Exploration Through Example

Here are some links I will point to when people ask me about test design. Add more in the comments and I’ll promote them to the main posting.

Mnemonics

• Michael Bolton on:

  • SF DePOT (Structure, Function, Data, Platform, Operations, and Time) here and here

  • CRUSSPIC STMPL (capability, reliability, usability, security, scalability, performance, installability, compatibility, supportability, testability, maintainability, portability, and localizability)

  • HICCUPPS (History, Image, Comparable Products, Claims, Users’ expectations, the Product itself, Purpose, Statutes)

  See also various of Bolton’s articles.

• Adam Goucher on SLIME (Security, Languages, requIrements, Measurement, Existing)

• Jonathan Kohl on MUTII (Market, Users, Tasks, Information, Implementation).

• Michael Kelly on test reporting with FCC CUTS VIDS (Feature tour, Complexity tour, Claims tour, Configuration tour, User tour, Testability tour, Scenario tour, Variability tour, Interoperability tour, Data tour, Structure tour)

• Ben Simo on testing failure handling with FAILURE (Functional, Appropriate, Impact, Log, UI, Recovery, Emotions)

• Scott Barber on designing model workloads for performance testing with FIBLOTS (Frequent, Intensive, Business Critical, Legal, Obvious, Technically Risky, Stakeholder Mandated). (He has others that are outside the scope of this posting.)

Other reminders

• Elisabeth Hendrickson’s Test Heuristics Cheat Sheet.

• Michael Hunter’s huge list of things to check.

Mind maps

• Jonathan Kohl on Modeling test heuristics

• Chris McMahon on Mind maps for testing and other things

• Bob Warfield on Using mindmaps to explore user interaction and create QA test plans

• Eric somebody on Using mind maps to explore user interaction

Online course materials

• Black box software testing materials from James Bach, Cem Kaner, Michael Bolton, and others.

Books

• A Practitioner’s Guide to Test Design, by Lee Copeland

• Lessons Learned in Software Testing, by Cem Kaner, James Bach, and Bret Pettichord.

Things that ought to be in books

• Jonathan Kohl has a series on exploratory testing (Investigation, Improvisation, Transitions, Strategies).

• Numerous articles from James Bach, most setting context and providing perspective.

Videos

• Cem Kaner has various Black Box Software Testing videos.

Thanks to Michael Bolton, Adam Goucher, Matthew Heusser, Jonathan Kohl, and Chris McMahon for links.