User connectivity. This is an important phase of the testing mechanism, aimed at ensuring the appropriate correlations between the functions performed by the different users. The idea of this testing phase is to ensure that the modifications, uploads and changes performed by one of the users is reflected immediately in the application and can be seen by all the existing users. In this sense, the testing procedure will involve the use of two different computers. On one of the machines, user a (an academic, for example) will perform a routine operation such as loading a course into the application. On the other machine, user B (a student) will check if he can actually see the uploaded document.
Resources
There are two categories of resources to be taken into consideration:
Human resources. In terms of human resources, one needs to determine the number of testers that will be required by the respective testing process. A number of three testers would be ideal for each of the identified categories of users (students, academics, administrative and support staff). This would allow both for alternative and simultaneous testing, involving testers using more than one computer an attempting to coordinate users operating at the same time. The testing team will need to be completed with a tester supervisor, someone who can (1) coordinate with the developing team and act as an interface for the testing team and (2) coordinate the entire testing process and the testing team.
Financial resources. The financial requirements will include salaries for the testers, as well as additional fixed and administrative costs, such as computers and required software.
Monitoring, feedback and reporting
The monitoring and feedback, as well as the reporting function, are essential for a proper development of the testing phase. In this sense, the monitoring and feedback mechanism will need to...
Ideally, the errors should be solved as they are discovered, which would imply a permanent contact between the testing team and the development team. At the same time, the monitoring and feedback mechanism will probably also need to include some of the other shareholders involved. This can probably be done in the form of regular weekly meetings and updates on the matter at hand.
The reporting function will probably need to include a professional tool for recording and reporting software errors. There are several such tools in the software industry, but the tool should probably be purchased depending on its accessibility and ease of use as the main criteria of choice. All testers will report the errors found into the reporting application, which will be centralizing all the relevant information and provide useful reporting facilities.
Conclusions
The testing plan here presented included references to the different phases of the testing activity, the resources involved, the practical way in which the testing will be performed, as well as some of the primary objectives. A particular attention was given to the monitoring, feedback and reporting mechanisms, important both in ensuring a coordinated action among the members of the testing team, as well as providing some of the other shareholders with the results of the testing activity and centralizing all these in a reporting tool.
In order to ensure that the testing activity is successful, all of these different parts will need to be properly coordinated. As the testing activity progresses, some of the variables will be changing, as some of the errors will most likely be solved by the developing team. The testing activity needs to be flexible enough to incorporate any of these changes in the original product specifications.
