Problems of custom testing

Custom testing is always the interaction of two parties, where you can either achieve harmony or fall into a trap. Some believe that customers are guided by three standard stereotypes: greed, laziness, and stupidity.

Time and budget

Given: The team is asking for more testing time.

The position of the team: the volume of tested functions has increased, fuzzy requirements have been formed, a high density of defects, and non-compliance with development deadlines.

Position of the customer: objects, claims: “You want to inflate the budget!”

Why might the customer raise such objections? He already has experience with previous projects, which:

• quality assurance costs (not just testing!) were not shown separately;
• more efficient development led to lower testing costs;
• testing costs did not provide acceptable product quality (however, they were significant) due to the overall low process culture;
• tenders were organized, where one of the selection criteria is the reasonable cost of the project.

What the team can do: identify the risks to the customer and tell the customer about the decline in quality, prioritize the tested areas, and determine the criteria for completing custom testing and acceptance.

Terms and agreements

Given: The team does not plan to write product testing documentation.

The position of the team: we did not write a test plan and test cases, because there was no time for this; we didn't do it because we didn't agree on it; we will not write a test report, because the activities were not recorded, and in general the customer looked and agreed.

Position of the customer: They are just too lazy!

Why might the customer raise such objections? He already has experience with previous projects, which:

• lack of documentation led to the failure of the project;
• the testing team was really lazy and did not execute the promised paid results (for example, test plans);
• an objective assessment of the quality of the project was never presented, and it was not possible to control its progress;
• tenders were organized, where one of the selection criteria is a reasonable degree of adherence to the customer's processes.

What the team can do: explain to the customer the need for test plans and testing strategies, and require the customer to be responsible for the business area. It is important for the team to always document test cases and warn about risks.

Requirements and quality

Given: the team claims that they are all high-class specialists and can do their job well.

Position of the team: individual specialists are needed for custom testing of a specific area, we do not have certificates, but we have experience and skills.

Position of the customer: claims that the team is nothing more than "high-class mouse clickers", and asks for certificates.