What software testing techniques can you use to manage your time, resources, and budget?

1 Prioritize your test cases

One of the most important software testing techniques is to prioritize your test cases based on their importance, risk, and impact. By doing so, you can focus on the most critical and valuable aspects of your software product, and avoid wasting time and resources on low-priority or redundant test cases. You can use various criteria to prioritize your test cases, such as the severity of defects, the frequency of use, the customer feedback, the business value, or the technical complexity. You can also use tools or frameworks, such as MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Won't), RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort), or FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis), to help you rank your test cases.

3 Use exploratory testing

Exploratory testing is a software testing technique that involves testing the software product without predefined test cases or scripts, but rather based on the tester's knowledge, experience, intuition, and curiosity. Exploratory testing can help you discover unexpected defects, uncover hidden requirements, and test the usability and functionality of the software product from the user's perspective. Exploratory testing can also help you save time and resources, as it does not require extensive documentation or preparation, and it allows you to adapt to changing conditions or feedback. You can use tools or methods, such as mind maps, checklists, heuristics, or personas, to guide your exploratory testing process.

5 Implement test-driven development

Test-driven development (TDD) is a software development technique that involves writing the test cases before writing the code, and then writing the code to pass the test cases. TDD can help you improve your software testing process, as it helps you define the requirements, design the architecture, and verify the functionality of the software product from the start. TDD can also help you save time, resources, and budget, as it helps you avoid rework, reduce defects, and increase code quality and maintainability. You can use tools or frameworks, such as JUnit, NUnit, or Jasmine, to support your TDD approach.

6 Collaborate with your team

The last but not least software testing technique that can help you manage your time, resources, and budget is to collaborate with your team effectively. Collaboration can help you share your knowledge, skills, and insights, and learn from each other's experiences and feedback. Collaboration can also help you coordinate your testing activities, align your goals and expectations, and resolve issues and conflicts. You can use tools or platforms, such as Slack, Trello, Jira, or GitHub, to facilitate your communication, collaboration, and coordination with your team members.

7 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?