What can be done if requirements are changing continuously?
A common problem and a major headache.
•
Work with the project's stakeholders early on to understand how
requirements might change so that alternate test plans and strategies
can be worked out in advance, if possible.
• It's helpful if the
application's initial design allows for some adaptability so that later
changes do not require redoing the application from scratch.
• If the code is well-commented and well-documented this makes changes easier for the developers.
• Use rapid prototyping whenever possible to help customers feel sure of their requirements and minimize changes.
• The project's initial schedule should allow for some extra time commensurate with the possibility of changes.
•
Try to move new requirements to a 'Phase 2' version of an application,
while using the original requirements for the 'Phase 1' version.
•
Negotiate to allow only easily-implemented new requirements into the
project, while moving more difficult new requirements into future
versions of the application.
• Be sure that customers and
management understand the scheduling impacts, inherent risks, and costs
of significant requirements changes. Then let management or the
customers (not the developers or testers) decide if the changes are
warranted - after all, that's their job.
• Balance the effort put
into setting up automated testing with the expected effort required to
re-do them to deal with changes.
• Try to design some flexibility into automated test scripts.
• Focus initial automated testing on application aspects that are most likely to remain unchanged.
• Devote appropriate effort to risk analysis of changes to minimize regression testing needs.
•
Design some flexibility into test cases (this is not easily done; the
best bet might be to minimize the detail in the test cases, or set up
only higher-level generic-type test plans)
• Focus less on
detailed test plans and test cases and more on ad hoc testing (with an
understanding of the added risk that this entails).
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