Do you worry about what to do when there is not enough time to test? Let’s see why this happens and what to do in this case.
Part way through your test cycle, do you often realize you do not have enough time to test? This can happen even if you had everything all under control from the beginning. I have also experienced this and it is surely not fun. 🙂
I thought about this long and hard. How can something that started so well, go down so badly and quickly? Here is my analysis. Let’s get started.
=>Â Click Here For Complete Test Plan Tutorial Series
Not enough time to test
First of all, let us look at why this happens. There are a number of reasons. Some of which are given below:
#1) Incorrect Estimation:
If you start with inaccurate expectations, things are bound to fail. A good test estimate must take the following into account:
- Time for preparatory tasks – We are talking about tasks such as:
- Identify and put together a regression suite
- Creating Test data
- Time to determine test readiness (e.g.: Smoke/Sanity Test), etc.
- Test case maintenance: Test cases are long-term usage assets. They will surely undergo minor updates during execution. It is recommended that for new products up to 30% of your test execution time should be allocated for these minor maintenance tasks. All teams and projects might not need 30%, but do allocate some time and effort for this task.
- Ad-hoc/Exploratory testing – The count of scripted tests is a major denominator for test estimation numbers. However, no test team in this world will deny exploring your software even if the model is dominantly scripted.
- Reporting/Communication – This includes triage/stand up meetings, updating work management tools, etc.
- Contingency factor: Standards recommend 25-30% buffer to your original estimates. But teams can rarely afford it. Even then, leave a little breathing room, when possible.
- Team and its capabilities: If you have a new team or if they are using a tool for the first time, you might need to set some time aside for training. Tailor your estimates based on the team you are working with.
Recommended read => Check this for more information on test estimation success and methods
#2) Unstable builds and other technical problems:
- Smoke/Sanity test failure: When the basic tests on the AUT fail after deployment into QA environment there is pretty much nothing the QA team can do towards test execution. We can work on other tasks while this happens, but it still will not fill the test cycle time. So, this is a major contributor to time wasted.
- Test data unavailable: Production-like data is a must for every testing project. Not getting this into the QA environment on time is also another blocking factor. Sometimes testers can work around this by creating and managing their own test data, but it is time-consuming and might not always be on-point.
- Environment issues – The build failing deployments, the server keeps getting timed out, many more such issues eat away at your test cycle. This probably stems from the fact that, some companies (not all) undermine the importance of a good, live-like environment for effective QA. They often try to get away with low-capacity servers and make-do set ups. This is a really short-term fix and does nobody any favors. In fact, it could cost them the quality of testing and loss of valuable test time.
#3) Lack of agreement between all parties involved:
This might be a rare problem with teams following Agile or SAFe due to the close circles they work in, but many teams still suffer from disagreement or miscommunication as to when Dev, Ops, and QA are supposed to receive deliverables from one another. Hence the delays.
To understand communication subtleties, check this =>Â How Business, Development and QA can work together to get the project completed.
Now that we know the problem, here are some ways to fix it.
How can testers get enough time for testing?
#1) Estimate accurately. When in doubt, over-estimate by a reasonable margin, but not underestimate. Don’t forget to make estimated adjustments based on your team, tools and processes. When done, seek official sign off so everyone is aware and is in kept in the loop.
#2) Take historical data into consideration – The Test Management tool is your best friend.
- How long did the earlier release test cycles take?
- What kind of issues caused interruptions to the previous test cycle?
- How many runs did most test cases take before they passed?
- What defects were reported?
- What defects caused the testing to be interrupted?
#3) Ask these questions and plan accordingly in crunch time:
- Find out if Important functionality is part of your project?
- Find a high-risk module for the project?
- Which functionality is most visible to the user?
- Which functionality has the largest safety impact?
- What functionality has the largest financial impact on users?
- Which aspects of the application are most important to the customer?
- Which parts of the code are most complex, and thus most subject to errors?
- Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic mode?
- What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application?
- What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?
- What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service complaints?
- What kind of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?
Considering these points, you will be able to greatly reduce the risk of project releasing under less time constraint.
#4) Use a Test Management tool. This will significantly reduce the amount of preparation, reporting and maintenance time and effort.
=> For the list of the most popular test management tool choices, check out here:
#5) There is not much we can do about incorrect builds/technical issues, but the one thing that can help is look at the Unit test results. This will give us an idea as to whether the build was a success or not and what kind of tests it failed – so we don’t reinvent the wheel.
If your Test Management Tool supports CI integration, you have that information available without any fuss so you understand the stability of the application better.
#6) Measure your productivity and progress often. Don’t let status reports be a deliverable just for the benefit of the external teams. Make sure you are closely monitoring your daily targets and your ability to accomplish them.
Also, be sure not to get into the classic conundrum of ‘Velocity vs. Quality’. Because when you report, say, 50 bugs a day, it might appear as if you are being super productive. But if most of them are coming back as invalid ones, you have got a problem.
So monitor and monitor a little more 🙂
Conclusion:
Finally, despite all the precautions and measures, if you still find yourself crunched for time, don’t help to ask for help.
Most teams are willing to participate in a war room session to get things back on track.
About the authors: These helpful testing tips were provided by STH team member Swati S.
Now, what are your tricks to stay on time and deliver a quality testing service? Also, what points in the above article resonate with you?
We really appreciate your feedback. Thank you for reading!
=>Â Visit Here For Complete Test Plan Tutorial Series
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hi…………………..i wanted to know about test cases with example
I was even asked What all types of Risks are there in Software Testing?
Our company is on an On Demand Application and has not control over fixes (service packs) and releases. For Service Packs the vendor actually loads our test AND production systems and we have literally no time to test those beofre our European Users sign on. Even if we find a bug, we can only submit an SR as it is already in Production. A Servcie Pack is typically 30 to 60 bug fixes that are usually minor. While we rarley, never? have catastrophic failures and SP will often cause minor problems. We have talked about doing “regression testing” for this before we test the actual changes that impact our system. It seems to me that is overkill and Regression should be done after we test the specific changes. Perhaps we need some kind of Smoke / Build Verifcation Testing as soon as we get the Servcie Pack but again, we are not sure to what level detail. Perhaps only test things that we have actually changed from the vanilla system?
Your thoughts
Can you please tell me if i can get some projects of software testing which i can do at home?
Hi Guys.
Could please help me for any sample healthcare project?I would like to get the sample healthcare project(Web Application) for my practice.If someone knows about it please,share it with me.I would like to prepare for my interview.Manual testing ,Selenium-java whatever you have please send me.
Thank you,
Regards,
Angel
Hi,
If we using functional test case then we use fixed data and if necessary in concentrate unit test case then we go for parameterization.
in automation it is must to go for parameterization and data driven.
Hi Shahanaz R,
This is Suresh Working as test Engineer i have mentioned Types of Risks as below:
1.Software Risk
2.business Risk
3.Schedule Risk
4.Teechnical Risk
5.Programatic Risk
6.budget Risk
Thanks
Suresh
bsuresh7282@gmail.com
HI,
can you help me with the resume tips ?
Hi Friends,
Can u please send me some sample insurance projects where i can explain in the interviews.I even want some sample resumes if u can do so.
Thank You,
Sowjanya
For problems such as Smoke/Sanity test failure, could you say service virtualisation could be used to save time? If a certain aspect is not available you can set up an automated tests that run against a virtual back end (based on expected behaviour) and then switch their destination to the real system once it’s online.
SNo-Objective-Test Case- Navigation-Inputs-ExpectedOutputs-Test Result (Pass/Fail)
1-aim-steps/procedure-link/event-data-what we except-pass/Fail
For those people needing to perform temporal testing (time travel testing) where you are considering changing the system clock forward to back in time to validate / verify applications, you should consider using a tool that makes temporal testing easy and efficient.
Dear author,
I could not find a author’s name for this article. I am writing a assignment for college and I would like to use a part of this article as a reference.
Could you please tell me your name? (The name of the author) please?
Thank you,
Samir.
You should give credit to the article link.
Hi Tanvi,
I have mentioned Reasons for to stop testing as below:
1.Try continuing testing and logging the critical defects
2.all quality goals defined at the start of the project have been met.
3.After complete Alpha and Beta Testing
4.Successful use of specific test case design methodologies
5.A percentage of coverage for each coverage category
6.Rate of error detection falls below a specified threshold.
Thanks,
Suresh
bsuresh7282@gmail.com
Can you please tell me the tools which are used for Internationlization testing and risks involved.
Hi SHivali….
When to stop testing?depends on the below:
1. When all the test cases are exected successfully
2. When the budjet allocation is over
3. When the time/scheduled for testing is met
4.When the delivery date is met to deliver the application
Hii..
You are providing wonderful information about software testing,I got good clarification on testing,These tips are very useful to every software tesing side people,Thank you for sharing this blog.
Can u please post me test case sample of Localisation testing , How to conduct the localisation testing?
Hi,
Now,Collecting information through web page is done by validation itself(BY program),so v have 2 check whether the system response correctly or not.In this case functional testing(end to end testing) is more than enough.
But, the same case login page followed by shopping page,where the same data required in that situation unit test case (individual module) should be tested.because the data has to be validate against the bank details and process him to next steps.so,we concentrate more on this page.
The same process but differ from application to application,so based on the functionality of the project v have to choose the test cases.
Question 2:
The Combination of data can be modified to use for functional test case.if u want to learn more than practice with two small application having same functions.
can you please tell me and send the documents on how to calculate test estimation
Can you plz tell me how to prepare and clear ISTQB foundation level paper?
Thax for tip
Hi Sonia,
I have Mentioned Types of Risks with Explanations as below:
Risk Identification
1.Software Risks – Knowledge of the most common risks associated with software development, and the platform you are working on.
2.Testing Risks – Knowledge of the most common risks associated with software testing for the platform you are working on, tools being used, and test methods being applied.
3.Premature Release Risk – Ability to determine the risk associated with releasing unsatisfactory or untested software products.
4.Business Risks – Most common risks associated with the business using the software.
5.Risk Methods – Strategies and approaches for identifying risks or problems associated with implementing and operating information technology, products, and processes; assessing their likelihood, and initiating strategies to test for those risks.
Managing Risks
6.Risk Magnitude – Ability to rank the severity of a risk categorically or quantitatively.
7.Risk Reduction Methods – The strategies and approaches that can be used to minimize the magnitude of a risk.
8.Contingency Planning – Plans to reduce the magnitude of a known risk should the risk event occur.
Thanks,
Suresh
bsuresh7282@gmail.com
Hi Swati S,
This article is great. You have put the points precisely.
In the section “#1) Incorrect Estimation:” we can add one more point on Test Prioritization.
Improper Test Prioritization would lead to wastage of effort on irrelevant test case and missing of business critical issues
In section #2) Unstable builds and other technical problems: we can add points on
Improper Release Document and Misunderstanding/unavailable upstream and/or downstream applications.
Regards
Poonkavithai.K
manual testing is done from qa side ,they found some issue then this time created in jira board,this remaining time automation testing start
I was asked in an interview, ”When do u stop testing?”
What should be a probable answer to that?
I am not able answer QA questions for interview.Please offer some help.
hi,,
I need examples on high,medium and low severity,
other then company logo
Suppose i have a project when clicking English tab, all are displayed in English- inclusive of date and currency(Eg:- dd/mm/yy and $) and When clicking French all are in French, ie date and currency becomes (Eg:- mm/dd/yy and Euro). Can you please tell me what is Localization testing and Internationalization testing in the above case?
When a project is made purely in French? Is Localization testing done there?
hi,
can u give me a sample use case and test case.
Same as template also ok…….
good tips
can you tell me what’s the meant of elapsed time and it’s related topics
One way to meet our release date is by working for long hours and sometimes even working on weekends.This is what I am doing in my current company.And I guess this is the case with most companies based out of India.Working late and on weekends is a culture that has been nurtured in India and I don’t see it changing anytime soon.
Thank you for the valuable information Suresh
Hi,
I have to start writing manual test cases . I am not sure if manual test cases shoul dbe written for fixed data or we should use parameterization. I would also like to know if it is a good practice to make small test cases and combine them into a test set or make end to end test cases
Hi Team,
I got a different question in robert boash
1) how will you say the test scenarios are enough to validate the functionality
2) which technique are used for preparing for test scenarios.
3) if your team leader said praparied test scenarios are not enough , then he said you how to prepare some moore scenarios then what will you do.
@Poonkavithai.K: Absolutely! Thank you for adding your contribution to this article.
Effort estimation is very simple:
>>1st u have to find out all the possible scenarios in all features.
>>Then Make a traceability matrix i.e. for each requirements how many test cases are required.
>>Suppose if u have 100 testcases, then calculate how many test cases one person can execute in a day(here u have to consider difficult and easy both types of test cases)
>>If one person can do 5 test cases in a day then in 20 days all test can be executed.i.e effort=20PD or 4PW.
>> Now u have to add following facters:
1. What if 30% Testcases failed in Run1, then u have to rerun all those test cases. So u have to consider 35 testcases failure i.e 7PD or 1.4 PW
2. What if say 10% testcases failed in Run2 then i have to re-run 10 testcases again. so its 2PD or 0.4 PW
Now, Total effort= 4PW+1.4PW+0.4PW=5.8PW(Person week)
This is just a example i gave… u can add if there are any opther variants which impact ur execution.
regards,
Indu
What do you do if you have critical defects that are still open and you only have a few days to complete the testing. the deadline date cannot be changed
Sir in last interview interviewer asked me one question. If you are working with 3 team members if they are going to leave and there 3000 test cases then how you handle that?
Hi,
In testing anything is possible.Before writing end to end or many small test cases,understand the flow of application because with minimum input v have to obtain maximum output.
Now,Collecting information through web page is done by validation itself(BY program),so v have 2 check whether the system response correctly or not.In this case functional testing(end to end testing) is more than enough.
But, the same case login page followed by shopping page,where the same data required in that situation unit test case (individual module) should be tested.because the data has to be validate against the bank details and process him to next steps.so,we concentrate more on this page.
The same process but differ from application to application,so based on the functionality of the project v have to choose the test cases.
Question 2:
The Combination of data can be modified to use for functional test case.if u want to learn more than practice with two small application having same functions.
Regards,
Raja
I was asked for an interview on What all types of Test Estimation models are there and to describe each one?
Hi, If there are new test cases and i am testing completely new application with no prior History nothing. then how you would analyze priority of the test case that should be executed first. how to know which functionality is risk based or which is critical or which is important to user or which is likely to be error prone. Please reply asap as this question stuck my career
Thanks.
you have to discuss with BA or user on priority of test case which are executed and plan accordingly your cycle .
HI!!!!
I am looking job in QA .I am Brainbench certified,but doesnt have real time experience.I saw and study your post.Thanks for such important information.
I want to know within 1 project how many test cases we have to write?
Simply,If I want to justify my 1 year of experience in HOME INSURANCE company on 1 project,so how can I put points,or justify my experience?
I will have to give some scenario or anything i am damn confuse.Can you please help me out by giving any example in HOME INSURANCE application.
Thank you!!!
mail id-mayuri.s2010@gmail.com
How do we ensure if a requirement has been tested thoroughly, covering all possible scenarios? Do we have any tools?
@ Samuel Garratt: Sure, for early testing, virtualization is great.
Hi,
We didn’t receive answer of main question here.. what shall we do if we don’t have time?
Its really interesting..
and helpful
Hi;
For this point: Test cases are long-term usage assets. They are sure to undergo minor updates during execution. It is recommended that for new products up to 30% of your test execution time should be allocated for these minor maintenance tasks. The team and the project might not need 30%, but do allocate some time and effort for this task, do we have an standard or documentation that could support this 30%?
Too good. Thank for the tips
Shivali, plz read this article to get ur answer.
Use risk analysis to determine where testing should be focused.
Since it’s rarely possible to test every possible aspect of an application, every possible combination of events, every dependency, or everything that could go wrong, risk analysis is appropriate to most software development projects. This requires judgement skills, common sense, and experience. (If warranted, formal methods are also available.) Considerations can include:
• Which functionality is most important to the project’s intended purpose?
• Which functionality is most visible to the user?
• Which functionality has the largest safety impact?
• Which functionality has the largest financial impact on users?
• Which aspects of the application are most important to the customer?
• Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the development cycle?
• Which parts of the code are most complex, and thus most subject to errors?
• Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic mode?
• Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused problems?
• Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large maintenance expenses?
• Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or poorly thought out?
• What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application?
• What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?
• What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service complaints?
• What kinds of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?
• Which tests will have the best high-risk-coverage to time-required ratio?
May i know when to stop testing? Can i get some testing resumes?
Thank you
Hi Vijay,
Please answer below question
What if all features/functionalities are critical and we don’t have enough time to test them thoroughly. Can we say we are confident to go with release and it will be bug free.
Thanks
Kudos for the information and the tips.
Thank you STH
Suppose there are 100 test cases which has to be executed in a day on urgent need,
What to do in this situation or what are the options that are available for a tester to handle this situation(Test execution)?
(other than war room scenario and asking for help)
Hi ,
Thanks. Another question , how can I structure the tests so that we can re use the cases even if the form changes for eg , for a web site that does the following :
Login , collect information about a persons( personal, credit card , company , team , event , misc information),
should there be only one end to end test or many small tests for each related group of information .
Again the combination of data against the entire end to end process . how will that work ?
Thanks
I have a situation based question:
Suppose your team can execute 10 tests/day, you have 2 days time to go and the number of tests to be executed are 35. How will you ensure that you will cover all 35 test combination within the remaining days.
Assume that it’s a web application which need to be tested on certain combination of OS and Browser.
Certain not so good things to note:
1. You are testing this application for the first time. So no historical data available to take some wise decision by taking some risks.
2. The test combinations (35) have come after applying Risk Based Technique.
3. All are P1
4. No automation in place
5. You do not have option to ask your team to stretch
6. No possibility of getting any additional tester to help
What are the test execution techniques to be applied to have un-compromised test coverage and stringent timeline?
That’s a capacity issue, when are you making a test plan the time to execute the test suit is always documented and approved by the higher management. if the required time to execute the test cases is i.e. 4 days and you were asked to execute it in 2 days then simply reject it.
Hi Suresh,
You have mentioned the different types of risks, would you please explain each risk. Alternatively could you suggest a book on Risk Testing .
Thanks
Sooooper
Its good ..i enjoyed reading this. I will try to incorporate this in my testing….:)
Dear Sir,
I have some questions which had been asked me in the interview and I answered but they said I am wrong, so it would be very helpful for all of us to get an idea about these kind of queries..
The questions were:
1. If I give you a Login page which has fields like Username, Password, Login and Cancel button.. How would you start writing test cases..(I explained I will start with Smoke testing i.e. with Valid username and valid password, but they said NO, you will first check it with UI testing like Alignment, Page color,etc..)
So sir, is it really like that? Please answer
2. This room is constructed with the combined work of a contractor, carpainter,plumber,etc that means they are the developers and you are a tester… Find the defects in this room.
Sir I am really waiting to know your answers…
Thank you in advance
Hi Parul,
Below is the sample test case
Project Form UIN:
System Name: Module Name:
Test Sub-Module :
Tester Name Signature Date/Time
TM Rajamurugesh
Test Procedures:
Hardware: NA
Software: NA
Communications: NA
Database:
Server Configuration:
Client Configuration: NA
Test Tools/Techniques/Methodologies: Manual
Test Location:
Dev Environment : Dev URL
Test Environment : test URL
Test Cases & Reports:
SNo-Objective-Test Case- Navigation-Inputs-ExpectedOutputs-Test Result (Pass/Fail)
hii..
You are providing wonderful tips,when Isn’t have time,It is very useful to who is looking for testing side,You given very useful tips,Thank you for this great blog.
Automation can reduce a huge amount of time , but automation isn’t easy. It should be implemented and kept in the testing plan from beginning for handling of suitable test cases and test parameters.
Hi i’m mahesh,I’m B-Tech student 2013 pass out.i have done my testing course.I don’t have any working experience i’m still in search of job..if any openings are there please let me know…and as i’m 2013 passout should i try by putting exp or i can try as a fresher..please help me out… mail id;maheshsaky9@gmail.com
Hi SHIVALI ,
Send me a test mail, i will reply to that mail with testing resume, test cases and some testing white papers.
My mail id:
rajamurugesh.b@gmail.com
Hi,
The article was good. Could you pls send me some testing resume format? Also some ideas about use case…
@Hari – we have many articles on how to prepare QA testing resume with sample resume format as well. Check these at:
Softwaretestinghelp.com/category/software-testing-resume/
It’s Good one….
thanks for the tips
What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?
i dint get it , can u tell me in brief please
@rakesh – here is an example of the problem that would cause the worst publicity:
“Bill Gates crashes Windows 98 during live demo” 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHxj-47csUU