Software Test Estimation is an essential management operation used to determine an approximate time frame required to start and finish any process in a controlled environment.
It’s crucial to any project planning to not go past the time limits, set budgets, and available resources. One of the most useful tasks here is, checking the resources in light of an effort to be expended on the test.
Engineers at UTOR often leverage different types of estimation techniques during software testing. These methods have been confirmed as effective by our clients. Therefore, we will go over them, and reveal their specific pros and cons so that you are informed of how to best implement them.
What is Software Testing Estimation?
Software test estimation is a process of measuring and managing the duration and actions required to run a complete test on the software.
Time and effort is considerably simple to calculate for small-scale assignments. But for larger projects. efficient strategies must be in place so that no mistakes are made. If underestimated or overestimated, testing resources for such projects become either insufficient or misused altogether.
How Do Teams Estimate Software Testing Resources?
Before the test commences, there are two very crucial uncertainties that everything depends on and must be ironed out between the tester and client. These include;
- What is the total estimated duration of the full procedure?
- What is the total estimated procedure cost in terms of money and resources?
What is Estimated?
Time, resources, cost, and human skills are typically determined during testing estimation.
1. Time
A team effort’s efficacy is usually judged by the capability to deliver within a set time frame, on or before the deadline.
After checking the standard required duration for each section of the project at hand, the project managers develop a means of keeping to schedule each project.
He ensures everything is delivered on time. For this reason, time estimation is one of the essential factors in building an upstanding reputation among customers and having a good number of loyal clients.
2. Resources
Before any project can be embarked on, it’s mandatory to check the available resources, those that should be included, and recommended substitutes if some aren’t readily available. Without checking for this, it’s most likely that projects won’t be finished before the deadline.
3. Cost
While preparing for any test process, the estimated budget must be taken into full account on all fronts (both financial and non-financial).
The total cost must be taken into account to take note of possible expenditures and ensure that the project stays within the client’s stipulated budget, and work on it if it isn’t up to.
The fields mentioned are all related and interdependent on themselves. The duration that it will take also hinges on the available tools and given budget.
Over time, the procedure involved in software test estimation has been done with different processes, using various methodologies and tools that have advanced with time for the same reason.
The integration and working of these techniques have made the averaging procedure a lot easier too.
Types of Software Testing Estimation Techniques
There are many estimations and averaging techniques in general, but we will only be looking at a few popular ones out of this article’s lot.
Program evaluation and review technique (PERT)
In this technique, the tasks are broken down into 3 subcategories to ascertain better the time to be taken for completion, namely;
The Optimistic Scenario- O; In this case, the duration, monetary, and resource expenses regarding the project are presumed to be in their highest optimal levels. This means that individual members of the QA Team put in work at their very best collectively, keep to time, with no pressure, unpredictable turn of events, or the need to revisit the job done and still deliver great work too.
The Most Likely Scenario- M; Here, all things are considered; bearing the familiar work scenario and considering negative and positive possibilities in mind, items are estimated how it’s most likely to happen.
The Pessimistic Scenario- P; This is considering the most negative scenario that could be. The averaging will be hinged on the assumption that there will undoubtedly be a negative outcome to be dealt with at every single phase of the whole testing.
Pros of PERT
- Using this technique means that the team works with an estimation that checks all possible fatalities and rewards on all fronts.
- Teams can come up with an evaluation pretty close to reality.
- It prepares the organizations for any possible outcome of the build test when they calculate each conceivable scenario and prepare adequately to curb it if necessary.
Cons of PERT
- When faced with a larger body of test projects, using this form of estimate will consume much more time to undergo.
- There’s a high probability of having inaccurate calculations occur.
- The values used here are never constant and could be met with many errors since it’s only an estimation after all.
User Case Point (UCP)
Whenever someone or something uses and communicates with the application in question, the entity is identified as an actor. The said entity is mainly documented in the unadjustable Use-Case weights, which influence the process’s capacity.
Any communication in-between will safeguard everyone’s involvement from shareholders to individuals in the QA team through the various sequences and defined goals.
Over ten different agents affect how complicated a project’s technicality is, and about eight take a complex toll on it environmentally. This is in concurrence with the findings of Gustav Karner.
This estimation method hinges on calculating multiple variants from the so-called actors, user case weights, and points that affect the process, technicality, and other factors.
Firstly, to commence this process, they will have to cross-check their respective intricacies and affect the process. Then further averaging is done by applying their formulas for calculation.
After checking the project’s magnitude, those involved determine the amount of time required before the total completion of the process. Two significant ways of preventing this are;
Using Karner’s method and considering each test case as consuming 20 staff-hours.
Using company record time for project completion, in any case, to calculate statistical averages and guess the duration for the current project.
UCP= Unadjustable UCP x Technical Complexity Factor x Environmentally affect factor.
Pros of UCP
- In case you need to work in advance and plan way ahead of time, then this estimation method is probably better off as it is done in the initial stages and helps in pruning and approving budget sizes.
- With the aid of some special management tools, automatic calculation of estimates is possible, saving a lot of time for the assessment team and facilitating the job.
Cons of UCP:
- If the project requirements aren’t given in User Case points, that makes it impossible to use this technique, and the QA Team will have to source for a different method.
- When the UCP’s are given, and they aren’t accurate or explicit enough, it’s most likely to end negatively with estimates far from real as this method depends on not just giving case points but giving clear case points.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Here the technique of estimating values is done by dividing the primary process into different subcategories. A predictive calculation of the average duration on each stage gradually starts with a rough work on the simpler ones of the lot, then graduating in both difficulty and level of correctness.
After the initial process, select the highest possible value that you arrived at and add them up and get the ultimate value, estimating the effort and time required for each task.
Pros of WBS
- An obvious advantage of this method is that it makes it easier to spot every minute and necessary detail while dividing the labor into smaller bits. This means that the work is done
- It’s always thorough and transparent, as the conclusions are tabulated for the same purpose and easier tracking.
Cons of WBS:
- This nature usually requires rubbing minds and team members and stakeholders to tap from their external experience.
- Changes in specifications and client needs can lead to obsolete and needing the team to look into it and re-evaluate totally.
Delphi Method
The Delphi method is quite popular among testing teams globally. Data from voluntary partakers is collated and closely examined several and, in no particular order, arrive at an agreed conclusion.
Each phase of examination brings about new or improved data feedback, which only adds to the final findings’ refinement with much-deserved confidence.
Usually, a team consists of not more than ten individuals who meet up to discuss the project’s critical features about to embark on and give their opinions on the project’s possible duration.
Subsequently, the team meets up again, and this time, the opinions from the first date are shared. This gives the members another angle of approach on the project. However, the views are not tagged to their suggesters.
When the team members are through this phase, they will have another unanimous discussion, and collation of opinions brings the new angle of perception into consideration.
This will go on until everyone agrees on the same page. Although the usual way of doing the Delphi method, this form can be tweaked to suit its needs and capabilities.
Pros of DELPHI
- Because no unique formulas or equipment are necessary here, it is the easiest of the lot for any team to undergo, all that is needed is the client specifications and good to go.
- The estimation is a pretty close fit to accuracy since many professional points of view are considered in the meeting and idea-sharing process.
Cons of DELPHI
- As easy as it may be to undergo, it can take a lot of productive time because more often than not.
- It’s challenging to come up with one comprehensive estimation after the first batch of meetings and share opinions, so it usually takes a few.
- Even after consuming so much time, the results can’t be recycled. So for every single project to be run, the process is started afresh with the new requirements.
To Sum up
This blog post reviewed four types of estimation techniques in software testing and how impactful they are in planning a reasonable testing budget.
After successful estimation, can you say for sure the right approach to outsourcing your projects to QA companies?
Here’s an article on how to choose the best approach for QA outsourcing.
Tell us which of these testing estimation tactics you’d be implementing, and what was your insight?
