Test Statements: A Tool for Testers

Writing by Dan on Thursday, 12 of February, 2009 at 12:16 pm

With a scenario of new project development methodologies and the increased speed to market, testing needs to pace up accordingly. To face the pace, to help balance the need for thoroughness and ‘best practice’ with the need for speed and pragmatism, there emerges ‘Test statements’, a technique pioneered by AppLabs.

Test statements are structured, they are self contained tests presented in the form of a sentence or paragraph, containing test objectives, test data and test schedule elements. The test statements are used to guide exploratory testing approach. It is one technique to be considered alongside others as part of a project test strategy.

Test statements comprise of three elements, Test Objective, Test Data and the Schedule. When pulled together, these elements provide a framework for exploratory testing.

Here are ten steps to guide the tester through the Planning, Build, Execution and Completion phases of the process:

In the Planning phase:

  1. Identify test statement structureIn the Build phase:
  2. Brainstorm key test requirements, for each test requirement identified
  3. Generate the data element of the statement
  4. Generate the schedule element for each test requirement identified
  5. Peer review the document by other business Testers
  6. Use the test statements to verify against other functional tests (optional)During the Execution phase:
  7. Schedule tests (optional),
  8. Run tests and Record the results.In Completion, the final phase of the process:
  9. Report the results
  10. Improve the tests (optional).

Category: Software Testing, Test Plan

No Comments

No comments yet.

Leave a comment

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>