Are You Done Testing?
Denise DeCarlo, PMP

How do you know you’ve sufficiently tested the product your company is eagerly waiting for? This is probably one of the most difficult questions for a project manager to answer. Undoubtedly there is some “grayness” to determining when testing is completed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add some “science” to determine if your product has been tested “enough.”

Success in testing requires that a testing process be created and followed. Without a process there is no way you’ll be able to determine if the product has been sufficiently tested. Typical testing processes include:
• Testing Strategy document
• Test Plans for each testing phase (for example; unit, integration and system testing phases for IT solutions)
• Developing test cases
• Creating test data
• Executing test cases
• Recording the results
• Evaluating the results

Without a testing process you’re “flying blind” … it’s similar to trying to cross a 4-lane road in the middle of the day on a heavily traveled street. If you have a process to follow (i.e. go to the designated crosswalk, press the pedestrian cross button, and proceed to cross when the walk indictor has illuminated), your chances of making it to the other side of the street are greatly improved. If you attempt to run across the street randomly, the results probably won’t be favorable! Testing without a defined process can be equally catastrophic.

Testing is one area of project management where tools can be immensely effective; specifically a traceability matrix. A traceability matrix can be used to record each requirement and ensures that test cases are built to test every requirement. The traceability matrix will help you determine:

• If a particular requirement is missing a corresponding test case (oops!)
• If a test case is too complicated due to testing many requirements
• If a test case has been created – but does not have a corresponding requirement because the requirement was removed from scope
• If a requirement is too complicated or over-tested because it’s being evaluated in too many test cases
• Testing status per requirement via color coding when a test has successfully completed or when defects have been identified

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