Agile Testers Conference | 27th-28th October 2018 This presentation is about how mind maps are used to support exploratory testing in a cross-functional team. Claudia will share how mind maps help the team have a common understanding of what to test, and how mind maps are designed by the team so they can easily be read and understood regardless of who created them. She will also describe how mind maps are re-used through the different releases, and what the team has learnt when applying this testing strategy. At the end of the presentation, Claudia will share some tips to start using mind maps when applying an exploratory testing strategy. This story is set during the process of building a multi-platform UI prototyping tool mainly for interaction designers. The team, fully dedicated to building the product, consists of highly qualified and experienced professionals: developers (5), interaction designers (1), visual designers (1), and testers (1).

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EXPLORATORY TESTING
DRIVEN BY MIND MAPS
Eng. Claudia Badell
claudia@claudia-badell.com
@claubs_uy
AGILE TESTERS
CONFERENCES
2018
October 27th–28th, 2018 AGILE TESTERS CONFERENCE

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Speaker
• Agile Testing Days (USA)
• ExpoQA (Spain)
• Meetups (Brasil, Uruguay)
• Next Generation Testing Conference
(England)
• TestingUy (Uruguay)
• VLCTesting (Spain)
• WCSQ (Perú)
Co-organizer
testinguy.org
• +12 years of experience in testing
• Senior Quality Engineer
• Test Manager
• Tester
• Business Analyst
• Teacher at School of Engineering,
Universidad de la República
• Certified Scrum Master
• Agile Testing 101 tutorial with Janet Gregory & Lisa Crispin
• Rapid Software Testing course with Michael Bolton
• Association for Software Testing courses
(Foundations & Bug Advocacy)
• ISTQB Foundation
Computer Engineer
Quality time with my family &
friends, walk, craft beer
Travel freak
valijasready.com

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1 INTRODUCTION
2 OUR APPROACH
3 LESSONS LEARNED
AGENDA
4
TIPS TO START
USING MIND MAPS
IN YOUR TEAM

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AGENDA
1 INTRODUCTION
2 OUR APPROACH
3 LESSONS LEARNED
4
TIPS TO START
USING MIND MAPS
IN YOUR TEAM

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James Bach
Exploratory testing is simultaneous
learning, test design, and test
execution.

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• obtain results very quickly
• identify bugs in places where we may
not expect them
• focus on functional cycles
• learn about the product being tested
USEFUL TO

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Exploratory testing is
not ad-hoc testing

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EXPLORATORY TESTING
SESSION BASED
MISSION SESSION

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SESSION CONTENT
• Task breakdown
• Duration
• % Test design &
execution
• % Bug investigation
• % Session setup
• Charter vs
Opportunity
• Data files
• Test notes
• Bugs
• Issues
• Charter
• Areas to be tested
• Date and time
started
• Tester name(s)
By James Bach & Jonathan Bach

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WHERE CAN WE REGISTER THE SESSIONS?
• Paper 
• Spreadsheets
• Bach Scan Tool: www.satisfice.com/sbtm
• Mind maps
• …

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11
Reusing the knowledge acquired during the
different exploratory sessions in the
different test cycles
CHALLENGE #1

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Sharing the knowledge acquired during the
different exploratory sessions
at a team level
CHALLENGE #2

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Mind maps to support
exploratory testing

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What is mind mapping?

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A mind map to describe a mind map

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• Organize and visualize ideas
• Identify dependencies
• Discuss ideas
• Enhance creativity
• Share knowledge
MIND MAPS HELP US

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1 INTRODUCTION
2 OUR APPROACH
3 LESSONS LEARNED
4
AGENDA
TIPS TO START
USING MIND MAPS
IN YOUR TEAM

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• Developers (5)
• Visual designers (1)
• Interaction designers (1)
• Testers (1)
THE TEAM
Testing is
performed by
most of us

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THE PRODUCT UNDER
TEST
• In the market since 2012
• 11 major releases, several
intermediate updates and silent
updates

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How do we design
our mind maps?

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We build a mind map for each feature

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A mind map includes test conditions,
ideas and variables to cover a feature

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Let’s see an example!

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• Emphasize related test ideas
• Use symbols, notes and colors
• Represent cross-feature test conditions and
dependencies
GUIDELINES & STRUCTURE
CONVENTIONS TO
We defined a ‘meta language’ to
elaborate our mind maps

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EVANGELIZING THE
APPROACH IN THE TEAM
• Internal workshops
• Applying it

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How do we use our mind maps
when applying an exploratory
testing strategy?

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We don’t track sessions

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We use mind maps as
reference for exploratory
sessions

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We reuse mind maps to avoid
re-thinking test ideas, conditions
and variables from scratch

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Mind maps are extended or
updated according to
changes in the product

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We track effort and charters
in tasks in our track system

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• Repository
• File naming conventions
STORING OUR
MIND MAPS

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1 INTRODUCTION
2 OUR APPROACH
3 LESSONS LEARNED
4
AGENDA
TIPS TO START
USING MIND MAPS
IN YOUR TEAM

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• Iterate over existing test ideas
• Identify test conditions and ideas better
• Have a common understanding of the features
• Share knowledge
MIND MAPS HELP US

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Only track what is relevant
for the team

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• the testing effort required for a release
• the impact that a fix has from the testing effort perspective
AS A TEAM, WE GAINED A DEEPER
UNDERSTANDING OF

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1 INTRODUCTION
2 OUR APPROACH
3 LESSONS LEARNED
4
AGENDA
TIPS TO START
USING MIND MAPS
IN YOUR TEAM

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TIPS
• When defining the meta language, it is important to
• select a functionality or module with a lot of dependencies
• select a complex functionality or module
• Validate the meta language at a team level
• Do a brainstorming session before designing a mind map to cover a
functionality or module

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TIPS
• Execute cross testing by including the persons who designed the
mind map and other team members
• Define someone in the team to be the guardian of the strategy
• Elaborate mind maps together with the developers involved in
the functionality or module

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George E. P Box
All models are wrong,
but some of them are useful

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KEEP CALM
AND
START MIND MAPPING 

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Useful links for further reading
• Heuristic Testing Strategy Model by James Bach
http://www.satisfice.com/tools/htsm.pdf
• Using Mind Maps to Document Exploratory Testing by Samuli Lahnamäki
https://www.stickyminds.com/presentation/using-mind-maps-document-exploratory-testing
• Explore It!: reduce risk and increase confidence with Exploratory Testing by Elisabeth Hendrickson
https://www.amazon.com/Explore-Increase-Confidence-Exploratory-Testing/dp/1937785025/
• Essential mind mapping: Rapid test design by Darren McMillan
http://www.bettertesting.co.uk/content/?p=1438
• Part 1: using mind-mapping software as a visual test management tool by Aaron Hodder
http://assurity.co.nz/community/big-thoughts/part-1-aaron-hodder-on-using-mind-mapping-software-as-a-visual-
test-management-tool/
• Part 2: using mind-mapping software as a visual test management tool by Aaron Hodder
http://assurity.co.nz/community/big-thoughts/part-2-aaron-hodder-on-using-mind-mapping-software-as-a-
visual-test-management-tool/
• When the whole team owns testing: Building testing skills by Lisa Crispin
http://lisacrispin.com/whole-team-owns-testing-building-testing-skills/
• Resources on Exploratory Testing, Metrics, and Other Stuff by Michael Bolton
http://www.developsense.com/resources.html

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THANKS
Questions?
Claudia Badell
claudia@claudia-badell.com
@claubs_uy
October 27–28, 2018 AGILE TESTERS CONFERENCE