Testing is more than bug tracking—it’s project insurance.
Testing is often implemented as nothing more than a to-do list of defects.
Software is built. A team of people (or maybe just one person) confirms it’s working as expected. If not, they log bugs. The development team has only a vague idea of the project requirements and each member has a different definition of done. In this way, testing serves only to document defects to be fixed when stakeholders prioritize them. Yet, the team feels an adequate amount of rigor is in place because someone is capturing defects in the backlog.
This scenario probably sounds familiar. But this isn’t test engineering. It’s test execution.
The benefits of test engineering go beyond bug tracking and include:
- Regular and progressive assessment of software quality.
- Traceability of defects through test reporting.
- Early detection of errors, reducing risk of cost overruns and/or failure of the final product.
- Forced accountability for the development team.
- A clear definition of product readiness.
When test engineering goes beyond simple execution to includes test planning and design, documented requirements are mapped to end-to-end test procedures. Thus, the project team and stakeholders can confirm when each project requirement has been met based on the status of the mapped test procedures. The definition of done is no longer arbitrary.
Deliverables for test engineering services are tailored to the specific needs of the project, but commonly include the following:
- Requirements Document: The list of all functional and non-functional requirements the software must implement prior to release.
- Test Plan: The test engineering process, schedule and deliverables for the project, including roles and accountability.
- Traceability Matrix: The mapping between project requirements and status of test cases provides an ongoing assessment of product completeness.
- Bug Reports: Each defect report details the steps to reproduce the “fail” and includes both expected and actual results to aid in troubleshooting the issue.