Agile Testing Success Factors - CC Pace

Are you new to Agile testing?

I’ve been reading Agile Testing, by Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory. If you are new to Agile testing, this book is for you. It provides a comprehensive guide for any organization moving from waterfall to Agile testing practices. The “Key Success Factors” outlined in the book are important when implementing Agile testing practices, and I would like to share them with you.

Success Factor 1: Use the Whole Team Approach

Success Factor 2: Adopt an Agile Testing Mind-Set

Success Factor 3: Automate Regression Testing

Success Factor 4: Provide and Obtain Feedback

Success Factor 5: Build a Foundation of Core Practices

Success Factor 6: Collaborate with Customers

Success Factor 7: Look at the big picture

Success Factor 1: Use the Whole Team Approach

In Agile, we like to take a team approach to testing. Developers are just as responsible for the quality of a product as any tester; they embrace practices like Test-Driven Development (TDD) and ensure good Unit testing is in place before moving code to test. Agile Testers participate in the refinement process, helping Product Owners write better User Stories by asking powerful questions and adding test scenarios to stories. Everyone works together to build quality into the product development process. This approach is very different from a waterfall environment where the QA/Test team is responsible for ensuring quality software/products are delivered.

Success Factor 2: Adopt an Agile Testing Mind-Set

Adopting Agile starts with changing how we think about the work and embracing Agile Values and Principles. In addition to the Agile Manifesto’s 12 Principles, Lisa and Janet define 10 Principles for Agile Testing. Testers adopt and demonstrate an Agile testing mindset by keeping these principles top of mind. They ask, “How can we do a better job of delivering real value?”

10 Principles for Agile Testing

1. Provide Continuous Feedback
2. Deliver Value to the Customer
3. Enable Face-to-Face Communication
4. Have Courage
5. Keep it Simple
6. Practice Continuous Improvement
7. Respond to Change
8. Self-Organize
9. Focus on People
10. Enjoy

Success Factor 3: Automate Regression Testing

Automate tests where you can and continuously improve. As seen in the Agile Testing Quadrants, automation is an essential part of the process. If you’re not automating Regression tests, you’re wasting valuable time on Manual testing, which could be beneficial elsewhere. Test automation is a team effort, start small and experiment.

Success Factor 4: Provide and Obtain Feedback

Testers provide a lot of feedback, from the beginning of refinement through to testing acceptance. But keep in mind – feedback is a two-way street, and testers should be encouraged to ask for their own feedback. There are two groups where testers should look for feedback. The first is from the developers. Ask them for feedback about the test cases you are writing. Test cases should inform development, so they need to make sense to the developers. A second place to get feedback is from the PO or customer. Ask them if your tests cover the acceptance criteria satisfactorily and confirm you’re meeting their expectations around quality.

Success Factor 5: Build a Foundation of Core Practices

The following core practices are integral to Agile development.

• Continuous Integration: One of the first priorities is to have automated builds that happen at least daily.
• Test Environments: Every team needs a proper test environment to deploy to where all automated and manual tests can be run.
• Manage Technical Debt: Don’t let technical debt get away from you; instead make it part of every iteration.
• Working Incrementally: Don’t be tempted to take on large stories; instead break down the work into small stories and test incrementally.
• Coding and Testing Are Part of One Process: Testers write tests, and developers write code to make the test pass.
• Synergy between Practices: Incorporating any one practice will get you started. A combination of these practices, which to work together, is needed to gain the advantage of Agile development fully.

Success Factor 6: Collaborate with Customers

Collaboration is key, and it isn’t just with the developers. Collaboration with Product Owners and customers helps clarify the acceptance criteria. Testers make good collaborators as they understand the business domain and can speak technically. The “Power of Three” is an important concept – developers, testers, and a business representative form a powerful triad. When we work to understand what our customers value, we include them to answer our questions and clear up misunderstandings; then, we are truly collaborating to deliver value.

Success Factor 7: Look at the Big Picture

The big picture is important for the entire team. Developers may focus on the implementation details, while testers and the Product Owners have the view into the big picture. Aside from sharing the big picture with the team, the four quadrants can help you to guide development so developers don’t miss anything.

In addition, you’ll want to ensure your test environments are as similar as possible to production.  Test with production-like data to make the test as close to the real world as possible. Help developers take a step back and see the big picture.

Summary

At the end of the day, developers and testers form a strong partnership. They both have their area of expertise. However, the entire team is the first line of defense against poor quality. The focus is not on how many defects are found; the focus is on delivering real value after each iteration.