90 days to make a difference

Who am I?

I am a seasoned QA professional with over 20 years experience across industry sectors including

many well known Blue Chip companies

Why am I here?

I want to help your business to achieve more and work more effectively – I want to make a difference

How?

Engage

• Take the time to understand the specific business areas - see what they do

• Locate the subject matter experts - learn• Talk to developers, testers, BA’s and people in

the business – gauge the environment• Add value

Understand The Company

• Develop a good understanding of what your company produces and how this is being delivered

Address Constraints

In every endeavour constraints exist and must be addressed:• Resource – make the best of what you have

• Time – find more efficient ways to deliver

• Cost – work effectively within a budget

• Organisational change/adaptability – support the business to help them through change

Examine Risk Areas

Using a risk based test approach:• Finance – disruption of incoming/outgoing

funds• Statutory reporting• Data protection • Loss of reputation – failed campaigns, failed IT

systems• Failure of service delivery

What does risk cost?

In 2012 an untested update was made to RBS’s payment application causing chaos to thousands of people.

It cost RBS £125 million.

Testing focus

Do a test review:1) Check that there is a defined approach to

testing (unit, functional, non functional) 2) Check that it is repeatable 3) Check that it is measurable 4) Document (electronic format) how testing is

achieved – manual or automation scripts

Review Current Testing

• Review code test coverage • Confirm that unit testing is taking place• Review testing practices - is BDD*, TDD** being used?• Quality issues often start at the code level, and additional

rigour may be required around the delivery process• Review test scripting practice• Review what exploratory testing is done• Review BAU*** testing

*BDD Behavioural Driven Development, **TDD Test Driven Development, BAU – Business As Usual

Review Business As Usual

Review current testing for BAU• Work with users to understand the applications• Understand how HR, CRM, Finance and other

applications are supported and tested• Create a regression test set if one does not exit

(create scenarios and scripts)• Idenitfy a clear process for upgrading

applications

Using a BDD Test Approach

• Behaviour-driven development is a way to focus on how the system is used and to tie testing to a more real world definition that people understand:

• Given that a situation is true• When I take an action• Then an event takes place

Structure for Stories• Title (one line describing the story)• • Narrative:• As a [role]• I want [feature]• So that [benefit]• • Acceptance Criteria: (presented as Scenarios)• • Scenario 1: Title• Given [context]• And [some more context]...• When [event]• Then [outcome]• And [another outcome]...

Executable Specifications

• Turn requirements/stories into executable specifications using tools if appropriate

• This can be achieved via constructs like Cucumber and Gherkin where stories can be turned into automated tests in BDD format

Environments and Deployment

Make sure that there is a suitable process defined to allow easy deployment of code andenvironments for testing and production

Build and CI Process

• Review the build process to confirm it is robust

• Clarify whether Continuous Integration (CI) is appropriate

• Start to gauge the quality standard

Work with people to solve issues

Help people to focus on the job they are good at:• Redress the balance of testing work

undertaken by BA’s and Developers

Project delivery

How are requirements turned into deliveries?• Look at an agile approach to delivering

requirements – small pieces of the puzzle• Look at the advantages of working as

collaborators (Dev, Test, BA) working as one group – scrum based approach

Track Defects

It is important to record and resolve issuesfound in testing: • Log• Track• Resolve• Report Metrics

There will always be bugs!

Automate regression testing

• Turn manual test scripts into automation where appropriate

• Automate repetitive tasks where possible• Build automation as part of delivering code• Determine what level of quality suits your

organisation – get it to work with you and not against you

• Use continuous integration to verify the product

Make Sure Exceptions Are Logged

How are exceptions handled in applications? • Confirm that exceptions are being logged• Investigate whether a monitoring process is

required• Review support processes to confirm they

provide required information

Summary• Create a Test Strategy • Review unit level and functional testing, test scripting• Review BAU• Apply BDD, TDD test practice• Apply agile practice to requirement delivery• Rebalance testing work across the teams• Resolve issues around deployment/environments/build• Use test automation where appropriate• Track issues and resolve – Exception Handling• Use testing tools to assist in testing API/GUI/Packages• Work as a team to deliver a better product

Holistic

QA as a function does far more than test code. • It looks at why things are done• It looks at how people do those things• It looks to increase productivity and decrease

errors• It is an essential part of the SDLC• It looks at the whole to determine where

things can be improved