My Agile QA Manifesto and Testing Principles

My Agile QA Manifesto

With reference to the original Agile manifesto I present my thoughts on an extension for agile QA or an agile testing manifesto;

  • Prevention over goalkeeping
  • Risk based test coverage over systematic test coverage
  • Tester skill over test detail
  • Automation over manual (for checking/repetition)

While there is value in the items on the right, I value the items on the left more

Testing Principles

And to follow that, a set of principles I try to follow and try to instill into those that work with me;

  • Fail fast/provide fast feedback
  • Test at the lowest layer
  • Test first (TDD/BDD)
  • Risk based testing for efficiency
  • Focus on tester skill and domain knowledge
  • Drive for automation for repeated checking (regression)
  • Learn from your mistakes – don’t repeat them

Author: Stuart Ashman

I am currently working as the Director of QA at Vision Critical a market research software and services company. I have been working in a variety of roles involving testing and quality assurance for over 20 years. I started off testing flight deck instruments and progressed through GSM network operations software, Unix Operating Systems and Lights Out Management Firmware, into Anti Virus and Anti-Spam software and HW appliances, finally spending a short period of time testing cloud provisioning and control software before entering into my current position.

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