Effective Identification of Key User Scenarios for Testing Complex Software Applications
Guy Verbest
Senior Quality Engineer - Software
Hewlett-Packard

Introduction:

The approach to be presented is the result of identifying a practical solution to a problem we have been faced with for several years now: “how do we ensure that our user-scenario testing accurately represents what the majority of real users will be doing when they interact with our software?” While on the surface the answer may seem fairly straightforward, we found that the actual implementation (especially when dealing with complex applications) can be tricky, especially when working with a limited test budget.

Participants will learn:

A simple example (scan application) will serve as the basis to help participants understand how to successfully identify and break down the various operations and parameters of their own applications, and how to evaluate attributes such as frequency, user level, etc for each. Then, the approach used to analyze the data that has been input and convert this information into prioritized user scenarios will be described. In this fashion, participants will be able to understand how to use this approach for their own applications.

Outline:

• Problem to be solved
• Approaches used to date
• Problems with this approach (and why the need to improve)
• The approach proposed with this paper
• Example presented
• Benefits of approach presented
• Q&A

Biography:

Guy Verybest has been a senior quality engineer with HP for over 10 years, focusing on both commercial and consumer software and firmware quality engineering, test strategy and test automation.