What’s the difference? Which one works the best? Do you have to select one or can creativity be your guide?

This guide provides information on the uses and differences of using Scrum, Scrumban, or Kanban to manage Agile team tasks and productivity.

Key Takeaways:

What are Scrum, Scrumban, and Kanban?
Learn how Scrum, Scrumban, and Kanban work.
What are the benefits of Scrum, Scrumban, and Kanban?
How to choose which one to use?
Find out the advantages and disadvantages of selecting a particular process.
Discover if switching to another Agile task management benefits the team.

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What are Scrum, Scrumban, and Kanban?

Each one uses an electronic or physical board to track work. The boards display varying columns determined by the team. Each column represents a business process task or function. For example, most software development projects contain these or similar tasks:

Backlog
To-Do
Development
Testing
Release

Each of these tasks is represented by a column on the board. User stories are created in the backlog and move through each column representing where the task is at in the development process.

Scrum manages work through planned sprints or iterations that take from 1–4 weeks in general. Each sprint begins and ends at set times and conforms to established deadlines for work completion. The Scrum board resets at the beginning of every new sprint. All completed work is archived within the designated sprint. Work that is not completed during the sprint typically rolls into the new sprint.

Kanban does not have pre-defined iterations or set time-based deadlines. Kanban workflows continuously across the board until the release work is completed. At that time, the team determines if the release is complete and then starts over with a new iteration. Work managed in a Kanban board remains active on the board but is typically moved off to a storage location by release version. Kanban teams also have planning, standup, and retrospective meetings as needed without the tight schedule requirements of Scrum.

Scrumban uses the defined and time-boxed sprints of Scrum in short, planned iterations typically from 1–4 weeks. The board used resembles more of a Kanban approach where iteration work flows continuously across the board. Scrumban teams follow the Kanban approach to having planning, standup, and retrospective meetings as needed only. Scrumban typically enforces stricter process rules like Scrum while at the same time using the continuous development approach of Kanban.

How do Scrum, Scrumban, and Kanban Work?

Scrum, Scrumban, and Kanban all use similar board constructs. The differences between the three are not necessarily in the boards but the rules that control the number of tasks appearing in a column, whether the task is pulled or pushed into a column. The columns differ based on the tasks a team or organization uses.

In Scrum, the board is designed to manage pre-defined iterations that span from 1 to 4 weeks in general. Each iteration has a set beginning and end date and the work associated with one sprint only displays when that sprint is active. Once a sprint is completed, the work tasks associated with it are archived. Using scrum means meeting sprint deadlines for starting and ending.

Additionally, sprint planning sessions are used to define which stories or task work is completed within the sprint. Other Agile-based meetings include daily standups to discuss issues with sprint work and once the sprint completes then a retrospective meeting occurs to discuss the need for any process changes to improve team productivity or workflow.

Kanban board rules apply to the number of work stories or tasks that can appear at one time in each column. In other words, Kanban work must continue to move through the board. When teams overload columns with too much work, the priority of tasks is lost, and often work is performed on lower priority items instead. By controlling the number of tasks allowed in each column at one time, the work is managed in a more continuously rolling fashion rather than spurts of chaos and confusion.

Scrum and Scrumban enforce similar board rules. Scrumban came into being because Scrum stories frequently roll over into the following sprints when work is not fully completed within a sprint. Many teams using Scrum waste a great deal of time managing uncompleted work.

For example, when a story is not both developed and tested within the sprint timeline, the team moves to the next sprint. What happens to the code the developer checked in? What about the testing if the story was in testing but not completed? When sprint work is not completed within the sprint, developers, and testers waste time moving or deleting work to another sprint.

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What are the Benefits of Choosing each Approach?

The benefits of each approach depend on the team’s established processes within an organization. Management styles and roles often dictate the type of approach a group can manage. For example, when managing large-scale projects that must deliver on a set timeline, Scrum is usually the first choice. However, as work rolls across sprints, many teams move to Scrumban to minimize re-work resulting from missed deadlines.

Kanban benefits include:

No arbitrary sprint deadlines
Less pressure to rush work to completion
Less lost time to unnecessary or unproductive meetings
A continuous, always moving flow of work
Easily visible work progress

Don’t be fooled, however, there are always deadlines. Releases must get to customers by defined deadlines. The difference with Kanban is the release has a deadline, not each week of work. So, when stories or work tasks take longer than expected or involve more work than indicated, there’s time to make up the work without impacting the release schedule or having to change all the sprint dates to complete the work. Less stress, less mess, and less time wasted re-doing or rolling work over to the next iteration.

Scrum benefits include:

Controlled deadlines, often ignored but still present
Faster paced development
Rapid work progress based on prioritized work
When iterations are complete, management believes work is complete

Scrumban benefits include:

Controlled deadlines, often ignored but still present
Use of a continuous board flow
Easier to locate stories or work from previous sprints
Better visualization of release work progress

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Tips for Choosing a Task Management Process

One of the best aspects of Agile is the ability to change and adapt. When choosing a task management process start with the one you think best meets the team’s working habits and needs. The task management type decision may take experimentation before choosing the best one.

Continuous improvement means changing the task management type when it’s not working. If not changing, then create a version that works for your team. Agile is about adaptability to change which includes how work is managed.

Select the process that works best for the team and release quality and productivity. I have a strong preference for Kanban based on its continuous flow of work with fewer deadlines. I work better when I can self-manage work that needs more attention or has issues and still make my deadlines. I don’t care for the false deadline pressure of Scrum or Scrumban. Every time I’ve been on a team using Scrum, it’s taken approximately a month to switch to Scrumban and then eventually move into Kanban.

Try each one out for a month or two and select the one that works the best for the team or create your own, unique version. Each business functions differently, make the selected task management system work for the team.