Developing a Test Plan

A test plan is the basis for accomplishing testing and should be considered a living document; that is, as the application changes, the test plan should change.

A good test plan encourages the attitude of "quality before design and coding." It is able to demonstrate that it contains full functional coverage, and the test cases trace back to the functions being tested. It also contains workable mechanisms for monitoring and tracking discovered defects and report status. Appendix E2 is a System/Acceptance Test Plan template that combines unit, integration, and system test plans into one. It is also used in this section to describe how a test plan is built during the waterfall life-cycle development methodology.

The following are the major steps that need to be completed to build a good test plan.

Step 1: Define the Test Objectives

The first step in planning any test is to establish what is to be accomplished as a result of the testing. This step ensures that all responsible individuals contribute to the definition of the test criteria that will be used. The developer of a test plan determines what is going to be accomplished with the test, the specific tests to be performed, the test expectations, the critical success factors of the test, constraints, scope of the tests to be performed, the expected end products of the test, a final system summary report (see Appendix E11, "System Summary Report"), and the final signatures and approvals. The test objectives are reviewed and approval for the objectives is obtained.

Step 2: Develop the Test Approach

The test plan developer outlines the overall approach or how each test will be performed. This includes the testing techniques that will be used, test entry criteria, test exit criteria, procedures to coordinate testing activities with development, the test management approach, such as defect reporting and tracking, test progress tracking, status reporting, test resources and skills, risks, and a definition of the test basis (functional requirement specifications, etc.).

Step 3: Define the Test Environment

The test plan developer examines the physical test facilities, defines the hardware, software, and networks, determines which automated test tools and support tools are required, defines the help desk support required, builds special software required for the test effort, and develops a plan to support the foregoing.

Step 4: Develop the Test Specifications

The developer of the test plan forms the test team to write the test specifications, develops test specification format standards, divides up the work tasks and work breakdown, assigns team members to tasks, and identifies features to be tested. The test team documents the test specifications for each feature and cross-references them to the functional specifications. It also identifies the interdependencies and work flow of the test specifications and reviews the test specifications.

Step 5: Schedule the Test

The test plan developer develops a test schedule based on the resource availability and development schedule, compares the schedule with deadlines, balances resources and workload demands, defines major checkpoints, and develops contingency plans.

Step 6: Review and Approve the Test Plan

The test plan developer or manager schedules a review meeting with the major players, reviews the plan in detail to ensure it is complete and workable, and obtains approval to proceed.