How can you optimize system testing for maximum benefits?

Pick the right people for the job and get out of the way. Let them know you’re always available for questions or concerns. Be sure to be available to your team. Reward good performance and get rid of dead wood.

Involve the verification engineers when writing the system requirements (left-shifting the v-model). This will determine the verifiability of the requirements earlier - new or modified test facilities are known earlier.

Plan for the end game, know your audience, stick to the plan, document and fail as many times as possible. It will create teamwork, collaboration and build experience.

System testing is dependent on the outcome expected from it. The testing philosophy may be followed as fail op or fail safe. Sometime the testing is intentionally left not done and gets monitored during the function. Although this kind of philosophy is not in common practice, however if risk taking appetite is there then this kind of method can be applied. The test matrix should be crystal clear like which test is to be done on priority basis or the test chronology should be made sequentially. Usually any new system development needs both qualification and acceptance tests. Every industry and organization have their own laid out practices and standards for defining the system test methods. The system designer will have final say on it.

Efficient and Optimized System Testing should incorporate: - Verification: Checking that the product or the system meets a set of design specifications. - Validation: Ensuring that the product or system will meet the operational needs of the user. Both set of testing should cover the product functions and deliverables and can be done in phase for execution efficiency.

One aspect that I find very important is balancing what you CAN test and what you SHOULD test. It's "easy" to test every possible scenario you and your team can think of, but this will sometimes incur huge development costs and resources. Always consider the ROI for each test!

Test scenarios and test cases should be aligned on the level of system robustness that both development team and test team have agreed upon.

Designing comprehensive test cases and scenarios is essential for effective system testing. Start by identifying various system functionalities, inputs, and potential user interactions. Create test cases that cover a range of scenarios, including normal operation, boundary conditions, and error handling. This thorough approach ensures a robust testing process, uncovering both expected and unexpected system behaviors.

Tests scenarios shall have a clear objective (verification tests or validation tests). These scenarios shall be derived from needs and requirements analysis performed at system level. Many project failure comes from unclear requirements defined during early stages of project. A good practice consist to involve the IVV (Integration, Verification and Validation) stakeholders during early stages of the project (not only just before delivery).

Beside having full bidirectional traceability with your requirements, do not underestimate a representative focus group. A "captivating" user journey means nothing if they have to go through 5 different screens to find what they're looking for. This is especially true today in a touch-screen dominated world where functionality unfortunately often take the back seat to a beautiful "uncluttered" UI interface.

We need to think about system verification way before any kind of inspection, analysis, test, et cetera, is performed. Every single requirement should be verifiable, meaning that: - the requirement should be written in way that allows a verification procedure to assess whether or not it was implemented; and - the right verification resources (e.g. tools, workers) and conditions (e.g temperature, pressure) have to be provided.

Test environment should be prepared as early as possible that both development team and test team can co-share during developing phase.

The test specification allows to understand what is expected from the testing environment. Therefore a test bench specification can be written. The test bench validation is as important as the other steps since it will ensure the validity and quality of obtained results, including their repeatability. The definition of a golden sample is particularly usefull for test bench validation and calibration down the road.

Some of the Scenarios are based on actual real life scenarios like the gimli glider - where the root cause was a conversion issue in units between lb/kg. similar is the case of the Ariane rocket where units in 2base32 overflowed with a 2base64 data. In understanding architectures we need a mind map that lists user actions, environmental conditions and user behaviour. The plausible and survivable scenarios will be ensured by Capt.Sullenberger on the Hudson but for the average joe on the road, the simple difference in a left/right turn based on bearing is sufficient cause for confusion. Make realistic scenarios and stretch time to ensure the tests are realistic.

Creating a test environment involves setting up a controlled place in which to conduct experiments or assessments. This includes setting up hardware, software, and any other essential components to simulate real-world settings. Preparing data involves ensuring that you have relevant and representative data to test or analyze. This could include gathering, cleaning, and arranging data to ensure that it truly represents the scenarios you wish to examine. Both processes are necessary for accurate testing and experimentation.

Simple tips: *Conduct high-risk testing first*: Catch major flaws early to minimize expensive delays. *Automate simple and repetitive tasks*: Free testers allow for more creative and experimental testing. *Think like a user*: Test scenarios should correspond to real-world usage patterns. *Do not be frightened to explore*: Go beyond the planned procedures and hunt for unexpected complications. *Communicate clearly*: Report bugs promptly and provide input to developers. *Learn from mistakes*: Analyze defects to prevent future occurrences.

Although i am not a standards person, Every product needs certifications for various regulatory bodies where the underwriters/safety labs provide a conformance document. The key part of these effort/time/money consuming tests are being able to repeatability and predictive failure. Observing key system failure conditions, having a FMEA/FMEDA chart for various scenarios and providing appropriate mitigation in design or via checklists help in understanding system behaviour. coupled with the robust feedback mechanism where failures are tracked on release and in the lifecycle ensure that edge cases that are so inherent in digital designs are covered. The physical world has some limits, the digital world needs to address them

There are always two specific test scenarios that must be taken into consideration: First will be the scenario that simulates real-world work conditions, where the tests will verify the product performance like it will be used in real life. The second scenario would be test scenario conditions, where specific sw test cases allow to test of individual Hardware block levels. Focussing only on verification on HW Level.

I would only add that it's imperative that all of the testing scenarios should be done on a system/configuration that it's similiar or the same as the final product. This way you can track and solve the issues when you encounter them and when you are getting closer to the final product you have prevented issues instead of solving them after everything goes "live".

Execute the prepared test cases and scenarios systematically. Follow the test plan, and record outcomes, including any observed deviations from expected behavior. Utilize automated testing tools where possible to increase efficiency and accuracy. Regularly update test documentation and collaborate with the development team to address and resolve identified issues promptly. This methodical execution ensures a comprehensive evaluation of the system's performance and functionality.

After executing test cases, analyze the results meticulously. Identify and document any discrepancies between expected and actual outcomes. Classify issues based on severity and potential impact on the system. Provide clear and concise reports, including detailed information on detected defects and areas that meet or exceed expectations. Effective communication of test results aids in informed decision-making and facilitates collaboration between testing and development teams for efficient issue resolution.

It is good practice to add control charting for daily production parts for key and critical parameters. This will help to track any irregularities and variances in parts and process of the system.

Analysis of the test should be done automatically . What to automate is a vital thing need to look into. This takes efforts to make for 1st time but later point always gives fruits Analysis and test results should walkthrough together ,All stakeholders should have upto date data else bugs or issues cannot be found out.

Full-detail reports are one of the most important subjects in this field. This should include also details about the exact TimeStamp of each measurement, and a full log of all test instrument setups. These together would help debug possible test case scenarios that should be improved.

Sometimes tests are designed by technical experts (systems) and tests reports end up being written by testing experts…but without users with functional expertise on how said system will be deployed and leveraged, those tests and their results will only be interesting to a small community and have only a loos affiliation with mission applicability.

Certainly, valuable insights will be gained throughout the process. There should be a process in place to update the top-level test document in a timely manner. This is the most effective means to share these insights with the entire team or even the entire company.

Blended OT and DT is not easy to manage programmatically based on the different stakeholders involved simultaneously, but there are many situations the DT workforce cannot complete all of its datapoints without augmenting it with operational help. This creates organic opportunities for finding efficiencies. In my experience, this requires a great deal trust (and credibility) between DT and OT to do well and create an environment where people want to do the collaborative work.

Test optimization should be performed only after a stable test sequence. This should involve, improvements, from the simple reduced wait time, to the parallel test execution or concurrent test executions.

We'd discuss company capabilities vs project requirements i.e. facility size, technical staff size discipline(s)/competency, tooling/eqpt availability, procurement, staffing & PRGM oversight. We'd outline a plan for Quality testing/documentation, to analyze/validate/verify collected result data. We'd select suited processes, methods & techniques (plus contingencies) relevant to program requirements, such as ENGR design software/media, Data PKG CTRL, Review & Approval, tooling design/FAB, Quality testing EQPT for validation/verification & real time versatile COMM's apps like Slack or Google Workspace between Engineering, QA, PROD & MC. The bottom line is to illicit MAX results/data for collection, problem solving and corrective action(s).

One thing I've found helpfull is to have everything documented and to have the testing done in multiple enviroments simultaneously (even by different teams). After each milestone having a review session will indentify possible strenghts and weaknesses and can processes can be optimized. Also, depending of the company's speciffic, when the product is at it's final stages of testing, to have a regular normal user to test it also.

Testing for verification, validation, and certification can be extremely expensive and requires a very good plan in concert with the development life cycle and all disciplines. In addition to design they include system safety. Reliability, Availability, maintainability and many other speciality disciplines. It is my experience over the years that the NASA and Industry six step process and the use of verification logic networks greatly helps this process and must be used all alone the life cycle starting with setting product or process requirements and then the linking verification method and measure of success. The many NASA and DoD handbooks are of great use along with multidisciplinary experience and logic networks.

Build up evidence from lower level tests so that the only testing at system level is for true system level functionality. Test for the unexpected including bad actors, and improperly performing interfacing systems. Plan your testing from the start - think about how to test, or otherwise verify your system, when writing your requirements. Independence of test from design should ensure that the intent is properly assessed.

La stratégie d'intégration est un élément clé de réussite pour les tests. Elle définit le séquencement des activités tout en y affichant les points d'entrées et de sorties. Elle doit être faite en amont avec toutes les parties prenantes du projet.

Requirements driven testing. Hit it hard with capacity load testing during maximum regressive testing. Suggest early testing of software in an integrated test environment. Spending money of testing reaps profits and success at the end.

The solution demands a holistic approach and a strategic vision of what can be achieved. It requires thoughtful consideration of how architecture and workflows will get impacted. Diagrams and architecture are my most favorite to understand system design engineering.