Is there a kind of check list for the project start in the area of test management or test engineering?

Question

Actually a very good question and somehow hardly discussed so far.

Is there a checklist - for test engineers and test managers when they start into a project?

Basically yes clear at least from Testmanager side that one follows here the guideline:

• Analysis
• Clarification of the Test Methodology
• The Test Deliverals
• Resources and Enviroments Requirements

But I've been looking for a uniform checklist for direct access to a project for quite some time.

How do you proceed here?

• Meetings in which many things are clarified first?
• Analysis of the existing test systems?
• Analysis of the existing tools?
• Talks with the developers?

My procedure here is accordingly in the upper enumeration.

Within 2-3 weeks after the new entry, I form an extensive basis on which to build.

Also on the basis of what is needed now, this can be a test plan in the project or a complete concept in other projects.

In this context I would be interested in another point of view.

How do you approach the topic when starting a new project?

Answer 1

For accessing the points related to quality, you can use the James Bach's Heuristic Testing Strategy Model.

It looks at the project in five aspects:

• Project Environment includes resources, constraints, and other elements in the project that may enable or hobble our testing. Sometimes a tester must challenge constraints, and sometimes accept them.

• Product Elements are things that you intend to test. Software is complex and invisible.Take care to cover all of it that matters, not just the parts that are easy to see.

• Quality Criteria are the rules, values, and sources that allow you as a tester to determine if the product has problems. Quality criteria are multidimensional and often hidden or self-contradictory.

• Test Techniques are heuristics for creating tests. All techniques involve some sort of analysis of project environment, product elements, and quality criteria.

• Perceived Quality is the result of testing. You can never know the “actual” quality of a software product, but through the application of a variety of tests, you can make an informed assessment of it.

The details of each aspect are explained in the linked paper.

Note: I've created a mind map representing the model. You can find it here.

Answer 2

My new project 101:

1. Form a T-shaped development team
2. Practise TDD and other LeSS technical excelence practises
3. Ship high quality software features every week
4. Gather feedback from users
5. Watch a Clean Coders video with the team
6. Retrospect and improve cycle
7. GOTO 2;
8. ..
9. Profit!