Intuitive design: framing a software test system as a status reporting tool for business
Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology
ISSN: 1726-0531
Article publication date: 3 April 2017
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a conceptual framework of how software teams can leverage the implicit information of implemented acceptance tests to cater to the needs of decision makers. The research questions on this framework were how business stakeholders can receive project status information in an intuitive way and how this framework can guarantee the traceability of tests to requirements.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual framework delineates the design of an acceptance test framework in three aspects: how the requirements model reflects the evolving states of requirement maturity over a project, how the acceptance test model becomes synchronized with the requirements model without a traceability matrix and how the acceptance test model communicates business value to the decision makers.
Findings
In an industrial case study, the presented framework yielded the positive effects of intuitive understanding by business stakeholders, high test coverage of requirements and distinctly reduced manual quality assurance (QA) work by automated testing for browsers and mobile devices.
Practical implications
The presented framework can help to convince business stakeholders to approve the budget for building a testing framework because it delivers them value as a status reporting tool.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to describe a step-by-step approach to solving a critical problem that IT departments frequently face. The solution consists in a new way of transforming the perception of a technical framework into a reporting tool for business information by intuitive design. The idea of mapping hierarchically corresponding abstraction layers can be transferred to other engineering domains.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author likes to thank the software consulting company Lovely Systems for their excellent technical implementation, and the media company WeltN24 for their financial approval, visionary view and continuous support of the presented framework.
Citation
So, C. (2017), "Intuitive design: framing a software test system as a status reporting tool for business", Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 149-165. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-07-2016-0047
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited