2020-02-09
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Exploring Features and Stories
Help your team build shared understanding
European Testing Conference 2020
Janet Gregory and Lisa Crispin
Twitter: @janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
With material from Discover to Deliver,
by Ellen Gottesdiener and Mary Gorman
@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
A little about Janet and Lisa
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Working on agile teams since about 2000
Agile Testing Condensed 2019
Agile Testing 2009 More Agile Testing 2014
Agile Testing Essentials video course 2017
“Agile Testing for the Whole Team” 3-day course
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New!
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@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
Expectations
• Learn techniques to create shared understanding about
features
• Help your team consider quality attributes that are
important to them
• Use your testing mindset to shorten cycle times and
feedback loops
@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
What we’ll
cover
• The benefits & challenges of building
shared understanding
• Using your tester’s mindset with the
7 Product Dimensions to explore
requirements
• A range of quality attributes to
consider
• Hands-on practice with the
dimensions
• Overview of other techniques
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@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
• Small differences can cause big
misperceptions
• The classic “tire swing” metaphor -
each stakeholder has own
viewpoint, agenda
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Mindset shift from this …
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To this …
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@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
Structured conversations
using
7 Product Dimensions
… while thinking about testing
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@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
functional
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nonfunctional
www.DiscoverToDeliver.com/visual-language.php
Source: DiscoverTo Deliver, Gottesdiener & Gorman,2012
@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
“ an aspect of a product that expresses product capabilities
or things the product must do for its users.”
- includes users, actions, data and control product
dimensions
Ellen Gottesdiener, Mary Gormen
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@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
Q2 & Q3 – testing functional requirements
agile testing
quadrants
(brain child of Brian
Marick)
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@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
Non-
functional
requirements
“ aspects of a product that express
properties that the product must
have”
- includes quality attributes,
environment, and interface
dimensions
Gottesdiener, The Software
Requirements Memory Jogger
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@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
Q1 & Q4 – testing non-functional requirements
agile
testing
quadrants
(brain child of
Brian Marick)
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@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
Examples of quality attributes
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An example – Tour bus company
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Let’s work through an example feature
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Examples of questions to ask for this feature
(“functional” requirements)
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Dimension Questions
User Is the scheduler an administrator of the system? Or is she a data
entry person only?
Data Is time measured in hours or minutes?
Action Can the drivers add their hours in manually, or do they submit
time sheets?
How does she find out about extra hours?
Control Does the timesheets have to be approved by a supervisor or
somebody?
@janetgregoryca @lisacrispin
Examples of questions to ask for this feature
(“non-functional” requirements)
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Dimension Questions
Interface Who / what else has access to the scheduling system?
Environment Can it be entered remotely or is it desktop only?
Quality Attributes Are there performance requirements?
Can I assume there is only one person accessing at a time?
What level of security do we need for the scheduler?
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Your turn - using your tester’s mindset – Part 1
The feature: The scheduler has to notify the staff at a
destination if a bus is going to be late so they can plan
accordingly
1. Each person take one dimension
2. Individually, write down at least two questions about that
dimension on sticky notes. 3 minutes)
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Your turn - using your tester’s mindset – Part 2
1. Share your questions with your group and discuss.
2. Now take your questions and stick them under the
appropriate dimension on your wall chart.
Consider the similarities, the discrepancies.
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Debrief
• How were questions different for each dimension?
• Can you see them sparking useful conversations for
your team at work?
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User Interface Action Data Control
persona
user role map
context diagram
prototype
relationship map
business process diagram
capability map
dependency graph
story, story map
use case
value stream map
data model
state diagram
business policy, rule
decision table
decision tree
Source: DiscoverTo Deliver, Gottesdiener & Gorman, 2012
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More techniques to elicit requirements
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We’ll look at a few examples of these
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Context diagrams
Personas
State diagrams
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Persona example: a typical end-user
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Name: Sam the Scheduler
Schedules buses
Schedules bus drivers
Matches bus drivers to buses
Arranges emergency buses and
drivers
Ensures hours get logged
Liaises with the bus
maintenance
Detailed oriented
Likes working with numbers
Likes trying new ideas
Likes the outdoors, camping
Introvert
Doesn’t like conflict
Description Values
Likes
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State diagram (life cycle of data)
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Pair up and try one out
The feature: The scheduler needs to notify the staff at a
destination if a bus is going to be late so they can plan
accordingly.
1. Draw a context diagram, create a persona, or draw a state
diagram
2. Write down any new questions you think of as you try the
technique
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Debrief
• Did the technique you used help you think more
laterally, that is, “out of the box”?
• Did you think of good new questions?
Share your diagrams with other tables. Context
diagrams at one table, state flow at another, and
personas at the third.
How do they compare? How do they differ?
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Imagine …
You are back in the office in your next story readiness
workshop ….
What might the conversation be like now?
Which of these tools might you use to help understand the
story better?
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Assemble options
Source: DiscoverTo Deliver, Gottesdiener & Gorman,2012 30
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Other testing / analysis tools that can help
• Data flow diagrams
• Imagining different paths
• Asking focused questions
• Finding impacts in other parts of the system
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Agile Testing Condensed, A brief introduction
Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams
More Agile Testing: Learning Journeys for the Whole Team
By Janet Gregory and Lisa Crispin
agiletester.ca
agiletester.com
agiletestingfellow.com
Contact info
Email: janet@agiletester.ca
lisa@agiletester.ca
Twitter: @janetgregoryca
@lisacrispin
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More Learning
• Gottesdiener, Ellen and Gorman, Mary, Discover to Deliver, 2012
• The BDD Books: Discovery by Gáspár Nagy and Seb Rose
• Wynne, Matt and Aslak Hellesoy, The Cucumber Book: Behavior-
Driven Development for Testers and Developers, Pragmatic
Programmers, 2015
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