Effective Defect Reports and Metrics Amadori Courses Delivering

Effective Defect Reports and Metrics Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 1

Introduction • This session will explain how to produce effective defect reports and metrics • Whilst keeping the overhead of doing so to a minimum… Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 2

• If you don’t tell people about the defects you find, how will they ever get fixed? • The value of even the best process is significantly diminished if Why Bother? • Records are not updated to reflect progress • The quality of updates varies widely from area to area or according to the person making the update • Updates are not made in a timely fashion • Updates/Metrics integral to the defect management process, NOT “nice to have” • If you can’t fit this activity into your daily schedule something is wrong Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 3

Frequency of Update • Different metrics have different levels of urgency so far as frequency of update are concerned • You should be aware of these differences and build them into your schedule • Intra-Day updates • Daily Updates • Weekly Updates • Event Driven updates • Items which fall into each category are discussed in detail in the slides which follow Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 4

Intra-Day Updates • Items which should fall into this category • Potential showstoppers • Critical issues in areas of high business criticality • Instances of system downtime • New risks/issues which might significantly impact the go-live date of the project • Issues of this sort should be raised as soon as possible • The sooner you raise the issue the sooner the resolution process can commence Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 5

Daily Updates • Items which should fall into this category • All new issues identified since the last daily report • Progress in resolving existing defects • What today’s activity means in terms of requirements coverage • Are we closer to go live as a result ? • If there is a daily progress meeting the Testing Day should be centred around providing data for that meeting Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 6

Weekly Updates • Should concentrate on the following areas • Progress between the start and end of the period • What this means in terms of revised requirements coverage • Is go-live closer or further away as a result? • Has the week uncovered issues with areas of the process or with the role played by particular teams in the project? Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 7

Event Driven Updates • The following events are likely to require additional effort in terms of metrics • End of release reviews • Meetings to determine the contents of the next release • Go/No-Go meetings • Etc. • It is here that effective test reporting can really add value to stakeholders • Especially important that metrics are timely and accurate in support of these meetings Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 8

Key Defect Attributes to keep up to date 1. 2. 3. 4. Who each defect is assigned to When the defect was assigned to that person The version of code it was found in The version of code a fix will be delivered in Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 9

End of Day Snapshots • At the end of each day take a “snapshot” of the following • Defect status • Assignee • For every defect raised to date • The purpose of this snapshot will become clearer in the next session… Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 10

• Effective Defect Reporting provides stakeholders with the information they require to make INFORMED decisions such Conclusion • Is Go-Live on schedule or not? • Are extra resources required in certain areas • Does functionality need to be descoped from the release Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 11