Project Test Plan

Definition

The Project Test Plan is the test work product that formally documents the plans for performing all testing on a project.

Objectives

The typical objectives of the Project Test Plan are to formally document the project's plans for:

• Test philosophy
• Test work products
• Test teams
• Test tasks and techniques
• Test tools
• Performing the following kinds of tests:
  • Model testing
  • Unit testing
  • Commercial Component Testing
  • Integration Testing
  • System testing
  • Launch testing

Benefits

The typical benefits of a project test plan include:

• It enables the stakeholders to understand how the application will be tested.
• It enables the management team to properly schedule and staff the testing activity.
• It enables various test teams to understand what is expected of them.

Contents

• Test Philosophy:
  • Essential Testing Concepts
  • Observations about Testing
  • Goals and Objectives of Testing
• Test Work Products (documents and software)
• Test Teams (teams, responsibilites, composition)
• Test Tasks (major tasks and subtasks)
• Test Tools
• Model Testing
• Unit Testing
• Commercial Component Testing
• Integration Testing:
  • Commercial Component Integration Testing
  • Software Integration Testing
  • System Integration Testing
• System Testing:
  • Functional Testing
  • Performance Testing
  • Load Testing
  • Stress Testing
  • Robustness Testing
  • Contention Testing
  • Availability Testing
  • Portability Testing
  • Security Testing
  • Usability Testing
• Launch Testing:
  • Alpha Testing
  • Beta Testing
  • Acceptance Testing
• Appendices:
  • Testing Techniques
  • Major Issues
  • TBDs
  • Assumptions

The Project Test Plan typically documents the following information about each kind of test:

• Definition
• Objectives
• Completion criteria
• Responsibilities including teams and associated roles
• Tasks and associated techniques
• Tools
• Timing by phase and milestone

Stakeholders

• Producer:
  • Independent Test Team
• Evaluator:
  • Test Inspection Team
• Approvers:
  • Technical Leader
  • Project Manager
  • Customer Representative
• Maintainer:
  • Independent Test Team
• Users:
  • The Project Managment Team uses the Project Test Plan to guide the scheduling and staffing of the testing activity.
  • The Architecture Team uses the Project Test Plan to standardize their approach to the testing of architecture models.
  • The Software Development Team uses the Project Test Plan to standardize their approach to model testing and unit testing.
  • The Integration Team uses the Project Test Plan to standardize their approach to integration testing.
  • The Independent Test Team uses the Project Test Plan to standardize their approach to system testing.
  • The User Experience Team uses the Project Test Plan to document their approach to usability testing.
  • The Environments Team uses the Project Test Plan to determine the number of test environments to develop and maintain.

Phases

• Business Strategy: Not Applicable
• Business Optimization: Not Applicable
• Initiation: Completed
• Construction: Maintained
• Delivery: Maintained
• Usage: Maintained
• Retirement: Archived

Preconditions

A project test plan typically can be started if the following preconditions hold:

• The initiation phase has started.
• The independent test team is adequately staffed and trained in test planning.

Inputs

• Work Products:
  • Application Vision Statement
  • System Requirements Specification
  • System Architecture Document
  • Project Environments Description Document
• Stakeholders:
  • Testing domain expert

Guidelines

• This is a living document that is developed incrementally and iteratively in parallel with other work products.
• Different parts of this document are due at different times (i.e., during different phases).
• Some parts of this document are mandatory and some parts are optional.
• Not every kind of testing needs to be performed on every project.

Conventions

A project test plan is typically constrained by the following conventions:

• Content and Format Standard
• Template
• Inspection Checklist

Examples

• Example Project Test Plan