is related to the product manager's assessment of risk. I find this especially useful if I'm not sure the team can complete all the desired testing prior to release.
Timebox Test Development Until Release
Now that each area has an overall ranking, you know how to prioritize the testing. If you have five testers, you can assign each of them one of the areas and be done with it. But if you don't have five testers available, you pick the top-ranked priority and do what you can in the timebox.
A timebox is a specified calendar duration. Say you're working in a timebox of ten working days (two weeks of work). That means that for the "Browsing loading time" area, you'll do as much test development and testing as possible in those two weeks. When the two weeks are up, you stop working on "Browsing loading time" whether or not you think you're done.
Because of the short calendar duration, timeboxes help people make progress. You will have to pick and choose what to test-and what and how to automate. You may have to ask more questions to refine the requirements or the ranking with the product manager. But at the end of the two weeks, you will have accomplished substantive work.
At the end of a timebox, you'll either go on to the next area or re-rank the areas. If the product manager wants more testing of "Browsing loading time," you can do that-as long as the product manager realizes you won't move to the next area on the list.
Decide What to Do Next
How you decide what to do next depends on your agreement with the rest of the team, including the product manager. Some test groups continue to pay down the technical debt as decided by the initial ranking. Others allow the product manager to re-rank at the end of an iteration. It's best to decide when and how plans will change before you start the iterations. But even if you don't decide in advance, make sure you decide before you've done two iterations of work. That way you are using scarce testing resources to effectively pay down technical debt.
At the end of a release, when you've paid off the technical debt you decided to pay for this release, you'll need to develop the list and re-rank for the next release.
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About the author
Johanna Rothman, known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” helps organizational leaders see problems and risks in their product development. She helps them recognize potential “gotchas,” seize opportunities, and remove impediments. Johanna was the Agile 2009 conference chair. She is the technical editor for Agile Connection and the author of these books:
- Manage Your Job Search
- Hiring Geeks That Fit
- Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects
- The 2008 Jolt Productivity award-winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management
- Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management
- Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People
Johanna is working on a book about agile program management. She writes columns for Stickyminds.com and projectmanagementcom and blogs on her website, jrothman.com, as well on createadaptablelife.com.
