With these five rules for successful, systematic testing, every software test succeeds. Long-term implementation also increases efficiency and software quality. Our test experts check the effectiveness of the rules every day in their projects.
Sounds simple, but for many testers it is not: a clear planning of the project. What is tested? What is NOT tested? How many resources are needed? What has to be ready by when (software, requirements, test environment, …)? Which external/internal persons are involved? These questions must be answered BEFORE the test.
Attention: Dedicated testers who only test in specialist departments can represent a risk. In many cases, they run tests for only one use case and do not have the time or possibilities to overview further project tests.
A responsible and superordinate test manager who plans and monitors the test process (or of course an equivalent in an agile workflow) is the key to test success.
A common mistake is to perform testing after development. The aqua test experts recommend creating the test cases at the same time as conception and implementation, i.e. as soon as the individual modules are finished. The test can thus be carried out parallel to the development.
This has the advantage that errors found can be fixed promptly. Downstream tests, which check the interfaces to other areas of the software, do not have to be repeated. This increases the efficiency, since under certain circumstances downstream errors do not occur first.
Comprehensible testing is only possible if the expected results are derived from well-documented requirements and clearly described in the test cases created from them.
Expert tip: Each defect created should always describe what the tester expected. This saves the developer and the tester valuable time during the retest! Because the corresponding test case does not have to be opened to understand the defect.
If a complete testing of all possible applications of a software is not possible, a risk-based concept should be used. This allows the tester to decide which areas of the software are to be tested and to what extent, and to create and prioritize the test cases accordingly.
Many test steps can be automated. This concerns the precondition, the execution as well as the validation of the individual test steps.
This can lead to a significant increase in efficiency and thus results in cost savings. After the one-time creation, an automated test can be repeated as often as desired without or at significantly lower costs. At the same time, automated tests are significantly faster. The lead time is reduced.
Read your here when test automation pays off.
Complete test case documentation for all requirements of the entire project has several advantages: It optimizes the entire test procedure, enables the outsourcing of test cases to external providers and provides an overview of the project history with all relevant data.
This guarantees revision-proof traceability of the software test!
The use of an external test management tool, which offers reports and dashboards as well as networks the actors in the test process, is almost indispensable. The external testing and certification of the software is then only a matter of form!
