Problem: People tend to forget that testing starts way before any code is written.
One of the common mistakes is to wait with test until running code is available. Some testers spend their time writing huge test plans, and a million test cases while waiting for some running code to test. Some might even do reviews of specifications, flowdiagrams etc. but still all of these activities require somebody else to deliver some test basics. Do not get me wrong here, cases and reviews are definitely worthy workproducts, but waiting around for someone else to deliver something to test is a waste.
Solution: Informal discussions for clarification
Grab a cup of coffee, and go talk to people – Your project is full of people who all knows something about the product. I love this exercise, as it allows me to interact with project stakeholders and explore functionality in the making.
In order to
have a good discussion there are rules of engagement that I suggest that you
have in mind when you start debating ‘the state of the union’ with your peers.
I came
across this article while googling for discussion rules: http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Good-at-Group-Discussion
I really
like the tips listed in above article – If applied in a software development
context, I bet that you will clear many misunderstandings, and raise general level
quality. In my experience, talking about the product happens rarely, as
developers and testers tend to rely on what is in the specifications and make assumptions
of what is not. These assumptions often materialize as shortcomings later, and cost
escalation modelling tells a tale of waste and cost that should must avoided.
Yesterday
we made some money on this exercise, and this was how it happened:
One of our
developers is currently working on a feature in the current sprint. This
feature is relying of data that it compares and uses to generate some reports. Easy?! Yes, but after a cup of coffee things changed. The new perspective was caused by a discussion on test scenarios that I executed earlier in the test environment. While looking for test data the developer found my scenarios and asked me if I could give some details on the business behind.
This
sparked an interesting discussion on population of data models, the business
behind the requirements and the design to be for the new feature. After this discussion,
the developer took a new course, incorporating some of the scenarios I brought
to the table. I took the conclusions from the discussion and used that for
drafting the test charter that will be first hit on the new functionality. Win-win
for a cup of coffee and a chat.
Have a nice
discussion & Happy testing!
/Nicolai
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