WHOSE TECHNIQUE IS IT ANYWAY?
Leveraging business analysis deliverables for test
analysis
Presented by Joe Newbert
Testing Interest Group (TIG) Networking Evening in Cape Town
10 November, 2009
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Plumbers fix leaks,
“If they can get away
builders make walls,
with it, they would prefer
architects draw lines,
not using any techniques
drivers drive, testers do
at all!” Leo van der Aalst
test case design
The brief
Matching & prioritising test case design techniques against the business
analysis modelling techniques and artefacts produced
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Execution
• Do
Tactics
• Plan
Strategy
• Think
The demonstrable way
Are testing techniques the only way to realise the agreed test strategy?
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Testing mindset
Where’s the balance of your thinking?
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Procedures
People Documents
System
Database Hardware
Software
System Elements
A regularly interacting or interdependent group of items forming a
unified whole
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Test Goals Test Risks Test Approach
• A test goal is a success • A product risk is the • Is the distribution of
criterion for the test chance that the the test effort and test
assignment specified in product fails in relation intensity over the
the customer’s to the expected combinations of
language. damage if it does so. characteristics and
object parts
Strategy
Aimed at finding the most important defects as early as possible and at
the lowest costs.
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Test Basis Design Techniques Test Cases
• All documents from • A set of tools that • A set of conditions or
which the provide instruction variables under which
requirements of a how to move from a a tester will determine
component or system requirement or design whether a software
can be inferred. artefact to test cases system is working
correctly or not
Tactics
If an unsuitable technique is selected or no techniques are used, all of
the previous steps will have been in vain
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Strategic Analysis Business Analysis IT systems analysis
• Identify business • Straddles the gap • Analysing and
transformation • Investigate situations specifying IT system
• Support strategic • Recommend actions requirements
analysis • Data, process and
• Understanding of function modelling
strategy development
Business Analysis Range
The extent of the Business Analyst’s role and responsibilities
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Process
•Are they well defined?
•Are there workarounds
•Are there unnecessary
overheads?
Organisational People
context •Do they understand
•Is there a good support their role?
structure? •Do then have the
•Are roles well defined? required skills?
•Is cross-functional •How motivated are
working effective? they?
Holistic approach
Analyse all aspects of the operational business
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Elicitation Analysis
Techniques Techniques
Requirements
Deliverables
Management
Business Analysis Techniques
The techniques listed hereon are only a subset of the techniques used by
practitioners of business analysis.
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Document Analysis Focus Groups
•Document analysis is a means to •A focus group is a means to elicit
elicit requirements by studying ideas and attitudes about a
available documentation. specific product or service in an
interactive group setting.
Interviews Requirements Workshops
•A systematic approach designed •A structured way to scope,
to elicit information from a discover, define, prioritize and
person or group of people by reach closure on requirements
talking to an interviewee. for the target system.
Observation Survey/Questionnaire
•Observation is a means of •A means of eliciting information
eliciting requirements by from many people, sometimes
conducting an assessment of the anonymously, in a relatively
stakeholder’s environment. short period of time.
Elicitation Techniques
Work with stakeholders to identify and understand their needs and
concerns, and understand the environment in which they work
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Benchmarking Brainstorming
•Benchmark studies are •The aim of brainstorming is to
performed to compare the produce numerous new creative
strengths and weaknesses of an ideas, and to derive from them
organization against its peers themes for further analysis.
and competitors.
Decision Analysis Root Cause Analysis
•To support decision-making •The purpose of root cause
when dealing with complex, analysis is to determine the
difficult, or uncertain situa-tions. underlying source of a problem.
Prototyping Interface Analysis
•Prototyping details user •Identify interfaces between
interface requirements and solutions components and define
integrates them with other requirements that describe how
requirements such as use cases, they will interact.
scenarios
Analysis Techniques
Identify a business need, refine and clarify the definition of that need,
and define a solution scope that can feasibly be implemented
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Functional Business Rules Data Dictionary
Decomposition Analysis and Glossary
Process
Scope Modelling Data Modelling
Modelling
Non-functional
Sequence Scenarios and
Requirements
Diagrams Use Cases
Analysis
Metrics and Key
Organization
Performance State Diagrams
Modelling
Indicators
Deliverables
Is the appropriate output result from a particular business analysis task
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Acceptance Criteria Estimation
•To define the requirements that •Estimating techniques forecast
must be met in order for a the cost and effort involved in
solution to be considered pursuing a course of ac-tion.
acceptable.
Risk Analysis Lessons Learned Process
•To identify and manage areas of •Document successes,
uncertainty that can impact an opportunities for improvement,
initiative, solution, or failures, and recommendations
organisation. for improving performance
Problem Tracking Structured Walkthrough
•An organized approach to •Performed to communicate,
tracking, management, and verify and validate requirements.
resolution of defects, issues,
problems, and risks.
Requirements Management
How business analysts manage requirements, delivery, conflicts, issues
and changes
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Organisation
Process
Data
Behaviour
Rules
Deliverable Prioritisation
Which are the fundamental Business Analysis techniques to deliver?
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CEO / Board
Marketing & Customer
Procurement Fulfilment Finance
Sales Services
Inbound Debtors
Manufacture Creditors
Outbound
Organisation
Functional decomposition of the organisational hierarchy, alluding to the
core value chain
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Process model
Representing processes of an enterprise, so that the current process may
be analyzed and improved in future.
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Data
A data model provides the details of information to be stored
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Behaviour
A state diagram describes the behaviour of systems as a series of events
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ID Definition Type State Source
BR-1 Delivery time windows are 15 Fact Static Delivery
minutes, beginning on each Manager
quarter hour.
BR-2 All meals in a single order must Constraint Static Corporate
be paid for using the same Accounting
payment method. Manager
BR-3 Order price is calculated as the Computation Dynamic Cafeteria
sum of each food item price policy; state
times the quantity of that food tax code
item ordered, plus applicable
sales tax, plus a delivery charge if
a meal is delivered outside the
free delivery zone.
Business Rules
A statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business to
assert structure or to control or influence behaviour
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Test Basis
Test
Strategy
Test
Techniques
Test Case
Test Case Design
The assembling of appropriate data to process through the system to
assess functional and quality of service requirements
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Pairs Wise
Path Flow
Formal Exploratory
Boundary Equivalence Decision Experience
Error
Value Class Logic and
Model
Analysis Partition Table intuition
TCD Prioritisation
Which Test Case Design technique should I use first?
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Pairs Path BVA ECP DLT
Wise Flow
Organisational
    
Context
Business
 
Process Model
Data
  
Model
State Chart
 
Diagram
Business Rule
   
Definitions
Business Analysis meets Test Analysis
Leveraging business analysis techniques for test analysis and quality
assurance?
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Do TA’s and BA’s
collaborate? Would
model delivery be
more effective
together?
Do TAs get out
enough? Are only
PMs, BAs and DEVs
allowed to talk to
users?
Is the TA emerging?
The BA has emerged
from IT Software
stigma,
Observations & conversation
Where is Testing today, where is it moving to?
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newbert@businesschange.co.za
http://za.linkedin.com/in/newbert
www.twitter.com/newbert
www.slideshare.net/newbert
Done
Here’s how we can connect
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