Belgium Testing Days Above and beyond the call of duty

Intro Goals of this presentation Toolbox of a tester

Concept Tools

Using the Toolbox in challenging conditions

Development delayed, deadline wasnt Blocking issues Absence of Project Manager, Project Leader Above and beyond the call of duty

Conclusion Questions

As a tester you always have a good job definition:

Well described features

Perfectly written documentation

More than sufficient budget

Good test environment delivered on schedule

How familiar does this sound to you?

Not very familiar to the most of us!

When encountering problems we see 3 levels of integrity:
Fulfill your expected duty: stay within the borders of your tasks Act proactively, search solutions for the problems or other test work within the project Above and beyond the call of duty: take your full responsability in the project.

Intro Goals of this presentation Toolbox of a tester

Concept Tools

Using the Toolbox in challenging conditions

Development delayed, deadline wasnt Blocking issues Absence of Project Manager, Project Leader Above and beyond the call of duty

Conclusion Questions

Overview of the testers tools

How to use tools in situations, taking ownership of problems Do more than expected.
Help your career forward!

Intro Goals of this presentation Toolbox of a tester

Concept Tools

Using the Toolbox in challenging conditions

Development delayed, deadline wasnt Blocking issues Absence of Project Manager, Project Leader Above and beyond the call of duty

Conclusion Questions

Concept
Methaphore: all skills, data, tools and methods a tester Help to make clear what to use when.

The plans
Base plans
Most recent versions of:
Functional Analysis Use Case Technical Analysis Etc (the more information, the better)

The plans
Blue prints
Master Test Plan, contains:
Test priorities People and functions within the project Bug severities and bug flow Links to all the relevant docs

Test requirement Hierarchy, contains:

Requirements and their priorities Test progress report

Lunchbox
Social skills are important! (communication, communication, communication)
Face to face Try to blend in with the team (same work space, lunch break)

Same goal: deliver a good software package to the customer. But stay independent

Mobile phone
Correct means of communication Speed dial:
All responsibles within the project

Contact data:
Helpdesk or responsible for network access and infrastructure Sales responsible

Make a list of back-up in case of holidays/illness

Screw driver
The different types:
Whitebox testing (if done by development, check if this is done!)
Blackbox testing

Non functional testing (ISO 9126)

Intro Goals of this presentation Toolbox of a tester

Concept Tools

Using the Toolbox in challenging conditions

Development delayed, deadline wasnt Blocking issues Absence of Project Manager, Project Leader Above and beyond the call of duty

Conclusion Questions

 Development delayed, deadline wasnt

Blue prints:

Adapt priorities and risks for deadline and clarify risks:

Low priorities tested quickly or not Less detailed documentation (Bug reporting NOT included)

Mobile phone:

Communicate delays, priorities and risks asap

Too late => no time for discusion/adaptation

Screw driver:

Cancel some tests (e.g. load testing)

 Blocking issues

Blocking issue: Documentation is incomplete, not provided Lunch box:

Face to face: determine documentation deadline!

Mobile phone

Confirm deadline by e-mail Documentation deadline not met:

1. Contact the responsible to get an explanation 2. Communicate consequences clearly with all contacts

Blocking issue: Module is not testable Blue prints:

Adjust test schedule and risks 2nd project (last resort) Inform your contacts

Mobile phone: Screw driver: Lunch box:

No other modules: Alternative tests

Risk areas: Dev can indicate them if asked.

Blocking issue: Test environment NOK Mobile phone:

Clearly communicate problems (as if it was a bug) and consequenses

Lunch box:
Other environments you can use Test analysis Other tasks (assist dev)

Blocking issue: Absence of the PM, PL Lunch box:

Together withTechnical Project Leader take the lead Shepard not a dictator!

Mobile phone:

Communication, communication, communication, certainly with Technical Project Leader.

Blue prints:

Guideline for deadlines, priorities and risks.

Above and beyond the call of duty Lunchbox and mobile phone:
Development and (future) helpdesk:
Share your experience Listen and avoid unnecessary obstacles.

Project Manager/Project Leader (and Sales):

Agreements with customer BEFORE test analysis Including testing, saves money!!!

Above and beyond the call of duty

Blue prints:
Presentations: demo and courses
Knowledge to make (and give) presentations

Manuals
A good test plan is a solid base

Flows
Define a flow for incident management for all roles Define a production problem flow

Above and beyond the call of duty Blue prints:

How to spread the effort of the QA team:
Start small with test analysis Closer to the deadline, more testers (execution) Avoids a whole team is blocked from the start

Ruler
Mesuring quality of development?!
Calculate a Key Performance Indicator: 1) Determine bug severities:
Severity
Critical Major Minor Trivial

Description
Crash, data loss, serious memory leak Functionality doesnt work, no workaround Functionality doesnt work, workaround for customer Cosmetic (e.g. typo)

Points
4 1,5 0,5 0,25

Ruler
2) Establish project complexity: 1 = Hard , 2 = Normal, 3 = Easy
3) Objective calculation for development quality: KPI = ( Total bug points X Complexity ) Number of development days 4) Grading system:
KPI 0 0,5 1,25 2,5 < KPI <= 0,5 < KPI <= 1,25 < KPI <= 2,5 < KPI Result Excellent Good Below expectations Failure

Intro Goals of this presentation Toolbox of a tester

Concept Tools

Using the Toolbox in challenging conditions

Development delayed, deadline wasnt Blocking issues Absence of Project Manager, Project Leader Above and beyond the call of duty

Conclusion Questions

Improve professional skills Self confidence, ownership of problems

Be assertive, bear in mind the users point of view, but never undermine your co-workers!

Yes,

we can!!!

Intro Goals of this presentation Toolbox of a tester

Concept Tools

Using the Toolbox in challenging conditions

Development delayed, deadline wasnt Blocking issues Absence of Project Manager, Project Leader Above and beyond the call of duty

Conclusion Questions