Confidential | Copyright © Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd.

Testing – From A

Critic’s Perspective

Palak KediaPalak.kedia@lntinfotech.com

(O) +91 020 6641 6223

(M) +91 9890562866

What I will talk about…

When projects fail

Tester’s version

Stakeholder’s version

View on what changes could help us contribute

better to projects

When things go wrong – tester’s view

Inconsistent Change

Control.

Informal communication

between BA and Dev

Test reports are

generated but not

used

Different people wanted

different metrics.

Automation failed

since the screens were

not stable.

Timelines are dictated

by others.

Development late,

squeezing the testing

schedule

Unit testing not done..

“Code thrown on the

wall”

When things go wrong…Stakeholder’s

version

Defects found very late in the lifecycle of the project.

Too much of our time is spent supporting the test

environments, test data etc.

Testers could do the routine job well but lacked

innovation.

Metrics are good but not always practical and

helpful.

Lot of money was spent on automation. It never

worked.

Need to understand that change is inevitable

and can't be avoided

Testing cycle time needs to be reduced

Development

Team

Project

Manager

Business

Sponsor

Business

How testing team can help …

Understand project at architecture level

Review technical design against the functional design to understand the

gaps

Develop utilities to explore alternate ways to test

Collaborate to have right mix of technical and functional knowledge

Right mix of technical and functional skills :

Project 1:

Tester focuses on

functional customer

requirements,

compatibility, and

coordination with

other teams?

Project 2 :

Tester does all of above AND

Understands architecture &

implements code-aware test

tools / (e.g. Simulators, test

harness etc.)

Is able to identify the impact of

change by doing static analysis

Which

project has a

better tester ?

How testing team can help …

Automation – Right Time, Tool

& ScopePractical example

Test Harness used as a alternate

way to test when the front end

were unstable

Test harness / simulator based

automation

Test Report automation / Macro

based automation / Test data

automation

Explore the features of

development tool to do automated

testing

Be creative in tool selection.

Choose the right tool over tool

which you are comfortable with

Policy

issue

portal

Portal

Test

harness

Legacy

System

File Comparison

XML

How testing team can help …

Embrace change Practical example

Combine testing methodologies

Collaborate with developers, BA’s,

architects, Release Management

Innovative testing methodologies

― Risk based testing

― Orthogonal Array technique

Independent testers Vs

Independent thinkers

Flexible entry exit criteria

In a non-iterative environment use

exploratory testing to identify the

probable change points early

Scope

Itera

tion

Rele

ase

Pla

n Itera

tion

Rele

ase

Pla

n

Use Cases

System

Testing

User

Acceptance

Testing

Implement

Scope

How testing team can help …

Right Metrics … Right Forum Practical example

Trends for a release used to do

predictive analysis of the expected

number of unit testing defects to

ensure a smooth GO LIVE

Set right goals for the team

Analyze the data to draw an

inference

Discourage Deceptive Metrics

― Number of defects found per

release

― Number of test cases

documented

― Number of test cases

executed

Collecting Metrics

Analyzing Trends

Identify Process

Improve-ments

Defining/

Revising

Goals

Monitoring Process

Performa-nce

Implement the

following five Point

Plan:

-Point 1

-Point 2

-Point 3

-point 5 Me

an

of

Te

stC

ase

s

Cre

ate

d /

Pe

rso

n d

ay

54321

15

10

5

5432

54321

15

10

5

5432

Reqt Stability/Understanding Reusability Index

Complexity of WI Skill Level of Test Team

Main Effects Plot (data means) for TestCases Created / Person day

Observation

Ind

ivid

ua

l V

alu

e

15131197531

20.0

17.5

15.0

12.5

10.0

7.5

5.0

_X=10.25

UB=13.26

LB=7.98

I Chart of Observed: Test Cases Created/PD

How testing team can help …

Communicate & Collaborate

E-mailWiki Listening

IM

Phone MeetingsSigns and

Symbol

Past and present of testing

Prevention oriented

Evaluation oriented

Destruction oriented

Demonstration oriented

XP, RUP, Agile, Pair programming ???

Jan 2005

Until 19561957–1978

1979–1982

1988–2000

2000-2010 ????

Debugging orientedSource : Wikipedia

1987 - 1987

What is testing ?

Jan 2005

Source : Cem Kaner

“Testing is a technical

investigation of a product,

an empirical search for

quality-related information

of value to a project's

stakeholders”

Thank You

Jan 2005

Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd.