What Does Lean Mean for Software Testing?

Traditionally, software testing occurs after the software is written. From a Lean perspective, this is waste because the software needs to be reworked, retested and often reworked again. Instead, Lean says that quality should be built-in to the way of working.

This presentation will explain how the seven wastes of software development (partially done work, extra features, relearning, hand-offs, task switching, delays and defects) apply specifically to software testing. It will then focus on how the last two can be prevented; delays by using Value Stream Mapping (using a specific example of a defect found by a customer) and defects by regular automated smoke testing and Test Driven Development. Use will be made of entertaining, interactive examples and stories from real life experience.

The conclusion is that traditional ways of measuring test effectiveness, e.g. defect detection rate as a function of defects found by the customer compared to defects found by the test team, are outdated. Instead, the total number of defects found (not just external but also during the internal test phase) needs to be measured and minimised. Each found defect should be translated into an automated test case to ensure it cannot re-occur: “mistake-proofing”.

Event: Lean Kanban Benelux Conference