How is Agile testing different from Traditional testing?

11 Comments

1. Huibschoots

   September 9, 2015 at 12:24 am

   I wrote a blogpost “What makes agile testing different?” a while ago. Can be found here: http://www.huibschoots.nl/wordpress/?p=1072
2. Thanh Huynh

   September 9, 2015 at 9:11 pm

   Hi Huib,

   Welcome to AskTester.

   Yes, I did read your article once or twice before and the article is very to the point. Yes, there’s no Agile testing, there’s only testing in Agile context.
3. cemueses

   September 10, 2015 at 9:25 pm

   Without diving into deep waters and the different types of Agile approaches you can find, coming from a waterfall-like approach, the main difference is the mindset. One of the first question you’ll ask yourself is what is my place on this team, because you will be the one in charge or defining what your role will be and showcasing what you bring to the table. On a more structured environment someone else kind of does that for you. So without diving into any testing skills you’ll need a certain attitude to succeed.

   The way a company implements their flavor of Agile and how well they understand what Agile is and isn’t will have a big influence of what it is required of you. Confidence and the skills to back that confidence will have a brighter spotlight on this stage.

   The mindset you find yourself at, to me, makes the most difference.
4. wippleh

   September 11, 2015 at 1:08 am

   Hi Guys,

   I wrote a blog about agile testing process for mobile games some time ago: http://testdroid.com/tech/the-agile-process-for-mobile-game-development-and-testing

   Basically, this is how some of bigger mobile game studios that I’ve worked with do their ‘agile’ testing. I think the process itself is pretty well applicable to mobile apps as well…
5. Thanh Huynh

   September 11, 2015 at 12:23 pm

   Hi cemueses,

   I do agree with you the attitude and mindset will play the most difference.

   Btw, what do you think about technical skillset? Are there any particular technical skillset particularly important in Agile shop?

   Hi wippleh,

   Thanks for sharing. The process looks good. I see you mention “create and run test” in Day works. By “create and run test”, do you mean automation test or exploratory test or both?

   Thanks,
6. wippleh

   September 11, 2015 at 9:21 pm

   Hi Thanh,

   Whether it is manual or automated testing depends on organization how they handle testing in general. In my opinion, manual testing isn’t really agile – and that pretty much includes exploratory testing. Especially with test automation, I’ve seen quite a many of those mobile app and game development companies to rely on this sort ‘daily development’ and ‘nightly testing’ approach – and it seems to work well in agile context.
7. Thanh Huynh

   September 13, 2015 at 10:25 pm

   @Wippleh,

   Thanks for your response.

   Re: “manual testing isn’t really agile”
   > I don’t think I get your point. In my opinion, manual testing with exploratory testing included is one of the best way to provide fast feedback which is very important in Agile shop. Daily development and nightly testing are just scripted checking I’m afraid.
8. cemueses

   September 15, 2015 at 2:06 am

   @Thanh

   I read a post recently, but I’m not able to find it now, very interesting about technical skills and how the term doesn’t apply to technology alone. The writer makes a case to include domain knowledge in the technical skill pool and other skills not initially thought of when we talk about technical skills.

   The answer to your question may depend on how a team implements a particular flavor of agile and even the nature of the product. If we take this premise, there are products that simply don’t need functional testing and require a tester with more backend knowledge. Other products will require a tester to act with a mix of tester, BA, PM and CSR. If security’s an issue, security skills will be a must.

   The nature of the product and the business, the risk level allowed, are all factors that drive the type of testing required and at the same time that will call for a particular set of skills.
9. Thanh Huynh

   September 17, 2015 at 3:47 pm

   @cemueses,

   That’s fair enough.

   Btw, if you recall that interesting post about technical skills, I would love to take a look at it too 😉

   Thanks
10. Ashley Rodan

    September 18, 2015 at 6:24 am

    hi,

    good question. I can weigh in from my experience.

    Agile software development environment is iterative, Transparent, and collaborative. These ideas translate into how the team should work and how testing can be conducted.

    Iterative
    – get ready for smaller changes, smaller scope of testing, sometimes less detailed requirements
    – lower your upfront planning costs and be able to think on your feet
    – be open to new testing methods like Exploratory testing
    – Invest in test automation for quicker regression testing (Don’t ramp up too quick, get team buy in before starting)

    Transparent
    – Get ready to share your testing artifacts with the rest of your team
    – Ask questions and challenge requirements as they created within sprints and planning meetings
    – Get ready to estimate as a team and socialise the tasks required
    – Get ready to defend the testing tasks you put up and estimate and be able to justify its value
    – Challenge devs on how complicated things are and the likelihood of failure = More bugs = Bigger estimate

    Collaborative (follows Transparency)
    – Get your dev’s running your tests, either manual or automated (They will usually buy into the latter)
    – Be open to showcasing your work, either test cases/ automation/ bugs in sprint retros (No more bulky TSR’s)
    – Get other team members helping you test (Conduct team exploratory testing sessions)
    – You will work closer with the developers so get familiar with the CODE

    I guess this has turned into a little ‘Get Ready’ guide.
    GoodLuck!
11. Thanh Huynh

    September 22, 2015 at 2:31 pm

    Hi Ashley,

    Well said …and very detailed too!

    I think you have just covered all key success factors in Agile with Iterative, Transparent and Collaborative and look like you have a very mature agile team.

    How long does it take you to get there?