Testing activities as part of workflow or as stand alone task?

[GPY]

Hi,

I am trying to come up with a workflow for my team, but I am not to sure how to integrate our tests. On one side I want to present the team with a clear workflow including the testing and deploying activities, so a user story can move from : To code > Coding > To Test > Testing > To deploy > Deployed (done).

Yet if I do this then I don't have a specific task "Test feature A" on my roadmap to track the work to be done by my QA. 

User story: Feature A:

• Task: Update App
• Task: Update Server
• Task: Feature testing

I am not to sure how to reconciliate both approaches. Any tips or best practices regarding this? 

[Ste Wright]

Hi @GPY 

I'd usually split these questions into two parts...

• Do I need to visualise testing separate to development?
• Do I need to have this highlighted in my workflow?

---

Do I need to visualise testing separate to development?

This depends on how your team works - for example...

• Do you have separate Testers to Developers?
• Is there a need to track testing through multiple environments?
• Is it manual testing, or automated?
• ...etc

I would at minimum have Testing as an Issue Type - either a Sub-task, or an Issue linked to Story - so you can track Pass/Fail, and field data like environment, etc.

But I would also consider either integrating to an existing test product - or, visualising tests better in Jira, using Apps like Zephyr Squad, Zephyr Scale, Xray Test Management, etc

---

Do I need to have this highlighted in my workflow?

How you test, and how they're visualised in Jira - then links back to the needs of a Story Workflow.

For example...

• Is In Progress sufficient to cover all progress of a Story, with a linked Test? This can be particularly useful if development, testing, and environment release are intertwined. You could use the connected data to show testing progress.
• If not, should the work be visualised by an In Testing status when testing is active?
• Should the workflow differ for Bugs - eg. an In Triage status when testers are checking a bug raised from production prior to a fix?
• Do we need more than one testing status if we don't track the testing in an Issue Type? Eg. In Testing, In QA, In UAT, In SIT, etc

---

There's no one answer here - you need to consider the other parameters within your environment, and in your team.

But these are the kinds of questions I'd be asking myself - starting with how testing is visualised in Jira, and how this should then relate to Story traceability from ideation through to release.

Let us know your thoughts :)

Ste

[GPY]

Thank you, that was super useful! :) 

I do need to track test and deployment through various environment, I will go with testing has an issue type and simplify my workflow first and see how it goes :) 

[Ste Wright]

Awesome :) - let us know how things go once setup!

Ste