Put Worst Things First

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Testers
Part 3 of 7

This is the third post in a series which is based ever-so loosely on Stephen R. Covey's book but focused on what you can do to be more effective as a software tester.

Lets face it, you usually don't have enough time to test everything that needs testing as thoroughly as it should be tested. That means that you will need to prioritize your testing to be effective. But what is the best way to do this?

A simple way to approach test prioritization is to use the one fifth method - where the test team consumes a fifth of whisky before test planning. Just kidding (as far as you know). The one fifth method involves asking yourself what you would do if the software needed to ship in one fifth the time you really have. For example, if you are supposed to have five weeks to test, what would you test if you only had one week? If you are supposed to have a week, what would you test if you only had a day?

Approaching the problem of prioritization in this manner will quickly lead you to the target-rich areas where you are likely to quickly find many bugs. By testing these first, you give the developers something to keep them busy, and also help ensure you'll have time to retest fixes.

Previous Posts:
1 - Be Protractive
2 - Begin With the Vend in Mind

Next Up:
4- Think When/When