Session Based Test – Session reports

In my previous blog posts I mentioned on which moments you can use the Session Based Test approach. Important is that you write down your observations during these test situations. Note that every situation is different. That means different types of session reports. How many are there?

There are 6 types of session reports. Each type has a different purpose as it present information/observations during different phases in the project

The Session Based Test approach is talking about writing down your observations during the tests you perform. This is not only when you do some test execution on a GUI or run an automated script. It is more than that. It can be used thru the whole application development life cycle, from beginning to the closure. That is where test is involved.

The creators of the Session Based Test Management came up with 6 different kinds of session reports which can be used in a certain application development life cycle. Below the session report types are given with a small explanation

Intake Sessions
The goal of the intake sessions is to “negotiate the mission” with the stakeholders and/or the project manager. You want to know what the project is about. You will do some interview sessions with the stakeholders or the project manager. You will get a first impression what its all about. All this information you write down in one or more session reports.

Survey Sessions
The goal of the survey sessions is to “learn the application”. You collect the information related to the application you are going to test. You familiarize yourself with the application. You discuss the project with your team members.

Setup Sessions
The goal of the setup sessions is to “create testing infrastructure”. How we are going test the application? What do we need to realize the test infrastructure we want to use? Who can help us?

Analysis Sessions
The goal of the analyses sessions is to “get ideas for deep coverage”. We will do a risk assessment to guide further testing. We will brainstorm about test ideas related to the application, identify the primary functions of the application. If needed, we construct a test coverage outline.

Deep coverage Sessions
The goal of the deep coverage sessions is to “find the bugs“. The bugs that prevents us to ship the application. These sessions are the reports of all the tests you have executed, the observation you have encountered. All the information you gather will give you an overview of the state of the application.

Closure sessions
The goal of the closure sessions is to “get ready to release”. At this moment you have finalized the deep coverage sessions. All the blocking bug you have found have fixes which solve the problems encountered. The deferred bugs are accepted by the customer support people. All identified risks are covered. You now can give the “ready to ship” statement.

I will go into detail about these session reports (each session report type is a blogpost) as I used them in some of my projects.

For each session report you can use the standard lay out, but that is up to the professional.

Note : The content of this blog post is based on a 2 day training about Session Based Test Management, given by James Bach. See http://www.satisfice.com/classes2.shtml for information where you can attend this training.

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