5 Symptoms to Look For

A test plan is a technical document that details a systematic approach to testing a specific system, such as a device, machine, or software. The test plan contains a detailed understanding of the workflow and functions of the system and documents how each of those will be tested to find out if the system works according to its design, find bugs, and determine its actual limitations. The formal ISTQB definition states: “Test Plan is A document describing the scope, approach, resources, and schedule of intended test activities.” The lack of it can be the trigger to a disaster.

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For many reasons — good and bad — many projects need more time for complete and comprehensive testing; alas, it is often not considered. A quality test team must be able to test a product or system quickly and constructively to provide some value to the project.

There are a couple of symptoms you could be looking for to validate if the lack of a test plan is an issue to take seriously:
- time for testing wasn’t defined;
- no clearly defined roles and responsibilities for testing;
- no clear test objectives;
- hard time finding the test support documentation
- an absence of a strong feedback loop;