This post is part of the “Testing for Agile Teams” series.
We do different types of testing to accomplish different goals.
Your team has its own unique context. It’s a tool, not a rule.
Tests that support the team
- Supports the team as it develops the product:
- Drives development to deliver the requested business value.
- Safety net to prevent silent regressions.
Quadrant 1
- Test-Driven Development
- Units tests verify functionality of a small subset of the system (object/method).
- Component tests verify a larger part, as a group of classes that provide a service.
- These tests are automated and written in the same programming language as the application (dev team only).
Quadrant 2
- Define external quality and the features the customers want.
- Drive dev team at a higher level.
- Tests are derived from examples, provided by the customer team.
- Each test verifies a business satisfaction condiction (readable by the customer team).
Tests that critique review the product
Quadrant 3
- Even if Q1 and Q2 are OK…
- Testers use their senses and intuition to check if the team has delivered the value required, “what the customer really wants”.
- Users and customers perform these tests, in order to approve finished stories.
- Gathering their reactions an knowledge of how they use the systems is an advantage.
- In exploratory testing, the tester simultaneously designs and performs tests.
- It’s not ad hoc testing, it’s guided by a strategy, creativity and intuition with defined constraints.
- From the start, testers start thinking of scenarios they want to try, as end users will.
Quadrant 4
- For some cases they might be more important than actual functionality.
- Example: if application performance is critical, plan to test with production-level loads as soon as testable code is available.
- Make sure all necessary testing is done at the right time.
- Example: if you find out too late that your design doesn’t scale, start load testing earlier next time.
- This quadrant provides feedback to the left side of the matrix.
- Use lightweight tools to create test data and set up scenarios.
This post is a personal summary of a chapter from the book Agile Testing: A Practical Guide For Testers And Agile Teams. I’m sure you’ll find that book useful too.
