Category: featured

Using Mind Maps for Agile Test Planning

Nishi Grover GargLeave a comment

Mind maps are a creative way of gathering ideas around a central theme and categorizing them in concrete branches. Mind maps can be useful for both personal and professional life as an organization and visualization technique. They’re descriptive, easy and even fun.

In my latest post for Gurock blog, I showcase the usage of mind maps as a technique for test planning and test design. This tool’s capabilities make your documentation leaner and ideas more visual, which benefits the whole agile team.
https://blog.gurock.com/agile-mind-map/

Be it test planning in an agile team which needs entire team’s insights and collaboration, or categorization of product features, test areas and backlog, Mindmaps can be used for all aspects and phases of the project.

Testers can generate their test ideas and have them categorized in a mind map around the central theme of the feature. The visual nature of a mind map helps them find more scenarios, see which parts are more heavily tested, and focus on main areas or branches. Once done, they can have other stakeholders take a look at it and get their opinions. This fosters brainstorming together and gathers the maximum number of ideas from the entire team.

Find useful tips to create your own mindmaps, as well as some samples for your reference in agile test designing as well as test planning. Read the complete article here ->
https://blog.gurock.com/agile-mind-map/

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Making the case for Usability Testing in Agile

Nishi Grover GargLeave a comment

My first experience with usability testing was on an agile team where the product we were building was being designed with the help of an in-house usability expert. He helped design the user interface (UI) of the application and conduct usability study on the beta version of the software to determine the ease of use of the application.

Though the experience was limited in terms of the interaction we had with the user representatives and the sessions conducted, the feedback we received opened up lots of new avenues for the tester in me around the learnability, understandability and attractiveness of the application I was testing.

Usability has matured a lot over the years. It’s now an essential software characteristic in today’s web and mobile applications. In my article published at the TestRail blog, I discuss ways of performing Usability tests and developing a mindset for Usability in an agile context.

https://blog.gurock.com/usability-testing-agile-projects/

We also discuss about Usability Study , how to set it up and achieve maximum benefits from it.

To read the complete article — (opens in a new tab)”>Click here –>

Prevention is the Best Cure- for Defects in Agile

Nishi Grover GargLeave a comment

The agile methodology focuses on building in quality from the very beginning of the software lifecycle. That is why we aim to find and fix defects early on: A defect found and fixed in an earlier lifecycle phase is a multitude cheaper than the same defect at a later stage.

But how can we more easily make it possible to prevent defects from percolating deeper in the software development lifecycle by fixing them in their nascent stages?

This is the main theme of my latest article for @Gurock TestRail blog – where I explore and explain ways to foresee, analyze and thwart defects in an agile context.

The main points discussed are-

Communication

Conduct Reviews

Demonstrate Often

Static Analysis and CI

Click Here to read the complete article –>

Please support by liking / commenting and sharing the article!

Cheers

Nishi

A Day in the Life of an Agile Tester

Nishi Grover Garg1 Comment

An agile tester’s work life is intriguing, busy and challenging. A typical day is filled with varied activities like design discussions, test planning, strategizing for upcoming sprints, collaborating with developers on current user stories, peer reviews for teammates, test execution, working with business analysts for requirement analysis and planning automation strategies.

In my article for Gurock TestRail blog, I have explored a typical day in the life of an agile tester and how varied activities and tasks keep her engaged, busy and on her toes all the time!

agile tester.png

Let’s sneak a peek into a day in the life of an agile tester — > You will go through the daily routine of an agile tester and will experience their complicated schedule in real time.

Read full article

https://blog.gurock.com/agile-tester-work-life/

 

Pic Credits blog.commlabindia.com

Factors To Consider When Selecting The Right Software For Your Business

Nishi Grover Garg2 Comments

Running a business in today’s tough competitive world is not everyone’s cup of tea. You need to be well ahead of your competitors in terms of marketing, services as well as technology. Being a business owner, you should always look up for software tailored for your business, which can simplify things for you, your customers or even your employees for that matter. Not only this, you should try to extract the best of possible from that software.

Many business owners are unaware of the advantages of having the right tools at hand. And those who realize it may lack the knowledge on choosing the correct software for their business. So here is a guide to such business owners about what factors they should keep in mind while choosing the right software for their business.

  • ANALYSE YOUR NEEDS

You should be clear in your mind about your needs. There are two kinds of software, one that is general to all kinds of business. For example, general accounting, and the other one which is specific to a particular kind of business. For example, a restaurant owner would need software which can manage recipe cost along with the front-of-house to back-of-house communication, or a manufacturing business may need a software which can track shipments and provide supply chain information.

  • THE COST INVOLVED

Cost is a really crucial factor in choosing a software. You have to see to it that whether you can reasonably afford to purchase new software for your business or not. And if it is a sure thing, then you should take into considerations the features that you will need both now and in the coming few years. You should not be willing to pay for bells and whistles or functions that are not required in your business. Before choosing a software, carefully analyse your needs and keep in mind not to alter your needs to fit the software.

Read More »

Crafting User Stories That Agile Teams Will Love

Nishi Grover Garg4 Comments

A popular term you will come across when working in agile is the “user story.” For the uninitiated, a user story is a technique of expressing software requirements in a specific format, usually:

As a < role of user >, I want to < perform an action >, so that < goal of user >

This adds more detail and description, and it’s sure to include the real need of the user when expressing the requirements.

For agile teams, user stories are a typical way to begin a conversation about a feature. But issues arise when we stop adding more beyond the one-line user story format. Most agile teams are crippled by incomplete, ambiguous and vague user stories that lack depth and details.

In my experience, there are some ways we can ensure that the user stories we craft are usable and valuable in all aspects. In my latest article for Gurock TestRail Blog, I talk about strategies to craft meaningful, understandable and valuable user stories for your agile teams.

We discuss INVEST Principle of User Stories, 3Cs of a User Story and how to learn from Experience of past sprints to improve your user stories. Read the full article here-

https://blog.gurock.com/crafting-user-stories-agile-teams/ 

Cheers

Nishi

5 Mistakes to avoid in Agile Retrospectives

Nishi Grover GargLeave a comment

Retrospectives are an integral part of every project we undertake, as well as a key ceremony in the Scrum lifecycle. Agile principally stresses the need to perform periodic meetings to reflect on the functioning of the team, their processes and actions and try to improve their shortcomings, so retrospectives are essential. The team gets to look back on their work and answer three key questions: What went well? What did not go well? How can we improve?

Even if agile teams perform retrospectives as a regular part of their project lifecycle, there are a few common mistakes they may be making due to a lack of understanding, perspective or communication, and these mistakes can prevent obtaining the maximum benefits of the retrospective.

In my article for Gurock TestRail blog, I have discussed five common mistakes that we must avoid in Agile Retrospectives.

 

Click Here to Read more

Do let me know your thoughts!

Cheers

Nishi

 

This website is now featured in the 75 Best Software Testing blogs!

Nishi Grover Garg11 Comments

It’s a big day for me as my personal blog has been featured in the ’75 Best Software Testing Blogs’ by 🙂

Check out the complete list at ->

https://abstracta.us/blog/software-testing/75-best-software-testing-blogs/

Elated and Excited! Please give a thumbs up and follow me for testing and agile related articles.

To follow this blog –> Add your email ID on the right side panel, and receive periodic updates with new articles and posts!

Listed in top 75 blogs

Thanks a lot!

Nishi

Key QA and testing takeaways from the Agile manifesto

Nishi Grover Garg2 Comments

My first article for Global App Testing blog is now published at

https://www.globalapptesting.com/blog/key-qa-and-testing-takeaways-from-the-agile-manifesto

             >>>Agile testing leaves very little time for documentation. It relies on quick and innovative test case design rather than elaborate test case documents with detailed steps or results. This mirrors the values of Exploratory Testing. When executed right, it needs only lightweight planning with the focus on fluidity without comprehensive documentation or test cases. 

From a QA viewpoint, we can learn from the Agile Manifesto key goals; communication, efficiency, collaboration and flexibility. If you improve your QA team in these areas, it will have a positive effect on your QA strategy and company growth.

>>>The Manifesto for Agile Software Development forms the golden rules for all Agile teams today. It gives us four basic values, which assure Agilists a clearer mindset and success in their Agile testing.

Although these values are mostly associated with Agile development, they equally apply to all phases, roles and people within the Agile framework, including Agile testing. As we know, Agile testers’ lives are different, challenging and quite busy. They have a lot to achieve and contribute within the short Agile sprints or iterations, and are frequently faced with dilemmas about what to do and how to prioritise, add value and contribute more to the team.

The frequent nature of development in Agile teams means the testing methods used need to respond to change quickly and easily. In that way, Agile testing shares some important characteristics with exploratory testing.

In this article I examine the four values of the Agile manifesto to find the answers to an Agile tester’s dilemmas and improve their testing efforts. Read More

Please give it a read and share your thoughts!

Happy Testing!

Nishi