How do you create software testing policies?

I perform the risk-assessment of the overall deliverable and determine the highest risk and highest valued areas first. It helps me identify the Minimum Viable Product. I can then make a policy that protects the MVP and defers the medium or low risk backlog items.

Setting software testing goals is crucial for delivering high-quality applications. These goals guide the testing process, ensuring comprehensive coverage, identifying defects, and enhancing user experience. To create effective testing policies, start by defining clear objectives aligned with business needs. Specify testing methodologies, scope, and responsibilities, addressing various scenarios and user requirements. Incorporate industry standards like ISO, and TMMi to ensure best practices. Regularly review and update policies to adapt to evolving technologies and challenges. Collaboration among development, testing, and business teams is key.

Imagine a scenario where the team was testing an e-commerce website, and they encountered a bug that caused all product prices to be displayed as comically inflated amounts, like $1 million for a pencil or $10 billion for a t-shirt. Despite being a silly bug, it emphasizes the importance of thorough testing to catch such unexpected issues before a product is released to users. Remember, while inflation can lighten the mood, software testing is a crucial aspect of software development, aiming to ensure the functionality and reliability of software systems.

Project Objectives: Begin by aligning testing goals with the overarching project objectives. Ensure testing addresses the project's purpose and desired outcomes. User Requirements: Define specific user needs and expectations. Testing should verify that the software meets these requirements and functions as intended from the user's perspective. Risk Assessment: Identify potential risks and vulnerabilities and prioritize testing efforts to address high-risk areas effectively. Functional Areas: Prioritize testing for core functionality while considering non-functional requirements like performance, security, and usability. Documentation Clarity: Maintain clear and up-to-date documentation.

Ask questions to gather requirements earlier and when they inevitably change over time. Understand risk areas around release changes. Test early as possible. Align your testing with the end user. Keep asking questions. Maintain and change tests over time. Don't rush.

Defining software testing scope is crucial for project success. It outlines the boundaries of testing, identifying what's included and excluded. Consider functionalities, platforms, devices, and test types. Creating testing policies involves setting guidelines, roles, and procedures for consistent testing. Begin by assessing project goals, risks, and compliance requirements. Collaborate with stakeholders to establish testing objectives, entry/exit criteria, and bug classification. Regularly review and refine policies to adapt to evolving needs. Effective policies ensure efficient testing and delivery of high-quality software.

This statement seems too broad, lets say we are talking about manual testing, industry standard is black box testing and the manual team should not be aware of the dev team’s architecture, but just follow the specification. On other hand given we are talking about QA, the automation for the project should be contained in the e2e testing where the strategy can change drastically and introduce some logic from the dev team.

Identifying the most important things to be tested is key. It is more important than coverage, or the way that the test is going to be implemented. Which part of the system needs more attention, which 20% could bring 80% of the results (The Pareto principle)

Application Modules: Clearly outline which modules or components of the software will undergo testing. Test Environments: Identify the target platforms, browsers, devices, and operating systems where testing will occur. Testing Types: Specify the types of testing to be conducted, such as functional, performance, security, or usability testing. Inclusions and Exclusions: Clearly state what functionalities or scenarios will be tested. Data and Test Data: Detail the data sources and datasets to be used during testing. Testing Objectives: Reiterate the overall testing goals and objectives, emphasizing the specific areas and aspects that fall within the defined scope.

An efficient scope definition helps ensure that testing is focused, effective, and aligned with project goals. Thus, defining the software testing scope is a critical step in any testing process, as it sets the boundaries and objectives for your testing efforts. This step is important in determining the test environment, what test types and techniques are needed, the kind of test data to be obtained, and the required criteria for testing. I'd like you to view this from a battle perspective. Would you challenge a foe without first scoping what's in their arsenal? I bet you won't. You would first research this and then prepare effectively for the battle.

Defining roles and responsibilities in software testing is crucial for project success. QA engineers ensure product quality through testing, while test managers oversee strategy. Developers embrace testing early, ensuring code quality. Testers document cases, perform tests and report issues. Creating effective testing policies involves several steps. Start by understanding project goals and scope. Identify critical areas and risks. Define testing strategies, including manual and automated approaches. Document processes, from test planning to reporting. Implement policies in alignment with industry standards and agile practices.

Separating the testing team with minimal overlapping of their work is a must to ensure smooth operation. Overlapping should be done only when learning new skills is involved by a team member with less experience by a more senior person. This avoids problems with the human factor.

I like QAs as "really professional" testers, but they should not create a culture of we devs do the development and give them to test. Testing is everyone's responsibility, including devs, QA, ops, marketing, CS, etc. Testing is a team culture and value.

Establishing clear software testing roles and responsibilities helps create a structured and efficient testing process, ensures accountability, and promotes effective collaboration among team members. In my view, effective communication between each team member in the performance of their roles is the single most important factor in determining the success of any testing process. Being able to effectively communicate during stand-up meetings and express one's ideas in a collaborative way can provide new perspectives on tackling issues and enhance teamwork ethics!

The significance of the software testing team cannot be overstated, as their contributions are pivotal in determining the success rate of a project, even after it is deployed to production. A competent testing team encompasses a group of professionals specializing in functional (manual and automation) as well as non-functional testing, with each team member assigned clearly defined roles and responsibilities. This ensures that there is seamless communication and swift issue resolution with the designated tester, thus fostering a more efficient testing process. Recognizing the pivotal role of the testing team is imperative for maintaining high-quality software products and achieving customer satisfaction.

When choosing software testing tools and environments, meticulous selection is key. Factors like project requirements, testing goals, and team expertise play a crucial role. Remember, adaptability and integration capabilities are essential. Establish clear guidelines for test case creation, execution, and reporting. Regular reviews and updates ensure policies stay relevant. Collaboration between QA, development, and stakeholders fosters effective implementation.

There are always new software testing and management tools being developed. Knowing which ones to employ in what test environments depends on factors including cost and budget constraints, time, compatibility with your existing technology stack, and scalability for future project needs. In my view, selected tools (be it Automation tools) should easily integrate with your existing development and testing processes. This ensures no drastic changes are made to the current working process but rather, positions the team on a platform for growth and scalability based on standard fundamentals.

There are too many things and too much detail to be defined at this point, i would say that before defining tools and environments you need to have identified the resources for the different activities and allow them to come with tools and environments, it's very unlikely that a small group of people can pack a deep knowledge of all the possible tools and the right approach for each, I would suggest alignment with the goals and roadmap and allowing the SMEs to figure out what works best for each challenge, then unifying approaches.

Automation is key when we're talking about tests for developers. But it is also good to bring solutions that don't rely only on devs. Postman is one example. Anyone can learn very quickly and create E2E tests with it. Also, bring people to ask questions and review the developers' tests. Try to bring more solutions that are not dev-only and you will be surprised by your not tech team.

Streamline software testing with efficient processes and procedures! Crafting effective software testing policies involves understanding your organization's goals and values. Identify key stakeholders, assess risks, and define clear guidelines for testing phases, methodologies, and reporting. Tailor policies to address security, performance, and compliance requirements. Regularly review and adapt policies to keep pace with industry trends and technology advancements. Empower your team to uphold these policies, ensuring consistent, high-quality testing outcomes. By aligning procedures and policies, you pave the way for seamless development and robust software solutions.

Processes need to be strong enough to guardrail the activities but flexible enough to allow improvements, and they must reflect 100% of what's done and how it's done. With time processes can change.

This step is necessary to determine the rate of success of any testing process. Insights gained from monitoring and evaluation can be used to drive continuous improvement in your testing process and implement changes, process enhancements, or additional training as needed. For this, start by identifying the KPIs that matter most for your testing process (including metrics such as test coverage and defect density). Establish baseline measurements for the chosen KPIs. Utilize test management tools that can track and report on testing progress and outcomes. Continuously collect data related to your KPIs throughout the testing process and communicate effectively with the team on your findings.

It is important to remember that automated testing solutions do not cover all testing requirements. Some degree of manual testing is requires, to validate the usability, commonality and other aspects of the product being tested. This manual testing is needed to help identify any user guides, operational/ support material that needs to be produced. If it is known that some guides/ other supporting material is going to be needed, then a technical author can undertake the above tests, whilst they work on the documentation. Getting a technical author involved during the development/ product testing phase of an application/ service development can therefore be very helpful, in multiple ways.