Test Reporting Best Practices By Gabriel Rodriguez

Test Reporting

Best Practices

By

Gabriel Rodriguez

Copyright 2006-2007. MSQAA Federation Chapter.

Agenda

Developing Test Status Reports Test Metrics Preparing Test Reports Q&A Reference


Developing Test Reports


Developing Test Status Reports

The test status reports explained in these slides are generated by the Test Manager or Test Lead. Not all the projects require these status reports.

These reports enables senior IT management to easily determine the status of the project, and can be issued as needed.

There are two levels of project status reports:– Summary Status Report

Provides a general view of all project components. It is used to determine which projects need immediate attention and which are on schedule with no apparent problems.



The content of a summary status report is:– Report Date Information– Project information– Time Line Information– Legend Information

The following slide depicts a summary status report.



Summary Status Report Example



The second level of project status report:– Project Status Report

Shows detailed information about a specific project component, allowing the reader to see up-to-date information about

– Schedules– Budgets– Project resources

Each report is limited to one page so that only vital statistics are included.



The content of a project status report is:– Vital Project Information– General Project Information– Project Activities Information– Essential Elements Information– Legend Information– Project Highlights Information

The following slide depicts a project status report.



Project Status Report Example



There is one more important status report in testing, this status report is generated weekly depending on the project needs.

This weekly status report shows the progress of the testing process in a systematic way.



The content of the weekly status report is:– Product Name– Report No.– Week Ending– Tester(s)– Project Schedule– Progress and changes since last week– Urgent Items– Issue bin– To-do Tasks by Next Report



Weekly Status Report Example


Test Metrics


Test Metric

Metrics specific to testing includes data regarding testing, defect tracking, and software performance.

Testers are responsible for reporting their test status at regular intervals.

The following measurements generated during testing are applicable:– Total number of tests– Number of tests executed to date– Number of tests executed successfully to date


Test Metric

Examples of metrics and their uses are as follows:

Metric Use of Metric

User Participation Involvement

Number of Tests Extent of testing

Acceptance Criteria Tested Extent of testing

Test Cost Resources consumed in testing

Program Phase Testing Effectiveness

Effectiveness of testing


Preparing Test Reports



Test Reporting is the means of communicating the results of testing A final test report should be prepared at the conclusion of each test

activity. Not all the projects follow this practice. The test reports are designed to document the results of testing as

defined in the test plan. Without a well-developed test plan, it is difficult to develop a meaningful

test report. A test report is designed to accomplished three objectives:

– Define the scope of testing: Normally a brief recap of the test plan

– Present the results of testing.– Draw conclusions and make recommendations based on those

results.



The test report is divided in:– Scope of testing

This section documents:– Feature to be tested

All the areas tested need to be outlined– Features not to be tested

– Results of Testing This section documents all the defects found during the

test execution.



– What Works/What Does Not Work This section documents all the areas that are working

properly as well as the areas that are not working– Recommendations

This section documents any recommendation to mitigate any issues

The following slide depicts a test report


Preparing Test ReportsTest Report Example



Test Report Part II Example


Q&A

Any questions…


Reference

CSTE Study Guide 2002 by QAI CSTE Study Guide 2006 by QAI


Thank you…

Documents

Test Reporting Best Practices By Gabriel Rodriguez