Testers' involvement in requirements gathering important

In this increasingly complex software development era, it is extremely important to include testing as early in the project as possible. In the predictable old waterfall lifecycle world, testing was typically included in the coding phase right before they were needed. In today's iterative world, testing needs to be included at the project's inception.

Even today the requirements phase of a project generates most of the defects. Over 50% of the defects are injected during the requirements phase. This is important because this phase forms the foundation for the product that future work will be built on. So, if the requirements are not correct, there may be fundamental issues that do not surface until the later phases. And that may mean having to completely redesign major portions of the product. The amount of rework to fix assumptions or undiscovered issues can have a significant impact on a project.

Let's first look at what can happen when testers are involved during the later phases of development.

The above issues convey the need for testing to be active participants in the requirements elicitation process. Testers should not be passive recipients of requirements in the form of a use case or a requirements document.

The benefits of involving testing in the requirements elicitation process (such as requirement workshops, review sessions, interviews, et

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Software Testing 10 steps to acing Web app security assessments Three software regression testing steps can perfect defect fixes Exploring mobile layout testing, emulators and goals Preparing for testing applications in the cloud Hack maliciously to boost your software's security Testing functionality, performance of mobile Web applications Testing mobile Web applications for usability and context Using SBTM for exploratory testing coverage problems Web 2.0, RIAs push load testing to the max Using session-based test management for exploratory testing Software testing and quality assurance (QA) fundamentals Five roles test managers play in agile development: Tutorial, part one Three software regression testing steps can perfect defect fixes Software Testing: Assessing risk and scope Software Testing: How to know you're ready to start testing Quality assurance (QA) and testing's role in requirements Test case preparation for a Web-based application The difference between functional testing and regression testing Mapping results in test environment to production environment Agile software development tutorial: Agile testing Creating strong QA and testing strategies in a changing world Software Requirements Documentation Blueprint rolls out Requirements Center 2010 Writing a software requirements specification (SRS) for a portal app Should QA check changes from outside the requirements document? Agile software development tutorial: Agile requirements gathering Defining requirements during software project feasibility analysis Template for requirements use cases What should a business analyst's requirements document include? Determining software testing deliverables for a small project Using proactive test design methods to catch requirements issues early Pictures communicate software requirements without slowing development

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary build  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) code review  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) conformance testing  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) error handling  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) garbage in, garbage out  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) load testing  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) NUnit  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) quality assurance  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) stress testing  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) white box  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

c.) include the following:

If testing passively waits until requirements are published, it may already be too late. The time needed to then learn, question and understand the requirements eats into precious time necessary for test plan and manual/automated test case development.

If your organization already includes testers in requirements elicitation, keep up the good work. If not, help the leaders understand the importance of early involvement and the value-add that testing gives this activity. The benefits far outweigh the costs.

Rate this Tip To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchSoftwareQuality.com. Register now to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member. Submit a Tip DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.