Risk Based Testing - Revisited

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Risk Based Testing - Revisited

• Sreeram Kishore Chavali
• 9 July 2002

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Agenda

• Examples of Risks
• Customizing test plan template
• Discussion and QA

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Business Risks

• System forces user to spend more time than he
  feels appropriate
• System Crashes resulting in loss of business
• Corrupts data
• Delivers slow performance
• Incorrect Documentation

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Software Bugs Risks Examples

• Risk Level 5
• System crashes
• Cannot Enter Data
• Loss of Data
• Inconsistent Data accepted
• Invalid data accepted
• System becomes unusable
• Mostly Positive Test Cases fall under this Risk
  Level. 100 chances of user facing this scenario

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Software Bugs Risks Examples

• Risk Level 4
• Test Scenarios that are not always encountered
• System does not work properly at boundary
  conditions
• Invalid data and invalid states of application
• System is usable but causes sporadic problem and
  gives an impression of being unstable and
  incomplete
• gt 50 chances of user encountering this scenario

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Software Bugs Risks Examples

• Risk Level 3
• Mostly negative test cases
• Cause application to behave incorrectly
• Chances of user encountering this scenario is
  less probability
• lt 30 possibility of user encountering this
  situation
• Application is usable and working

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Software Bugs Risks Examples

• Risk Level 2
• Any test scenario with less than 10 probability
  of user encountering this scenario
• Application behavior not consistent but there are
  workarounds
• Acceptable discrepancies

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Software Bugs Risks Examples

• Risk Level 1
• Remote GUI Defects Accelerator not working in a
  not so frequently used dialog
• Almost 0 probability of user finding the problem
• Even if user finds the problem, it is something
  user would not worry about reporting this issue.

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Risk Matrix
Testing Risk Level CR Priority
5,4 P0, P1, P2
3 P2, P3
2 P3, P4
1 P4
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Test Plan Vs Test Execution

• Test Plan enables us to explain test scenario,
  assumptions, scope and other details
• Needed in a paragraph format
• Use Word format to specify
• Will consists of set of cases
• Cannot be used in metrics
• Not changed frequently
• Test Case A case independent of test scenario
  with a defined expected outcome
• Atomic entity
• Can be used in metrics
• Can be changed or removed

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Customize the Template to suit needs

• Customize Template to make it usable
• Still Achieve Basic objectives
• One Sheet of all test cases
• Easy to filter, report and monitor
• Easy to add/modify case details and status

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Realizing Benefits with Risk based test cases and
Excel Sheet format

• Test Execution by Risk
• Quantifying progress
• Understand Test Progress and dynamics of
  developments
• Concurrent update of Status
• Continuous addition/modification/deletion of
  cases

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Thank You