Quality Assurance and Testingin Agile Projects

Ana-Maria Figher, ana.figher@embarcadero.com, Embarcadero, www.embarcadero.com

Ia�i, 8th of May 2010

Agenda

QA , QC, TestingWhat is Agile?Quality Assurance in Agile ProjectsQuality Focused Culture Measuring success

QA, QC, TestingTesting:

It’s process of executing a system with the intent of finding defects.

Quality Control (product oriented) : Measuring & Monitoring the quality of software after completion of every phase

Quality Assurance (process oriented) :It’s a set of activities carried out to provide adequate confidence that processes are established and continuously improved in order to produce products that meets the quality requirements

Testing

Quality control

Quality assurance

QA, QC, TestingQA QC Testing

Quality control (QC)ProceduresManagement reviewsDocumentationTrainingTests & measurements

TestingStatic testing & reviewsInternal audits

UnitIntegrationSystemAcceptanceMaintenance

What’s “Agile?”

How Traditional Test Practices EvolvedWith great optimism and the best of intentions, The Project Plan is announced:

How Traditional Test Practices EvolvedInevitably, The Project Plan is revised:

Agile = Continuous Stream of ValueIterative approaches mean we can trade features for time instead of sacrificing quality.

SCRUMProduct backlog – A prioritized list of tasks to be completed on the project

Sprint – A time period (typically 2–4 weeks) in which development occurs on a set of backlog items that the Team has committed to

Story - A very high level definition of what the customer wants

Calling It “Agile” Doesn’t Make It SoThis is NOT Agile:

Compress the scheduleToss out the documentationCode up to the last minuteLess testing

The organization may gainshort term speed but at the cost oflong term pain.

Assuring Quality in Agile - How we make it happen?

Quality Assurance in Agile Projects

Testing Focus in Sprint

Provide effort estimates during sprint planning and establish the testing priorities

Focus on test automation

Focus more on exploratory testing

Provide continuous feedback to the team

Participate in sprint review meeting

Quality is a Team EffortIn agile organizations, all team members share quality ownership

Involve developers in testShare ideas regarding how a feature can be testedThey DO care about the results.A good way to share ownership, is have them run your testsDemo testing and test resultsMetrics based reporting that developers can act on

Involve product owners in test

Share and discuss test results with team to promote shared ownership

QA “Tools”High Level QA Plan

Example: DBArtisan patch test plan

Functional Test plans and Acceptance Test plan

Quality dashboardExample: DBArtisan QA dashboard

Product Quality Support reportExample : DBArtisan Quality status

Others Works with Development management at the Project Sprint burn downExample: DBArtisan 9.0 Sprint report

QA main challenges

Planning accordingly

Risk analysis and mitigation plan

Implementing and reassessing the plan

Reporting the right information

Try…

Quality Focused CultureChampion the CustomerContinuous introspection

Are we doing things right?Are we doing the right things?

Documentation Project RoleReportingDefect ManagementTest CoverageTest AutomationBetaTraining

Define and track a standard set of quality metricsCommunicate the value of Quality - $$$!

Quality Assurance ValueEarly bug identification means easier fixing

Short testing cycle allows more features to be implementedProviding quality metrics helps management makes the right decisionsHigh product quality results in product successFrequent automated testing ensures product quality stays high

Measuring Success1. Customer satisfaction 2. Test effectiveness3. Objective test metrics

1. Customer SatisfactionBeta surveysPublic product surveysNewsgroupsSupport callsDefects found after release

2. Test Effectiveness

3. Testing MetricsTest resultsCode coverageBug find/fix ratesBug categorization – type/frequencyCustomer satisfaction ratingsProduct performanceProduct stability

Metrics allow you to measure where you are in relation to your product goals.

Constantly Seek To Improve

Engage!Attitude towards Quality is something YOU control

Customers include Developers, Product Management, Support and Sales Engineers

Have fun – testing is a challenge, a puzzle and the results are a meaningful accomplishment.

ResourcesAgile Manifesto: http://agilemanifesto.org/www.testobsessed.comwww.testingreflections.com“Agile Software Development Quality Assurance” , Ioannis G. Stamelos and Panagiotis SfetsosSoftware Quality Assurance: Principles and Practice , Nina S Godbole

Q&A

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Thank you very much!Ana-Maria Figher, ana.figher@embarcadero.com, Embarcadero, www.embarcadero.com