Agile Testing - Scrum

Introduction

Agile Testing is a method of software testing that emphasizes collaboration, communication, and feedback between development and testing teams. One of the most popular frameworks for implementing agile testing is Scrum, which is an agile project management method.

Scrum is a highly flexible framework that emphasizes teamwork, transparency, and rapid iteration. It involves a multidisciplinary team working together in short sprints to create a work product addition.

Objectives

• Increase collaboration between development and test teams by focusing on collaboration to deliver quality software.
• Improve the speed and efficiency of software delivery by incorporating testing into each sprint and identifying defects early in the development process.
• Ensure the final product meets customer needs by emphasizing customer feedback and testing throughout the development process.
• Increase transparency and communication by using tools like daily stand-up meetings, sprint planning, and retrospectives to facilitate collaboration and feedback.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement by regularly reflecting on team performance and making changes to improve processes and results.
• Ensure that testing activities are well-defined, well-documented, and integrated into the overall development process.
• Promote a focus on quality and testing throughout the organization, including training and educating all team members on the importance of agile testing and Scrum.

Characteristics of Scrum Testing

1. Iterative and Incremental : Scrum Testing is an iterative and incremental approach to testing, where testing activities are integrated into each sprint and the team delivers a work product increment at the end of each iteration.
2. Collaboration : Scrum Testing emphasizes collaboration between development and testing teams, focusing on working together to deliver quality software. Testing activities are not muted and integrated into the development process.
3. Continuous Improvement : Scrum Testing fosters a culture of continuous improvement with regular retrospectives that allow the team to reflect on their performance and identify areas for improvement.
4. Adaptive and Flexible : Scrum Testing is highly adaptive and flexible, with a focus on quickly responding to changes in requirements and priorities. Test activities are modified as needed based on feedback and new information.
5. Empirical and data-driven : Scrum Testing is empirical and data-driven, with a focus on using feedback and data to make decisions. Test activities are based on the results of previous sprints and team performance.
6. Timeboxed : Scrum Testing is timeboxed, with fixed iterations (sprints) that usually last from one to four weeks. This helps create a sense of urgency and focuses the team on delivering working software quickly.
7. Transparent : Scrum Testing promotes transparency and communication through daily meetings, sprint plans, and retrospectives that facilitate collaboration and feedback. This helps ensure that everyone is on the same page and that issues are identified and resolved quickly.

How Testing in Scrum Works?

1. Test Planning : Before the start of each sprint, the test team works with the development team to identify the test activities that need to be performed during the sprint. This includes defining test cases, identifying test data, and determining the required test environments.
2. Test Design : During a sprint, the test team plans and executes tests based on the requirements and user stories identified in the sprint backlog. The purpose of the tests is to ensure that the software meets acceptance criteria and that defects are identified and corrected early in the development process.
3. Test Execution : Once the tests are planned, the testing team executes the tests and reports any defects to the development team. After that, the development team fixes the bugs and the testing team ensures the bugs are fixed.
4. Regression Testing : As new features are added to the software during subsequent sprints, the testing team performs regression tests to ensure that the changes have not affected existing features.
5. Continuous Improvement : During the sprint, the testing team works with the development team to identify areas for improvement and resolve potential issues. At the end of the sprint, the team takes a retrospective to reflect on the sprint and identify areas for improvement in future sprints.

The purpose of Scrum testing is to ensure that the software is of high quality and meets the customer's needs. By integrating testing activities into each sprint, defects are identified and corrected early in the development process, reducing the risk of delays and cost overruns.

Meetings Involved

Sprint Planning

Sprint planning is a key meeting of the Scrum framework and includes the following steps:

• Sprint Goal Setting : The Scrum Master works with the Product Owner and Development Team to set a sprint goal that aligns with the overall project goals.
• Product Backlog Review : The Product Owner reviews the product backlog with the team and identifies the products that are most important and can be delivered during the sprint. The team then discusses and explains the requirements and acceptance criteria for each item.
• Create a sprint backlog : The development team creates a sprint backlog based on the items identified in the product brief, which is a list of tasks that must be completed during the sprint to achieve the sprint goal.
• Impact Evaluation : The development team estimates the effort required to complete each sprint backlog. This helps determine if the sprint goal is achievable within the sprint time limits.
• Commitment to the sprint goal : Based on the estimated development work and the development team's capability, the team commits to completing the tasks outlined in the sprint backlog and achieving the sprint goal.

The sprint planning meeting is time-limited to a maximum of eight hours in a one-month sprint. By the end of the meeting, the development team should have a clear understanding of what needs to be done during the sprint and how the sprint goal is planned to be achieved. This helps ensure the team is aligned and focused on delivering a work product addition at the end of the sprint.

Daily Review

In Scrum, the daily review meeting, also known as the Daily Stand-up or Daily Scrum, is a short daily meeting designed to help the team stay on track and focus on the sprint goal. The daily review meeting includes the following steps:

• Stand : Group members stand to encourage brevity and keep the meeting focused.
• Time Box : The meeting is limited to a maximum of 15 minutes for a one-month sprint, with shorter time limits for shorter sprints.
• Three questions : Each group member answers three questions:
  1. what did you do yesterday?
  2. What are you going to do today?
  3. Are there obstacles blocking your progress?
• Discussion : After each group member has answered the three questions, the group discusses the identified problems or obstacles. The goal is to identify potential roadblocks and solve them together.

Sprint Review Meeting

The Sprint Review Meeting is an opportunity for the team to present their work and receive feedback from the product owner and stakeholders. This helps ensure that the product meets the customer's needs and that any issues or concerns are addressed early in the development process.

• Demo : The development team presents the addition of the work product completed during the sprint to the product owner and the stakeholders invited to the meeting.
• Feedback : The product owner and stakeholders provide feedback on the product addition. They identify potential problems or areas for development and suggest changes that could be made to better meet the customer's needs.
• Sprint Review : The development team reviews the progress made during the sprint, including any challenges and their resolution.
• Product Backlog Review : The Product Owner reviews and updates the Product Backlog based on feedback received during the Sprint Review Meeting.
• Planning for the next sprint : The team discusses the next steps and plans for the next sprint, including setting the sprint goal and identifying items to add to the sprint backlog.

Sprint Retrospective Meeting

The sprint review meeting is an important part of the Scrum framework and takes place at the end of each sprint. A sprint review meeting includes the following steps:

• Sprint reflection : The development team reflects on the sprint and discusses what went well, what didn't go well, and what could be improved in the next sprint.
• Identifying opportunities for improvement : The team identifies opportunities for improvement and areas where changes can be made to processes or practices to improve efficiency.
• Discussion of possible solutions : Possible solutions to the identified problems and opportunities for improvement are discussed in the group.
• Create an action plan : For the next sprint, the team creates an action plan outlining the changes they will make to improve their processes or practices.
• Action Plan Review : After the action plan has been created during the Sprint Retrospective Meeting in Scrum, The team reviews the action plan and determines who is responsible for each action item.

Role of a Tester in Release and Sprint Planning

By actively participating in release and sprint planning, a tester can help ensure that the product is thoroughly tested and meets customer requirements. In Scrum, the role of the tester in release and sprint planning includes the following:

• Understanding Requirements : The tester must work with the product owner and development team to understand the release and sprint requirements. They should clarify any ambiguities and ask questions so that they have a clear understanding of what needs to be attempted.
• Estimating Testing Effort : The tester should provide input on the testing required for each user story and help the development team estimate the total testing load for the sprint.
• Set acceptance criteria : The tester should work with the product owner and development team to set the acceptance criteria for each user story. They must ensure that the acceptance criteria are testable and measurable and can be used to ensure the completeness of the user story. Test Case
• Identification : The tester must identify the test cases necessary to verify the acceptance criteria for each user story. They must ensure that test cases cover all possible scenarios and extreme cases.
• Cooperation with the development team : The tester must cooperate with the development team to ensure that the code is testable and that the necessary test data and environment are available for testing.
• Communication of progress : The tester must communicate the progress of testing to the development team and the Scrum Master during the sprint. They should raise any issues or concerns that may affect the quality of the product.

Role of a Tester in Scrum

The role of the tester in Scrum is to ensure that the developed software meets the quality standards and requirements of the customer. The tester works closely with the development team and other stakeholders to ensure that the product is thoroughly tested and meets the definition made in each sprint. The main responsibilities of a Scrum Tester are:

• Understanding requirements : The tester must work with the product owner and the development team to understand the customer's requirements and translate them into testable user stories.
• Set acceptance criteria : The tester should work with the product owner and development team to set the acceptance criteria for each user story. They must ensure that the acceptance criteria are testable and measurable and can be used to ensure the completeness of the user story.
• Test planning and preparation : The tester must plan the test activities for each sprint and prepare the necessary test cases, test data, and test environment.
• Test execution : The tester must execute the test cases and report the detected defects. They should work with the development team to ensure that bugs are fixed and retested before the end of the sprint.
• Test automation : The tester must identify opportunities to automate the testing process and work with the development team to implement automated tests.
• Continuous Improvement : The tester must attend Sprint Retrospective Meetings and provide feedback on improving the testing process and practices.
• Collaboration : The tester must collaborate with the development team and other stakeholders to ensure that testing is integrated into the development process and that the product meets customer requirements.

Advantages of Scrum Testing

• Scrum emphasizes collaboration among team members, including developers, testers, product owners, and other stakeholders. This improves communication and helps ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals.
• Scrum allows greater flexibility in project planning and delivery, making project easier to adapt to changing requirements and priorities.
• Scrum's iterative approach to development allows teams to deliver working software faster and more often, helping to ensure that the product meets customer needs and stays ahead of the competition.
• By emphasizing testing throughout the development process, Scrum helps ensure that defects and problems are identified and corrected early, reducing the risk of costly delays and rework.
• Scrum focuses on regular feedback and retrospectives to help teams identify areas for improvement and make necessary changes to the development process.
• Scrum's customer-centric approach helps ensure that the software meets customer needs and expectations, leading to greater satisfaction.

Challenges of Agile Scrum Testing

• Agile Scrum emphasizes working software rather than comprehensive documentation, which can make it difficult to maintain a clear understanding of project requirements and progress.
• Agile Scrum can lead to unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved in a given time, especially if team members are inexperienced with the method.
• Agile Scrum requires a culture of flexibility and adaptability that can be difficult to achieve in organizations accustomed to more rigid project management methods.
• Agile Scrum testing can create integration issues when multiple teams work on different parts of the software at the same time, requiring careful coordination and communication.
• Agile Scrum testing requires continuous testing throughout the development process, which can be time-consuming and difficult when resources are limited.
• Agile Scrum emphasizes self-organizing teams, making it difficult for management to monitor progress and ensure the project is moving forward.
• Agile Scrum requires careful planning and prioritization to succeed, and inadequate planning can lead to scope, delays, and other issues.

Examples

1. Test-Driven Development (TDD) : TDD is an agile way of testing that involves writing test cases before writing code. The team writes automated test cases that define the desired behaviour of the software and then writes the code to pass the test cases.
2. Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) : Agile test teams often use CI/CD practices to automate software testing, building, and deployment. This helps ensure that changes can be tested and implemented quickly and reduces the risk of introducing production errors.
3. Agile Test Automation : Agile test teams often use automated testing tools to speed up testing and reduce the risk of human error. This includes tools for unit testing, integration testing, and acceptance testing.
4. Sprint Review : At the end of each sprint, the team holds a sprint review meeting to present the work done during the sprint to stakeholders and receive feedback. In this meeting, the team presents the developed functions and collects comments from stakeholders.