agile project management Archives

The agile Testing methodology has gained a lot of importance and popularity nowadays when it comes to software testing modern-day software. It is an intelligent way of testing complex software that bears more efficient end results than traditional testing methods.
This is a complete guide to Agile Testing, explaining all the important aspects related to it.

What is Agile Testing?
Agile Testing Methodology
Agile Testing Life-Cycle
Agile Test Plan
Agile Testing Strategies
Agile Testing Quadrants
Difference Between Agile Testing Vs Waterfall Testing
Advantages of Agile Testing

What is Agile Testing?
Agile testing is an iterative and incremental testing process in which software requirements are gathered gradually throughout the testing process.
Agile Testing is a part of the Agile Software development process which is carried out with the help of customer’s involvement. The agile testing process starts at the beginning of the software development process and there is no integration required between the development and testing processes.

As the development and testing are integrated into this process, it allows early error detection and removal which results in less development time as well as costs. This also ensures high product quality as errors get removed in the initial stage itself.
The basic principles on which Agile Testing is conducted are:

Agile testing is a continuous process and it ensures smooth project progress.
Product and business requirements are realized through continuous feedback. Feedback are provided on an on-going basis.
In Agile Testing, the development team, testing team, and the customers, all are involved in the testing process.
There is very little documentation required in Agile Testing as all the testers us a reusable checklist instead of lengthy documents. The main focus is on the test in this process.
The errors are resolved by the testing team as and when they occur, in the same iteration. This results in simpler and clean code.
Traditional testing is performed after the software is developed. However, agile testing is performed along with the development process which helps reducing development time.

Agile Testing Methodology

TDD (Test Driven Development)
As the name suggests, the test-driven development approach starts with the test itself. It depends upon the repetition of the development cycle.
The first step in this development cycle is to create a unit test case. The next step involves creating the code which fits the test case so that the test case can be run. Thus, the entire code is created until the unit test passes.
This test is usually performed with the help of automated testing tools and run on units and components of the code.
ATDD (Acceptance Test Driven Development)
In this testing methodology, the developers, testers and the customers together build an acceptance test from the point of view of the customers in order to understand the requirements of the customers.
The code is developed according to the acceptance test case created.
This testing method is very customer-centered, and the main aim is to get to develop a program according to the user’s perception.
BDD (Behaviour Driven Development)
BDD is built on the same principles as TDD and ATDD. Thus, the code is developed according to the test case created in this testing methodology too.
The main aim of this development is to focus on the identification of business needs and outcomes. The development should be related to a business outcome.
The steps that are followed in BDD are:

First, describe the behavior
Creating the test case
Writing code according to the test case defined
Continuing the process until the code passes the test case.

Exploratory Testing
In this software testing methodologies, the testers have complete freedom to explore with the code and develop the most efficient software.
The testers create multiple test cases in order to explore each aspect of the software functionality. Testers perform different tests and record the process to study it and figure out the exact flow of the software.
This type of testing is a very important part of the agile test as it helps uncover hidden risks from the software which could not have been detected by simple testing methods.
Session-Based Testing
Session-based testing is built on the principles of exploratory testing. However, unlike exploratory testing which is conducted spontaneously without any planning, there is some structure in session-based testing.
This structure is provided by conducting tests during uninterrupted sessions where testers are required to report the tests that took place during the process.
The session-based testing methodology also helps in finding hidden bugs and defects in the software.
Agile Testing Life-cycle

There are 5 phases in the Agile Testing Life-cycle:

Agile Test Planning

The first phase is creating Agile Test Plans. In this phase, all the stakeholders: developers, testers, customers and users, come together and plan testing schedules.

Daily Scrums

The goals and targets of the day are set at the start of each day. It helps testers realize the status of the testing.

Test Agility Review

Agility reviews are performed frequently in the development process. These are done to analyze the progress of the development.

Release Readiness

In this phase, testers decide which assess which features are completely developed and ready to go live and which ones need to go back to the previous development phase.

Impact Assessment

This phase is the feedback phase of the life cycle which helps testers set goals for the next life-cycle. The inputs and feedback are collected from users and stakeholders to perform an impact assessment.
Agile Test Plan

The Agile Test plan includes all the types of testing performed in a particular iteration. It includes the following:

It defines the test scope, sprint goals, test and extent to which the test is to be performed
It specifies the testing tools to be used, data and configurations for the test and the environment in which the test will be performed.
It schedules the test tasks and frequency of tests, i.e. how many times will they be performed.
It defines the testing methods and techniques
It also determines the expertise and training required to carry out tests.
It sets the priority of the tests according to the customer’s point of view.

Agile Testing Strategies

iteration 0
Process involved

Initial stages of testing such as tester selection, selection of testing tools, resource allocation, testing method selection, etc.
Risk identification
Cost estimation
Boundary condition establishment and scope defining

Construction iteration
This process can be divided into two confirmatory testing and investigative testing. confirmatory testing is performed to make sure that the product satisfies all the requirements of the stakeholders.
Investigative testing is performed to test deep and find all the issues that are ignored in confirmatory testing.
confirmatory testing can be again divided into agile acceptance testing and developer testing. Both the tests can be automated to make sure that continuous regression testing happens
Agile acceptance testing is a combination of functional testing as well as acceptance testing. on the other hand developer testing is a mix of unit testing and integration testing
Production
Once the release stage is completed the product will move on to the production stage
Agile Testing Quadrants

The Agile testing quadrant divides the entire testing process into 4 parts. This makes the Agile testing process easy to understand.
Among the 4 quadrants, the left 2 tell the testers which code to write and the right 2 quadrants help them understand the code better with the help of feedback to the left quadrants.
Quadrant 1
This quadrant focuses on the quality of the code. It includes test cases and test components that are implemented by the testers.
These test cases are for automation testing to help to improve the code.
Quadrant 2
This quadrant contains business-driven test cases which are also implemented by the testing team.
The main focus of this quadrant is on customer requirements. It improves the business outcomes of the software being created.
It contains the following tests:

Testing scenarios which may occur and workflow
Testing the user experience
Performing pair testing

Quadrant 3
This phase provides feedback for the previous two phases.
There are many iterations of reviews and feedbacks carried out in this quadrant which helps to strengthen the code.
Usability tests, exploratory tests, user acceptance tests, and collaborative tests are performed in this quadrant.
Quadrant 4
The non-functional requirements of the code, such as performance, security, scalability, etc. are taken care of in this quadrant.
Testing for stress and performance is carried out in this phase. Security and infrastructure test, data migration and load testing.
This quadrant makes sure that the code satisfies all the non-functional requirements.
Difference Between Agile Testing Vs Waterfall Testing

Agile Testing	Waterfall Testing
Incremental approach	Sequential process
The project will be divided into sprints	The project will be divided into a sequential process
Meant for small projects	Meant for all sort of projects
Starts at the beginning of the product and changes in the middle is not an issue	The product can be only tested at the end of the project
unstructured	More secured
Less priority for documents	High priority
Testers and developers can work together	Both testers and developers have to work separately

Advantages of Agile Testing

saves time and money. Because the testing is carried along with the development. The errors and bugs are fixed at the same time and no additional time s required to test the entire software, find errors and solve them.
There is little to no documentation required in Agile testing as testers use reusable checklists.
Feedback is also a part of the Agile testing life-cycle and users give feedback after each process iteration.

Conclusion
Agile Testing is the best testing methodology for the modern-day software which is highly complicated and requires in-depth testing.
This testing methodology is very customer-centric. It requires high customer involvement in order to deliver a better quality of software that meets customer and user expectations.

This testing demands a high level of communication between developers, testers as well as customers and users as they all work together in testing the software.
Agile testing allows testers to be flexible and incorporating any requirement changes is very easy in Agile development.
This testing is becoming increasingly popular among major software development companies. It is a smart way of testing and the end result is of better quality too.

When it comes to manage and plan the project, then there are so many things that are counted to ensure that things are falling into place. It can be a few pivot elements or maybe the working condition of a project. Everything is counted in a project to ensure that work is done in a proper manner.
Also, the goals are to interpret that all the goals are achieved as per the clarity level and incorporation of the planning scenario.
When a project is not executed properly then it might trigger your company demand. Hence, in such situation testing becomes the life of a project.
It helps to understand the actual quality on a customer level.
Project Management in Software Testing
A project works on a timeline that will include both the phases – development, and testing. This gives a testing team only limited time to get through the whole process.
They have a fix starting and ending time that might be difficult to execute without any prior planning.
During this time you have so much on a plate to handle. Form defining a project as per its testing phase and then working as per its tools and principles, a software tester has to cover them all.
However, planning and managing two different things that are equally important. Hence, the management phase is divided into different categories so that work can be done efficiently.
1. Initiation – The first and foremost thing to following the initiation of a project in the testing During this phase, a project manager will be assigned who will be responsible to analyze and review. It will also help in identifying the procedure and process of the data. Apart from this, it helps in having a deep understanding in terms of project objective and communication between the development team.
2. Plan –The next phase of the development cycle includes a major part of the testing. In this part, if a project planning is not done appropriately then it can be doom to your software or application. This phase has a number of subdivision that much is taken care of in order to gain cent results.
3. Execute –Once the whole planning process is set up, you need to be careful while executing it properly. A single mistake in execution can cost you a lot. You need to stick with the plan in order to come up with important details. If you feel that it might require a few changed then do it in the plan module.
4. Monitor and Control –Another of the important phase will be monitoring the whole cycle. It is essential for the management team to keep a track whether the work is done as per the plan or not. Also, the performance of the software is monitored and controlled every time to ensure that you are not making any bigger mistake. It can be due to the communication gap among development and testing team. But this must be resolved on your end only before you hand over the whole project.
5. Close –Then comes the final stage. Once, the whole project is set out then you need to get the documentation done. This phase will be handing over the whole report to your boss and closing it. Then, it will be released to a client or in the market.
Test Project Effective Management
When the project testing is started to execute then there are errors and risks that will pop out of an application.
It becomes easy to identify where a module was wrong or what must be altered. In order to actually be effective during the whole process of software testing, it is essential to follow the basic tricks.
1. Distribution and Allotment of Tasks
This part will be part of the planning stage where you need to divide the whole workforce as per the size of an application.
It will depend on various factors including the size of the team, schedule of the members, attitude for project and skill set. The essential points to share with the team are:

It is essential to have a chat with the whole team to discuss the objectives. It helps in getting the front-end picture of every single individual involved in the task. Apart from this, it is essential to be clear on what member can be involved in automated work while who must handle the manual Giving them a choice will help since they can be available where they are best at.
List all the essential details of a member as per their experience and skills together to easily distribute the work among them. However, you need to make sure that junior member and interns are also getting a chance under some supervision.
Once you have a rough sketch of the whole work allocation, you need to rotate it around among member so that they can give in their input. If they feel that they can work better while switching work with others then take their opinions under considerations. But focus more on logic and motive behind this all.
The reporting for daily work completion. You need to settle on a single thing beforehand. You simply can’t check in software for few members while checking e-mails for others. Hence, come up with a mutual decision for the mode of reporting so that none of them is This way they can communicate the whole progress or issue with you on daily basis.
It is also essential to know what all the tools are being used by your team so that you are prepared if a need arise.

This will ensure that your whole team is actually working as per the conditions that are given to them.
2. Resource Management Tips
Resource management is a wider subject then software testing. There is simply so much that the project manager needs to look out to ensure accurate work.

Software testers work under some serious deadlines that can be difficult to manage. This becomes even more difficult when they have to manage excessive work with limited staff. If at any point in time, a tester feels that timeline can be hampered then get it to touch with your boss immediately so that he/she can work something out.
Never close up any communication line. Just because your manager has given you a task and you have time doesn’t mean that he won’t listen to you. Especially when it comes to testing cases, it is better to have a discussion than to give some worst results.
It is common to have queries, technical issue or defect in the whole application. However, it can be resolved if one has a direct impact on an application. In such a case, it is better to be on talking terms with every one of your development team. It will be easy to resolve major technical issues.
When it comes to testers schedule then you can’t be sure about it. It will be haywire since emergency can pop up at any time and any place. In such cases, it is better to actually have no expectation that they will stretch the time. Everyone has a personal life and hence you need to make sure that the task is done at the office only with accuracy.
It is essential to set up meeting daily or on a particular interval of time. This will help in ensuring that work is under progress and if there are few issues then it can be dealt with.

These are the major point that can help in the proper arrangement of your resources for testing team.
3. Tools and Tracking
As mentioned above, communication and reporting are two of the major part of the testing phase. This will actually prevent any raised eyebrow at your end.

During the testing phase, there are going to be instabilities and issues that are tackled by an individual. In such a case, the performance of the task will be effective. If you are regularly updating progress and any sort of issue then management can help a tester to get a possible
Another factor is regular use of scrum or checkpoint meetings that can be held to ensure that the project is progressing. Also, if there is any sort of dis-balancing then it can be managed at this point.
The regular contact with management can also help in keeping the lines open. Also, it is possible that you are getting hold of an error that was missed out earlier. Hence, appreciation or might be a promotion came in the future.

Conclusion
This step will get a better insight into the whole project so that one can work effortlessly and can easily identify the assignment of whole resources.

Tag: agile project management

What is Agile Testing? Process, Methodology and Strategies

How to Effectively Do Project Management in Software Testing