Testing Strategies

🎯 Testing Strategies: Your Game Plan for Finding Bugs

The Story of the Detective Team

Imagine you’re the chief of a detective agency. Your job? Find all the problems before they hurt anyone. But here’s the thing—you can’t look everywhere at once. You need a plan. You need strategies.

That’s exactly what Testing Strategies are! They’re different ways to hunt for bugs, just like detectives use different methods to solve cases.

🚶 Workflow Testing: Following the Path

What Is It?

Think of a workflow like a trail in the forest. When someone uses your app, they walk along this trail—step by step.

Workflow Testing means walking the entire trail yourself to make sure:

• There are no fallen trees blocking the path
• All the signs point the right way
• You actually reach the destination

Simple Example

Imagine ordering pizza online:

graph TD
    A["🍕 Choose Pizza"] --> B["🛒 Add to Cart"]
    B --> C["📝 Enter Address"]
    C --> D["💳 Pay"]
    D --> E["✅ Confirmation"]

Workflow Testing checks that you can go from choosing pizza → to getting confirmation. No stuck screens. No dead ends.

Real Life Example

Online Shopping Checkout:

1. Add item to cart ✓
2. Click checkout ✓
3. Enter shipping info ✓
4. Enter payment ✓
5. See “Order Complete” ✓

If step 3 freezes? Bug found! That’s workflow testing doing its job.

Why It Matters

• Users don’t use apps in random ways
• They follow paths to get things done
• If ANY step breaks, the whole journey fails

🎯 Key Idea: Test the journey, not just the destinations.

⚠️ Risk-Based Testing: Protecting the Crown Jewels

What Is It?

Imagine you’re a royal guard. You have 100 rooms to protect but only enough guards for 10. Where do you put them?

Obviously, you guard the treasure room first! Not the broom closet.

Risk-Based Testing means testing the scariest, most dangerous parts first.

The Risk Formula (Made Simple)

RISK = How Bad? × How Likely?

Simple Example

Testing a banking app? Here’s what to test first:

1. 🚨 Money transfers (could lose money!)
2. 🚨 Login security (hackers could get in!)
3. 🟡 Account settings (annoying if broken)
4. 🟢 Profile picture upload (who cares?)

Real Life Example

Hospital System:

• HIGH RISK: Patient medication doses → test heavily!
• MEDIUM RISK: Appointment scheduling → test well
• LOW RISK: Screen theme color → test quickly

You don’t want to skip testing doses because you were busy testing colors!

Why It Matters

• You can’t test everything equally (no time!)
• Some bugs are dangerous, others are just annoying
• Smart testers protect what matters most

🎯 Key Idea: Test scary stuff first. Save the easy stuff for later.

📋 Requirements-Based Testing: The Checklist Method

What Is It?

Before building a house, you make a list:

• ✅ 3 bedrooms
• ✅ 2 bathrooms
• ✅ Kitchen with window
• ✅ Front door with lock

Requirements-Based Testing means checking if the house has EVERYTHING on the list.

Someone said “the app must do X”? You test if it does X!

Simple Example

Requirement: “Users must be able to reset their password via email.”

Tests:

1. Click “Forgot Password” → Does email send? ✅
2. Click link in email → Does it work? ✅
3. Enter new password → Does it save? ✅
4. Login with new password → Success? ✅

Every requirement gets its own tests!

Traceability: Connecting the Dots

graph TD
    R1["📋 Requirement 1"] --> T1["🧪 Test 1"]
    R1 --> T2["🧪 Test 2"]
    R2["📋 Requirement 2"] --> T3["🧪 Test 3"]
    R2 --> T4["🧪 Test 4"]
    R3["📋 Requirement 3"] --> T5["🧪 Test 5"]

Every requirement has tests. Every test traces back to a requirement.

Real Life Example

E-Commerce Website Requirements:

Why It Matters

• No requirement gets forgotten
• You can prove everything was tested
• When bosses ask “did you test X?” → Yes, here’s proof!

🎯 Key Idea: If someone asked for it, test for it.

📜 Compliance Testing: Following the Rules

What Is It?

Every game has rules. Every country has laws. Every industry has regulations.

Compliance Testing checks if your software follows all the official rules it must obey.

Think of it like a building inspector checking if your house follows the building code.

Common Rules to Follow

Simple Example

GDPR Compliance Test:

1. Can users see what data you have about them? ✅
2. Can users delete their account completely? ✅
3. Do you ask permission before tracking? ✅
4. Can users download their data? ✅

If ANY answer is “No” → you’re breaking the law!

Real Life Example

Banking App Compliance Checklist:

☑️ Encrypt all data in transit (TLS)
☑️ Log all transactions for auditing
☑️ Session timeout after 5 minutes
☑️ Two-factor authentication available
☑️ Password must be 8+ characters

Banks that skip these rules? They pay HUGE fines.

Why It Matters

• Breaking rules = fines (sometimes millions!)
• Breaking rules = lawsuits
• Breaking rules = company reputation destroyed
• Some rules = people’s safety

🎯 Key Idea: Know the rules. Test the rules. Follow the rules.

🗺️ Putting It All Together

These four strategies work as a team:

graph TD
    A["🎯 What to Test?"] --> B["📋 Requirements"]
    A --> C["⚠️ Risks"]
    A --> D["📜 Compliance"]
    B --> E["🚶 Workflows"]
    C --> E
    D --> E
    E --> F["✅ Complete Testing!"]

1. Requirements tell you WHAT features to test
2. Risk tells you WHICH features to test FIRST
3. Compliance tells you WHAT RULES to check
4. Workflow tells you HOW users will USE features

Quick Decision Guide

🏆 You’re Now a Testing Strategist!

Remember:

• Workflow = Follow the user’s journey 🚶
• Risk-Based = Protect what matters most ⚠️
• Requirements = Check the feature list 📋
• Compliance = Follow the rules 📜

Good testers don’t just test randomly. They have a plan. They have strategies.

Now YOU have those strategies too! 🎉

Testing isn’t about finding ALL bugs. It’s about finding the RIGHT bugs, at the RIGHT time, in the RIGHT way.