Page - 113 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

Testing Strategies in an AgileContext 113 Fig. 1 Agile testing matrix withupfrontinvestmentin tests thatcheckhowgoodrequirementsaredefined,what is thelevelofunderstanding,andhowwecandesignoursolutioninanefficientway. Secondly, we shall extend our scope of thinking about quality as something related to the technology side of the product. When we create software, we take decisions related to the technical design, architecture, and implementation, but a good portion of decisions are related to the business side of the product as well. Howdowecheckif thosedecisionsarecorrect?Previously,wewouldinvesta lotof resources tobuildacompleteproductandonly thenlaunchit foramarket test.This usedtoworkforbigcompanies(sometimes)but intheworldofstartupswithlimited resources it is not a viable approach. That is why startups naturally adopt Agile practices, includingsmartwaysto test thebusinessaspectsof theproductasearlyas possible, throughprototypes(often lowfidelity)andsimulations.Business-oriented testing checks whether we are building the right product from a user and market perspective,while technology-orientedtestingcheckswhetherwehavebuilt it right. Finally, an implication from the matrix is that testing is not only a QA expert’s job.Thevarious typesof testingrequirevariousexpertise,andcontribution by everyone—even customers and users themselves. So, it is in the collective ownership and responsibility of the entire team to embrace the different aspects of quality and engage in activities that contribute to the different types of testing. Quality is no longer a one-man’squest for perfection—it is a team effort to ensure meaningful investmentandstrongproductperformance. 3 Investment inAutomated Testing The Agile testing quadrants offer a great thinking model around the aspects of testing that we need to address and master, so that we can have good quality on bothbusiness and technology level. However, it is also obvious that doingall those