Testing Techniques for Tracing and Validating Requirements

Course:  TTVREQ
Duration:  3 Days
Level:  I
Course Summary

Quality is the major business differentiator in IT. Studies such as the Chaos Report show that the most common cause of low quality is having poor, or poorly understood, requirements. Other common causes are poor design, code, and installation.

While prevention of defects is the best cure, identifying and fixing defects as early as possible is key, and some of the responsibility for doing that falls on the business analyst (BA). This course, therefore, concentrates on the validation techniques for:

  • Requirements
  • The system at the business level (functional and usability testing)
  • Acceptance
  • Business purpose (stakeholder satisfaction with the production product)

You cannot underestimate the importance of testing. To ensure project success, planning and executing the testing process must begin as soon as the vision and scope for the solution takes shape. As the requirements for the solution are elicited, the business analyst and the test team develop and refine a master test plan. This plan incorporates test strategies to identify any defects in the requirements, solution or corresponding documentation.

In this course you will learn the importance of achieving quality and your role in doing so. You will learn which project and product factors affect the two components of risk (likelihood and impact), and you?ll learn to apply those to various real-life validation situations using a case study and practice testing decision-making. You will learn techniques for:

  • Validating requirements or any text-based product (such as procedures or plans)
  • Testing functional and manual requirements
  • Assessing and testing usability

You will learn to plan functional and usability testing at the business level and the essential elements to document that planning. You?ll examine your role in Acceptance, including Acceptance of an outsourced product, and you?ll determine how to assess stakeholder satisfaction with the product in production.

Since there is never enough time, even theoretically, to validate all details of a product, an important concept is using risk assessment to determine the appropriate thoroughness of validation at every stage.

Exercises in risk assessment and all the major validation techniques are an integral part of this course.

While the involvement of BAs in testing varies widely across companies, this course assumes maximum involvement at the business level (excluding non-functional testing except for usability).

In this hands-on workshop, you?ll develop a master test plan. You will also perform exercises designed to help you establish a risk-based and comprehensive master test strategy for a testing effort. These activities help the business analyst ensure that all requirements trace back to the business need.

By attending this course, you?ll develop the competencies required to create test cases and scenarios and to ensure proper test coverage according to the risk level. You will also learn about the different levels and types of testing commonly used in solution development today.

« Hide The Details
Topics Covered In This Course

Introduction to Testing

  • Recognizing the Importance of Testing
  • Recognizing the BA Role in the Testing Process
  • Differentiating between Validation and Verification
  • Validating the Business Requirements Document (BRD) and Models
  • Verifying the Solution

The Testing Process

  • Identifying the IT Strategy
  • Identifying the Testing Life Cycle
  • Aligning the Solution Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and the Testing Life Cycle
  • Recognizing the Importance of Test Methodologies
  • Employing Traceability and Defect Analysis

Levels and Types of Testing

  • Using the V-Model of Testing
  • Planning the Different Levels of Testing
  • Planning the Different Types of Testing

High-Level BA Validation

  • Your Budget and Risk Management
  • Estimating the Risks of Defects in the System
  • Developing a High-Level Validation Strategy and Budget

Finding Defects in the BRD

  • Characteristics of a Good BRD
  • Techniques of Finding Defects in a BRD
  • Choosing the Appropriate Technique

The Master Test Strategy

  • Defining the Master Test Strategy
  • Identifying Test Goals
  • Defining the Test Strategies for each Level of Testing
  • Identifying the Likelihood and Impact of Defects when Developing the Master Test Strategy
  • Documenting the Master Test Strategy

Planning Testing

  • Identifying the Roles for Developing the Master Test Plan
  • Documenting the Components of the Master Test Plan
  • Compiling the Master Test Plan
  • Planning for Changes in Requirements, Risk, and Quality

Testing from the BA Perspective

  • Testing and Assessing that Business and User Requirements are Met
  • Performing User Testing and Acceptance Testing
  • Conducting a Satisfaction Assessment
  • Performing Usability Testing during Unit, Integration, System, and User Testing
  • Conducting a Pilot Implementation Testing
  • Managing and Prioritizing Risk and Developing Risk Response Strategies

Test Case Design Techniques

  • Developing Test Scenarios and Test Cases
  • Converting Use Case Scenarios to Test Scenarios
  • Performing Black Box and Glass Box Testing
  • Ensuring Test Coverage is Risk-Driven
  • Using Test Tools

Usability Validation

  • The Importance of Usability
  • Usability Validation by the BA
  • Getting Users Involved in Validation
  • Usability Testing

Documenting the Test Plan

  • Capturing the BA Test Plan
  • Formal BA Test Plan

Acceptance, Installation, and Validation to Business Needs

  • Acceptance
  • Installing the System
  • Validating to the Business Needs
  • Completing the Project

Executing the Plan

  • Executing and Updating the Master Test Plan
  • Managing Changes to Test Strategies and Business Requirements
  • Reviewing the Acceptance Test
What You Can Expect

At the completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Recognize the role of the business analyst (BA) in the testing process
  • Validate the business requirements document (BRD) and analysis models
  • Position the activities of the BA in the complete verification and validation process
  • Use testing terminology in a standardized way
  • Use risk to drive the validation effort and therefore use project money wisely
  • Make decisions on what not to test for defects
  • Plan appropriate (risk-based) techniques to find defects in the BRD, that is, validate the BRD
  • Plan appropriate (risk-based) functional testing techniques at the BA level to find defects
  • Plan appropriate (risk based) glass box testing techniques for processes to find defects
  • Check and test usability
  • Choose appropriate (customer-selected) tests for acceptance, that is, compliance to requirements
  • Manage test data and information
  • Manage requirements problems and test failures
  • Document the plans (activities, resources, risks)
  • Gain acceptance, install the product, and validate to business needs
  • Verify that the solution conforms to the requirements
  • Communicate the importance of a testing methodology
  • Determine what to test and trace those requirements throughout the solution development life cycle (SDLC)
  • Develop and execute a test plan
  • Understand various testing techniques
Who Should Take This Course

This course is designed for business analysts, project managers, and developers who need a better understanding of the requirements testing, verification and validations processes. It is of great use to business analysts who have some testing experience and want a more formal understanding of the testing process to become more efficient as well as create standardization across a group, department, or organization.

Business analysts who don?t know anything about testing and want to learn how to perform it.

Recommended Prerequisites

You should have acquired a background in gathering and documenting user requirements and use case modeling.

Training Style

Instructor-led, group-paced, classroom-delivery learning model with structured hands-on activities and case studies.

« Hide The Details
Related Courses
Code Course Title Duration Level
WEREQ
Writing Effective Requirements
2 Days
I
Details
BAREQ
Eliciting and Managing Requirements for Successful Software Development
3 Days
I
Details
RQFAC
Facilitation Techniques for Requirements Development
2 Days
II
Details

Every student attending a Verhoef Training class will receive a certificate good for $100 toward their next public class taken within a year.

You can also buy "Verhoef Vouchers" to get a discounted rate for a single student in any of our public or web-based classes. Contact your account manager or our sales office for details.

Schedule For This Course
There are currently no public sessions scheduled for this course. We can schedule a private class for your organization just a couple of weeks from now. Or we can let you know the next time we do schedule a public session.
Notify me the next time this course is confirmed!
Can't find the course you want?
Call us at 800.533.3893, or
email us at [email protected]