Introduction into testing in large and distributed organizations that are practicing agile methods. Ideas, practices and tools to help develop open communication, deal with cultural differences both within an organization and across continents specifically related to testing activities.

1. Janet Gregory, DragonFire Inc.
Copyright 2018
Agile Testers Conference 2018
an on-line experience
Twitter: @janetgregoryca

2. Agile Testing; 2009
More Agile Testing: Oct 2014
Co-authored with Lisa Crispin
https://agiletester.ca
https://agiletestingfellow.com
2
DragonFire Inc.
https://janetgregory.ca
@janetgregoryca
janet@agiletester.ca

3. Some of you will in in organizations that are:
- Less than 100 people
- Larger than 1,000 employees
- Larger than 5,000
- In different cities, same time zone (or 1 hr. apart)
- Have time zones more than 7 hrs difference
- More than 3 remote teams …
3

4. to share my
experiences on how
agile testing activities
can span large teams…
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5. Some of the challenges
Plan for testing
Key testing practices that work across teams
5
Sharing is caring

6. Large organizations
that have enterprise applications and
solutions
@janetgregoryca

7. Small co-located teams: Agile’s sweet spot
7

8. Defined by its:
◦ Values, norms,
assumptions
◦ Social system
◦ Visible artifacts
 Icons
 Rituals
 Vocabulary
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9. 9
How do we
interact? Do you play the
blame game?
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10. • Bureaucracy
• Reporting needs (real or imagined)
• Orders handed down ….
• Too many concurrent projects
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11. • Organizational controls – regulatory, internal
• Working with third parties
• Involving customers in other locations
• ERP system integration
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12. Other Testing Specific Issues
Too many dependencies
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Tester on more than one team

13. Some of the challenges
Plan for testing
Key testing practices that work across teams
13
Sharing is caring
@janetgregoryca

14. Consider the feature
Create testable
stories
Who tests what?
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15. ReleasePlanning Team A
Planning
Test Mind Map
Team B
Planning
Team C
Planning
Team D
Planning
Release
Test Matrix
Release
Test Planning
/ Approach

17. Lots of Stuff Shopping
Release 1.5
DataIntegrity
Look&Feel
Calculations
Currency
Localization
DevicesiPad
DevicesiPhone
BoundaryConditions
Load/Performance
Security
Store customer information
Add to shopping cart
Calculate shipping costs
Mobile iOs - view only
Next feature
Legend
Good to Go
Some testing; could use more
Major issue
No testing done
Not applicable `

18. 18
Think in Levels of Detail

19. 19
Dependencies
between
teams
Remove them
before the
iteration, but
remember to
test them
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20. 20

21. 21
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22. 22

23. Each team responsible
for delivering their
feature -- completely
Specialist teams report
to the “owner” feature
team.
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24. Over-riding test strategy on how …. but
• Understand who is testing what
• What are the overlaps?
• Where are the gaps?
• Co-ordination between teams?
• ASK: Who, when, how???
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@janetgregoryca

25. Coordinate
Tools & Practices
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26. • Classes of tools
• Involve teams in choosing tools
• One size does not fit all
◦ But … be aware of too many tools for support or
cross-training
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27. • Same version control
◦ Understand the branching and merging approach
• Same CI environment
◦ Use to visualize test results
• Accessible & stable test environments
◦ Know what versions of applications are in each
environment
27

28. Some of the challenges
Plan for testing
Key testing practices that work across teams
28
Sharing is caring
@janetgregoryca

29. 29

30. Feature
(with
examples) User
Story
High-
Level
AT
Fix
Defects
Code, test & automate story
ATDD
Acceptance Test Driven Development
Accept
Story
Explore
Examples
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31. • Power of 3
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• Repeat verbal conversations in writing
• Question
• Draw pictures
• Test ideas

32. • Aim for short feedback cycles
• Remove dependencies early
• Start with a test to remove assumptions
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@janetgregoryca

33. We can use tests and examples for shared
understanding and common language
For example, create a function to add 2 numbers
-2 + 1 = -1
2.0 + 1.050 = 3.050
2.0 + 1 = 3.0
2 + 1 = 3

34. @janetgregoryca

35. @janetgregoryca

36. • What is the state of testability of your
architecture?
◦ Can you simplify it for automation?
• Regulatory
◦ simplest thing you can possibly do
◦ Consider NECESSARY artifacts – can you automate
• Working with third parties (internal / external)
◦ Remove dependencies
◦ Create fast feedback loops
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37. • Examples (tests) show desired behaviour
• Tests can provide fast feedback
• Remember -- know your team!
37
@janetgregoryca

38. Some of the challenges
Plan for testing
Key testing practices that work across teams
38
Sharing is caring
@janetgregoryca

39. Sharing information, that is
Transparency means less blame
• No hiding
• No secrets
• No gaming the system
The hard part is making it visible
39
@janetgregoryca

40. • Share dependencies
• Same vision
• Same goal
• Accessible to all
• Keep everyone “in
the loop”
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@janetgregoryca

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43. 43

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46. • Schedules
◦ Overlapping times
◦ Meetings
◦ Share the pain
• Use retrospectives
◦ Identify problem areas
◦ Experiment with solutions
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@janetgregoryca

47. And always, strive for quality!
photoshd.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/13/

48. 48
Final note:
I’m not advocating distributed teams or
out-sourcing but if you are faced with those
problems, I hope you can use some of these
ideas to help manage your agile testing.
and
Agile ≠ NO DOCUMENTATION
Know your own context!

49. • Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Large,
Multisite and Offshore Product Development with Large-Scale
Scrum, Craig Larman and Bas Vodde, Addison-Wesley, 2010
• Agile Software Development in the Large: Diving into the
Deep, Jutta Eckstein, Dorset House, 2004
• More Fearless Change: Patterns for introducing new ideas,
Linda Rising and Mary Lynn Manns
• More Agile Testing: Learning Journeys for the Whole Team,
Janet Gregory and Lisa Crispin, Addison-Wesley, 2015
• Explore It!, Elisabeth Hendrickson, Pragmatic Bookshelf
• Practical Testing in DevOps, Katrina Clokie, LeanPub
49

50. 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
https://agiletester.ca
https://agiletestingfellow.com
Contact info
www.janetgregory.ca
Email: janet@agiletester.ca
Twitter: janetgregoryca
50
Course: Whole Team Approach to
Agile Testing and Quality

51. Questions?