SmartQA - HyBIST Approach

THE CONTEXT

Software development has significantly evolved and matured, but the QA practice seems archaic, relying solely on automated testing without embracing a comprehensive approach. Quality seems to be caught up between do-more/test-continuously on one side and finding issues earlier/assure on the other side, without a clue on how to marry them in simple terms. There seems to be extreme reliance on rote continuous testing via automation rather than smart assurance exploiting human intelligence.

Let’s take a look at the STATE OF TESTING PRACTICE:

  • the focus is on DOING
  • the focus is on PROCESS
  • the focus is on MACHINE
  • the focus is on CHECK(comply)
  • the focus is on EXPERIENCE
  • the focus is on DETECTION
  • the focus is on DOING MORE

So what are the challenges due to this?

  • Doing unnecessary / too much testing,
  • not clear of coverage/adequacy,
  • focus only on checking with extreme emphasis on automation.

NEED FOR SMARTQA

The need of the hour is to move rapidly & test deeply.

So what is to be done?

  • focus on PROBING in addition to DOING
  • focus on PRACTICE in addition to PROCESS
  • focus on INTELLECT in addition to MACHINE
  • focus on TEST in addition to CHECK (comply)
  • focus on METHOD in addition to EXPERIENCE
  • focus on PREEMPTION not just on DETECTION
  • focus on DOING LESS rather than TO DO MORE with extreme reliance on rote continuous testing via automation

SmartQA is about probing deeper to seek clarity & in the process uncover, preempt issues rapidly, not limited to mere validation of code.

The key governing principles of SmartQA activities are:

  • to do well & rapidly,
  • do as early & minimally
  • certainly don’t do others’ work.

The HyBIST (Hypothesis-Based Immersive Session Testing) approach to SmartQA is to analyse & design smart probes using hypothesis based method and probing smartly in sessions immersively.

  • designing smart probes aided by key concepts
  • probing smartly enabled by key practices

A “key concept” is either a technique/principle/guideline to do an activity smartly by transform one’s mindset. These help in analysis to sharpen clarity, preempt issues, figure out test approach, design & review scenarios/cases, analyse impact to regress smartly and assess practice.

A “key practice” enables one to immerse deeply, respond rapidly and stay connected to the context ,to be in a flow to do rapidly and effectively.

So, how are the outcomes superior?

The outcomes of typical TESTING are :
Test plan, test cases, defects, scripts
(driven by templates ) that involve:
write a lot, to de-risk future, focus on how
with lot of rote activities and driven by experience

Whereas the outcomes of SMART probing are:
Questions, observations, suggestions, ideas in addition to test plan, scenarios, defects, scripts. These are NOT template driven and are about : write less, to do well now, focus on what-if & what, driven by logic & outcomes, not reliant only on experience with minimal rote activities.

Take a course

SmartQA Masterclass for QA course provides a refreshing look at product/application testing by layering quality into levels and then outlining a lightweight, crisp and powerful approach to uncovering issues better, faster and cheaper. “Do less, accomplish more”.

Read Ebook

Empower your QA efforts with this concise eBook providing THIRTEEN suggestions that addresses SIX key industry QA challenges.

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