testing traps to avoid in agile testing - eurostar conference · the 5 traps .. again testing traps...

Testing Traps to Avoid in Agile Testing

Janet GregoryWith material by Lisa Crispin

Dublin, 2014

Copyright 2014 DragonFire Inc. 2

Agile Testing; 2009

More Agile Testing: Oct 2014

Website:

www.agiletester.com www.agiletester.ca

DragonFire Inc.

www.janetgregory.ca

@janetgregoryca

[email protected]

The Format

• Clues to identify 5 traps

• The associated risks

• Tips & techniques for avoidance

Testing Traps to Avoid on Agile Teams – Janet Gregory

The Traps


1. Waiting for Tuesday’s build

2. Testers aren’t “really” part of the team

3. Maintaining a “Quality Police” mindset

4. Trying to test everything manually

5. Forgetting the big picture

#1 – Waiting for Tuesday’s Build


• Testing tasks are stacking up ‘to do’

• Stories cannot be marked DONE

• Testing is done the next iteration

• Deployments aren’t tested regularly

The Risk: The Mini-Waterfall (ketchup effect)


More Risks


• Stories aren’t tested completely

• Testers lose credibility

• Technical debt increases

• Team changes meaning of ‘DONE’

Tip – Make CI Mandatory


• Understand your CI (continuous integration) tool

• Know your build pipeline

• Plan for your test infrastructure

Tip - Collaborate

• Include testing tasks in the velocity

• Get your developers used to immediate feedback

• Test where it makes sense


Copyright 2014 DragonFire Inc.

Instead of saying NO,

or being the gatekeeper

Be the information provider so business can make the decisions

Questions… about waiting …

10

#2 – Testers Aren’t ‘Really’ Part of the Team


Testers don’t actively

participate

• Testing isn’t included in team velocity

• Testers test ‘only’ what the developers code

• Testers don’t understand the stories

The Risks


• Wrong assumptions are made

• Impacts to the system are found late

• Everyone’s skills are not utilized

• The team becomes divided

Tips for Early Tester Involvement


More Tips to Avoid Team Division


• Help customers develop stories

Or Better Yet ….






Questions about whole team?

16

#3 – Maintaining a Quality Police Mindset


• All bugs are entered into the DTS (Defect Tracking System)

• Testers are part of a separate test team

• The test team sits apart

• The test team can stop production

The Risks


• Project team doesn’t buy the ‘build quality in’ concept

• Communication is through the defect tracking system

• Developers use testers as a safety net

• The team never ‘gels’

Tips to Change the “QP” Mindset


• Define DONE to include testing

• Use a consulting mindset;

− share testing expertise

• Become more technically aware

• Have all members pick up testing tasks

• Develop relationships with programmers

20Testing Traps to Avoid on Agile Teams – Janet Gregory

Can you change your mindset?


Think◦What can we do to help deliver

the software successfully?

Instead of◦We’re here to break the software!





Questions… Agile Tester’s Mindset?

22

#4 – Trying to Test Everything Manually


• Making excuses to miss meetings

• Regression suite not run regularly

• Spending time retesting features already tested

• Not testing new features

• Not contributing to implementation / design discussions

The Risks


• Testing cannot keep up with new stories

• Features that used to work, are broken and not noticed

• Testers don’t learn new technology

• Testers get stuck in a rut

Techniques to Increase Automation


• Automate as you go

• Include automation time in your estimates

• Design for testability

• Chose tools that encourage collaboration

• Understand the power & risks of automation

Tip: Make the Automation Maintainable


• Tests pass all the time

• Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY)

• Tests reveal intent – create good names

• Keep tests small with a clear purpose

• Manage your tests – be able to find them


**Automation does not exclude the need for exploratory testing*





Questions… Automation?

29

• Testing only individual stories

• Finding integration bugs late

• Testing is based on what developers code

• Testing finds requirements type bugs

• Developers add extra code after they are finished

#5 – Forgetting the Big Picture



We only see the tip of the IcebergWe don’t think of big systemsWe only looking at our own team.

The Risks

31

More Risks


• Workflow isn’t smooth

• Decisions made during coding aren’t aligned with the end goal

Tips to Avoid Missing the Goal


• Understand the story before coding starts

• Think system impacts

• Draw pictures / workflows

• Test data to reflect real world◦ Use examples ◦ Exploratory test

36

Think – Levels of Detail

37

Acceptance Test Driven Development

Agile Testing Quadrants (Brian Marick)

39

Think Feature Complete


• Define “Feature (or epic) DONE”

– Acceptance tests for bigger picture

– GUI automation on workflow

– Quadrant 3 & 4 tests (from agile testing quadrants)

• Define “story DONE”

– API level automation by story

– Quadrant 1, 2, 3 tests (maybe some Q4)





Questions… Remembering the Big Pic?

41

The 5 Traps .. again


1. Waiting for Tuesday’s build− Not keeping up with developers

2. Testers aren’t really part of the team− No input into requirements

3. Quality police mindset− Ignoring the whole team approach

4. Trying to test everything manually− Not taking advantage of automation

5. Forgetting the big picture− Not delivering the right thing

Testing in agile projects is full of traps


• Be aware, and watch for them, but don’t let them scare you

• Problems happen faster so impact is felt faster

• Make them visible so you can learn

• Be courageous – be a change agent

Mostly, have fun and enjoy the

challenge!

Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams

By Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory

44

More Agile Testing: Learning Journeys for the Whole TeamBy Janet Gregory and Lisa Crispin

www.agiletester.ca www.agiletester.com

Contact info

www.janetgregory.ca

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: janetgregoryca


• www.lisacrispin.com

• Elisabeth Hendrickson, Explore It, 2013

• Gojko Adzic, Specification by Example, 2011, Bridging the Communication Gap, 2009

• http://www.exampler.com - Brian Marick’s web site

• Ester Derby and Dianne Larsen, Agile Retrospectives

• Agile Manifesto: http://agilemanifesto.org/

• Mary Poppendieck and Tom Poppendieck, Lean Software Development, Addison-Wesley (series of 3)

• [email protected]

• Photos – Janet’s vacations or Microsoft office

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testing traps to avoid in agile testing - eurostar conference · the 5 traps .. again testing traps...

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