The Agile Testing Manifesto

At one of my trainings someone asked me a question, “How can testers survive in an Agile environment?” The training, by the way, was dedicated to quite a different topic, but the issue seemed to be very sensitive. I think we can find some answers to that question in “The Testing Manifesto” compiled by coaches Karen Greaves and Samantha Laing by analogy to the famous Agile Manifesto.

That sounds cool, but needs some further explanation. You can find more details in the book “Growing Agile” by Greaves and Laing. Agile testing is not just the same traditional testing but in sprints. The Agile approach must completely change the way the team thinks.

We value testing throughout over testing at the end.

Traditionally people view testing as a phase that happens at the end of development. In contrast, in agile, testing is not a phase but an activity that needs to happen, along with coding, documentation and everything else.

If task boards have a separate column for testing, it’s a sure sign that testing is still being thought of as a phase, and the testers’ activity is still separated from the work of the remaining team.

Agile coaches Karen Greaves and Samantha Laing recommend a different approach: testing tasks should go through the same phases as all other tasks — “To Do”, “In Process”, “Done.”

If you want to add another column for the task verification stage, that’s an excellent idea! The purpose of such column is that every task should be reviewed by some other member of your team straight after it is done. Peer reviews, even small ones, can be conducted for code, documentation, and test cases.

ind out more at — http://bit.ly/2YTqDtw

Originally published at https://www.luxoft-training.com.