What can you learn from Agile testing metrics and reporting?

2 Testing Reports

Testing reports are graphical or textual presentations of testing metrics that provide insights and information to various audiences. They can be tailored to the purpose, scope, and frequency of the report, as well as the needs and expectations of the recipients. Examples of testing reports include test summary reports offering a high-level overview of the testing results, test progress reports providing periodic updates on testing activities, test dashboards giving a real-time visualization of the metrics, and test feedback reports facilitating a feedback loop between testers and developers. These reports can provide data on the number of tests executed, passed, failed, and skipped; the number and status of defects found and fixed; overall quality assessment; test coverage; test execution rate; defect detection rate; test automation rate; defect details; root causes; corrective actions; and lessons learned.

3 Testing Analysis

Testing analysis is the process of interpreting and evaluating testing metrics and reports to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your testing process, product, and project. It helps answer questions such as how well the software is tested, how it meets quality standards, and how well project deadlines and budgets are met. In addition, testing analysis involves comparing the actual results with the expected results, benchmarking them against industry standards or best practices, and determining the root causes and effects of the results. Ultimately, it enables you to improve your testing process, product, and project.

4 Testing Optimization

Testing optimization is a process of applying the testing analysis results to improve your testing process, product, and project. It helps to increase test coverage and quality, reduce test effort and cost, accelerate test execution and delivery, and enhance test communication and collaboration. To do this, you should implement best practices such as test-driven development (TDD), behavior-driven development (BDD), continuous testing, and exploratory testing. TDD is a practice where you write the test cases before the code. BDD is a practice where you write the test cases in a natural language that describes the expected behavior of the software. Continuous testing is a practice where you automate and integrate the testing activities into the continuous delivery pipeline. And exploratory testing is a practice where you use your creativity and intuition to explore the software and discover new defects, risks, and features.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?