Test Planning
Testers need the skills to plan tests, including the selection of techniques and methods to be used to validate the product against its approved requirements and design. Test planning assesses the business and technical risks of the software application, and then develops a plan to determine if the software minimizes those risks. Test planners must understand the development methods and environment to effectively plan for testing, including regression testing. Specifically this knowledge category will address:
Prerequisites to Test Planning
1. Risk Analysis and Risk Management
a. Identifying Software Risks knowledge of the most common risks associated with software development and the platform on which you are working.
b. Identifying Testing Risks knowledge of the most common risks associated with software testing for the platform you are working on, tools beings used, and test methods being applied.
c. Identifying Premature Release Risk understand how to determine the risk associated with releasing unsatisfactory, untested software products.
d. Risk contributors ability to identify contributors to risk
e. Identifying Business Risks knowledge of the most common risks associated with the business using the software.
f. Risk Methods understanding of the strategies and approaches for identifying risks or problems associated with implementing and operating information technology, products, and processes; assessing their likelihood, and initiating strategies to test for those risks.
2. Managing Risks
a. Risk Magnitude ability to calculate and rank the severity of a risk quantitatively.
b. Risk Reduction Methods the strategies and approaches that can be used to minimize the magnitude of a risk.
c. Contingency Planning plans to reduce the magnitude of a known risk should the risk event occur.
Test Planning Entrance Criteria
1. Pre-Planning Activities
a. Success Criteria/Acceptance Criteria the criteria, established by the business at the inception of a project, that must be validated through testing to provide user management with the information needed to make an acceptance decision.
b. Test Objectives understanding of the objectives to be accomplished through testing.
c. Assumptions establishing those conditions that must exist for testing to be comprehensive and on schedule; for example, software must be available for testing on a given date, hardware configurations available for testing must include XYZ, etc.
d. Issues identifying specific situations/products/processes which, unless mitigated, will impact forward progress.
e. Constraints limiting factors to success.
f. Entrance Criteria/Exit Criteria the criteria that must be met prior to moving to the next level of testing, or into production, and how to realistically enforce this or minimally how to reduce risk to testing organization when external pressure (from other organizations) causes you to move to the next level without meeting exit/entrance criteria.
2. Test Planning
a. Test Scope what is to be tested
b. Test Plan the deliverables to meet the tests objectives; the activities to produce the test deliverables; and the schedule and resources to complete the activities.
c. Requirements/Traceability defines the tests needed and relates those tests to the requirements to be validated.
d. Estimating determines the amount of resources and timeframes required to accomplish the planned activities.
e. Scheduling establishes milestones for completing the testing effort and their dependencies on meeting the rest of the schedule.
f. Staffing selecting the size and competency of staff needed to achieve the test plan objectives.
g. Approach methods, tools, coverage and techniques used to accomplish test objectives.
h. Test Check Procedures (i.e., test quality control) set of procedures based on the test plan and test design, incorporating test cases that ensure that tests are performed correctly and completely.
i. Maximizing Test Effectiveness methods to assure test resources will be used most effectively.
3. Maintaining the Most Current Test Plan
a. Software Configuration Management (SCM) SCM is the organization of the components of a software system, including documentation, so that they fit together in a working order. It includes change management and version control.
b. Change Management modifies and controls the test plan in relationship to actual progress and scope of the system development. c. Version (control) the methods to control, monitor, and achieve change.
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