Agile and testing - where to 'place' verification & validation in the process?

[Steven Haworth]

OK, so I have another discussion topic, and I'd love community input.

Working in Atlassian cloud, we are reconsidering our process to better support Agile iterations, so that we can iterate more quickly and user needs emerge, etc.  How to fluidly make that work within a regulated process is - um - not clear.

(Context - We already have work in progress with DevOps pipelines and automated testing, we're using Xray to manage testing, and we already have a decent waterfall-like process, which mostly involves exporting to PDF, signing, and loading into Confluence).

My question relates to sprints versus testing, where we currently have two ideas:

• One - use workflow states in Epics & Stories to indicate exactly where we are in testing (ie code done, ready for verification, verifying, ready for validation, validated, etc).  That becomes a large complex issuetype workflow, of course.
  • Approval of testing would include approving all of those issues (probably in bulk) - perhaps per sprint (verification), or release iteration (validation).
  • If a story is modified, it's workflow automatically flips back to an earlier state and the process starts over.
• Two - use Xray issuetypes and keep all the approvals on test issues (instead of content issues like Epics or Stories).  So in this case, test coverage would be checked when a test set or plan is created, and approval would be against a Test Execution issuetype (with an attached snapshot or export to document the coverage / traceability).
  • With this concept, Epics and Stories just evolve per Agile needs.  They are linked to test cases (which in turn are linked to test executions, etc)
  • We still need to 'freeze' the current state of Epics or Stories to document their testing - perhaps with some type of export?  Or perhaps a detailed coverage report from the testing tool would include the story content - so that becomes the record?

Anyway - thoughts anyone?

[Aaron Morris]

I prefer something similar to your Option 1.  But to avoid the overly complex Jira workflow, we combine a custom field named "Sub-status" with the native "Status" field.  Sub-status is just a dropdown list for more granular progress tracking on the sprint board; it's not used for any workflow controls, etc.

So for example, our basic story workflow is:  To Do --> In Progress --> Ready to Test --> Pending Approval --> Approved  And while the story is in the In Progress or Ready to Test statuses, users will also update the Sub-Status.  For example:  In Development, Ready for Testing, Testing in Progress, Ready for SQA, Impeded, etc.  

Here are some example screen shots from our sandbox.

Hope this helps!

[Peter _ DevSamurai]

You might want to try this app AgileTest, I'm currently working on a software project and my team loves it, pretty functional and free too

[Peter _ DevSamurai]

Personally, I think those are different, yet similar. 
Agile testing and traditional (often referred to as Waterfall) testing are two distinct approaches to software testing that differ in terms of their methodologies, processes, and principles

[Peter _ DevSamurai]

Try this video: https://youtu.be/iLk1wEENNuI?si=ZBnwaAGGaxOtBDEf . It's in a AgileTest Academy series I find this one is pretty comprehensive and really detailed tho. 

Verification is typically performed by the Quality Assurance (QA) team and focuses on ensuring that the software or product meets the specified requirements. It involves activities such as reviews, inspections, and desk-checking to verify that the software has been built correctly.

Validation, on the other hand, involves the testing team working in collaboration with the QA team. It focuses on evaluating the software against user needs and expectations. Validation activities include black-box testing, white-box testing, non-functional testing, and other high-level activities to validate the real product.

In terms of placement within the Agile process, verification typically comes before validation. Verification activities are often carried out during development iterations to ensure that each increment of the software meets the specified requirements. Validation activities are performed after verification to validate that the software meets user needs and expectations.

It’s important to note that Agile methodologies emphasize iterative development and continuous feedback. Therefore, verification and validation activities are often integrated throughout the development process rather than being confined to specific phases