| As projects and companies grow, so does their number of test cases and thus the number of duplicate, inconsistent, and irrelevant test cases. Every change in the system requires a massive effort from all testing resources to update these test cases, which inevitably leads to more test design debt, if not done accurately. For some companies this task has become such a burden that they rather take a fresh start, throwing away years and years of work. Where did we go wrong? When did our test design debt grow to a peak that would scare even the most experienced mountaineers? Why didn’t we see this coming? But most important, what can we do about it, without having to start over from scratch? And how can we avoid test design debt in the future? In my talk I will introduce the concept of test design debt and explain several techniques on how to create more lightweight test cases with the same level of detail and coverage as your current test cases. For example by building further upon the concept of manual test smells, introduced at the EuroSTAR Conference in Prague 2019. I will also elaborate some best practices on how to update your current backlog of manual test cases to increase the maintainability with a minimal amount of effort. Are you curious to know more? Join me to learn more about test case maintainability. |
Wim Decoutere started his testing career at CTG Belgium over 12 years ago and has been testing at a number of companies ever since, mostly in the financial sector. He’s passionate about teaching and feels at home when standing in front of a class room. Recently he became a full-time trainer, coaching and teaching about the wonderful world of testing, but also ISTQB, IREB, test design techniques, soft skills, etc.
As a veteran youth instructor with a passion for learning theories and people management, Wim is constantly looking for new ideas to improve his own performance and that of the entire testing team.
