Task: Identify Test Motivators |
This task describes how to identify the specific list of things, including both events and work products, that will serve to motivate testing in a given iteration.
Disciplines: Test
Relationships
Roles | Primary Performer: Test Manager | Additional Performers:
Inputs | Mandatory: [Project Work] Iteration Plan Work Items List | Optional: Test Motivator Test Plan [Project Definition and Scope] Project Plan [Project Risk] Risk List
Outputs | Test Motivator Test Plan
Steps
Identify Iteration Target Items
Examine the iteration plan, and identify the specific items that will govern the plan, and the key deliverables by which the execution of the plan will be measured. Key elements you should examine include: Risk lists, Change Request lists, Requirements sets, Use Cases lists, UML Models, and so on. It is useful to supplement this examination by attending iteration kickoff meetings. If these are not already planned, organize one for the test team that invites key management and software development resources (for example, project manager, software architect, and development team leads).
Gather and Examine Related Information
Having examined the iteration plan, look initially for tangible and clearly defined elements that would be good candidates for assessment. Examine the details behind the work to be done, including new work, change requests, and so on. Study the risks that will be addressed by the plan to understand clearly what the potential impact of the risk is, and what must be done to address it (mitigate, transfer, eliminate, and so on).
Identify Candidate Motivators
Using the understanding that you have gained of the iteration plan, identify potential sources for things that will motivate the test effort. Motivation may come from one of any number of sources: an individual work product, a set of work products, an event or activity, or the absence of any of these things. Sources might include: Risk List, Change Requests, Requirements Set, Use Cases, UML Models, and so on. For each source, examine the detail for potential motivators. If you cannot find a lot of detail about it, or you are unfamiliar with the motivation source, it may be useful to discuss the items with the analyst and management staff, usually by starting with the project manager or lead system analysts. As you examine the information and discuss it with the relevant staff, enumerate a list of candidate test motivators.
Determine Quality Risks
Using the list of candidate test motivators, consider each motivator in terms of the potential for quality risks. This will help you to better understand the relevant importance of each candidate, and may expose other candidate motivators that are missing from the list. There are many different dimensions of quality risk, and it is possible that a single motivator may highlight the potential for risk in multiple categories. Highlight the potential quality risks against each candidate motivator, and indicate the likelihood and impact of the risk being encountered.
Define Motivators List
Using the list of candidate motivators and their quality risk information, determine the relative importance of the motivators. Determine the motivators that can be addressed in the current iteration (you may want to retain the list of remaining candidates for subsequent iterations). Define the motivator list, documenting it as appropriate. This may be as part of the iteration test plan, in a database or spreadsheet, or as a list contained within some other work product. It is useful to briefly describe why the motivator is important, and what aspects of quality risk it will help to address.
Maintain Traceability Relationships
Using the Traceability requirements outlined in the Test Plan, update the traceability relationships as required.
Evaluate and Verify Your Results
You should evaluate whether your work is of appropriate quality, and that it is complete enough to be useful to those team members who will make subsequent use of it as input to their work. Where possible, use checklists to verify that quality and completeness are good enough. Have the people who perform the downstream tasks that rely on your work as input review your interim work. Do this while you still have time available to take action to address their concerns. You should also evaluate your work against the key input work products to make sure that you have represented them accurately and sufficiently. It may be useful to have the author of the input work product review your work on this basis.
More Information
Tool Mentors | Identifying Test Motivators using IBM Rational Quality Manager Using Test Motivators with CQTM
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