Process · The Master Framework
Four phases, applied in order, every project.Plan. Prepare. Perform. Perfect.
The top-level testing process used on every engagement. Four phases contain twelve sub-processes, each of which is documented in its own checklist in this library.
- Phases
- 4
- Sub-processes
- 12
- Scope
- End-to-end
Testing is a sequence of interlocking activities that produce a defensible assessment of risk to quality. Skip a phase and you skip the defense.
Key takeaways
Four things to remember.
01
Plan first, test later
Understand context, prioritize risk, estimate the effort, and get stakeholder sign-off before a single test case is written.
02
Prepare the team and the test system
A test team without the right skills and a test system without the right coverage are two sides of the same failure.
03
Perform in cycles against releases
Every test release is an opportunity to either confirm quality or reveal risk. Assign, track, and manage cases against each one.
04
Perfect what you ship and how you ship it
Document bugs, report status to stakeholders, and adjust the process itself. The last phase is where teams stop repeating mistakes.
Why this exists
The problem this process fixes.
Every engagement starts with the same question: how do we know this system is ready? This process is the answer we give. Four phases, twelve sub-processes, no shortcuts.
Each phase contains its own detailed process, each documented as a standalone checklist in this library. Use this page as the map; follow the cross-links below for the territory.
The checklist
15 steps, in order.
- Phase 1
Plan: Understand the testing effort
- 1.A
Understand the operational (system, project, and process) context and the organizational context in which the testing will be performed.
- 1.B
Define and prioritize the risks to system quality, and obtain stakeholder consensus on the extent of testing to mitigate these risks.
- 1.C
Estimate and obtain management support for the time, resources, and budget required to perform the testing agreed upon in step 1.B.
- 1.D
Develop a plan for the tasks, dependencies, and participants required to mitigate the risks to system quality, and obtain stakeholder support for this plan.
- Phase 2
Prepare: Assemble the people and tests
- 2.A
Through staffing and training, build a team of test professionals with the appropriate skills, attitudes, and motivation.
- 2.B
Design, develop, acquire, and verify the test system which the test team uses to assess the quality of the system under test.
- Phase 3
Perform: Do the testing and gather the results.
- 3.A
Acquire and install a test release consisting of some or all of the components in the system under test.
- 3.B
Assign, track, and manage the set of test cases to be run against each test release.
- Phase 4
Perfect: Guide adaptation and improvement
- 4.A
Document the bugs found during test execution.
- 4.B
Communicate test results to key stakeholders.
- 4.C
Adjust to changes and refine the testing process.
One more thing
Each row in this checklist is its own discipline. The detailed checklists linked below show the sub-steps for each one. Start here to orient yourself, then drill down into whichever phase your team is in now.
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In the library
Pair this with.
Process · Context Discovery
Learn the ground before you move it.
The first thing a test leader should do at a new organization is understand the context. These five steps keep you from proposing the wrong solution because you misread the problem.
Read →Process · Quality Risk Analysis
Prioritize risk before you prioritize tests.
Testing without a prioritized quality risk analysis is testing by politics. This six-step process produces a risk register with explicit stakeholder consensus, the basis for every downstream testing decision.
Read →Process · Test Estimation
Estimate testing the way projects actually work.
Test estimates fail either because they skip the work breakdown or because they skip stakeholder buy-in. This process does both, in sequence, so the resulting schedule and budget survive contact with management.
Read →Process · Team Building
Hire deliberately. Grow people continuously.
The test team is the product. This process structures hiring as a reversible, repeatable loop and pairs it with an always-on skills and career-path program.
Read →Process · Test Release
Get builds into the lab without wasting a cycle.
A broken build in the test lab burns a cycle and a morale dividend. These seven steps (anchored by two smoke-test gates) prevent that by catching failures before they reach the team.
Read →Process · Test Execution
Run the tests, capture the data, adjust daily.
Test execution is where the risk register becomes results. These eight steps cover selection, assignment, the per-test inner loop, blocking-issue resolution, and the daily replanning that keeps a cycle on the rails.
Read →Process · Bug Reporting
Write bug reports developers act on.
A bug report is a sales document aimed at a developer. This is the ten-step sequence we use on every engagement to write reports that get fixed instead of dismissed.
Read →Process · Test Results Reporting
Report test results as answers, not data.
Test reports fail when they present numbers nobody asked for. This five-step process starts with the audience, derives the questions, picks the metrics, and tunes the report until it is actually used.
Read →Process · Change Management
Triage every change. Integrate only the approved ones.
Undisciplined change is the largest single risk to test completion. This process defines the Change Control Board loop (from intake through final approval) so nothing slips into a release untested or unscored.
Read →
Keep reading
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Practices
Where this leads
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