T2 November 18, 2004 10 :00 AM U SING P ERSONAS TO I MPROVE T ESTING - - PDF document

BIO PRESENTATION

International Conference On Software Testing Analysis & Review November 15-19, 2004 Anaheim, CA USA

T2

November 18, 2004 10:00 AM

USING PERSONAS TO IMPROVE TESTING

Robyn Edgar Microsoft

Robyn Edgar

Robyn Edgar is a Software Test Engineer Lead in the Business Solutions division of

• Microsoft. She began her career as a Technical Support Engineer with Great Plains

Software, Inc. in June 1999. After Microsoft Corporation acquired Great Plains in April 2001, Robyn relocated to the Redmond, Washington to join the Great Plains Human Resources and Payroll testing team. Since joining the test discipline Robyn has achieved many accomplishments such as implementation of Microsoft best practices as well as becoming an ISTQB Certified Tester.

1

Using Personas to Improve Testing

Robyn Edgar Software Test Lead Microsoft Corporation

2

Outline

Introduction Definition & examples of a persona How to implement personas Limitations of personas How to create persona based test cases Examples of good bugs found with personas

3

Introduction – My Background

5 years at Microsoft 2 years in product support, 3 years in testing ISTQB Certified Tester This presentation is based on my experience,

not years of research

4

Introduction – Learning Objectives

At the end of this talk you should understand:

Simple description of a persona Why personas are useful in testing How to write test cases using personas How to write bugs based on persona test cases

5

What are personas and why do we need them?

Personas are “fake people” based on real

data.

They are practical tools to help prioritize

features, maintain focus on target customers, and provide a consistent view of the end user.

They are vehicles for bringing customer data

• alive. Read: “What’s right for the customer?”

6

Where do personas come from?

Personas are an extension of product planning

and/or requirements. Ideally, they should be created before requirements are complete.

The persona should be used in the use case/user

scenario in your requirements.

Each want or need of a persona should become a

requirement.

Talk to your customers and write down their pain

• points. Turn these pain points into wants and needs

for your personas.

7

What to do with the data

Personas need to be separate documentation

from regular requirements but need to be included in your requirements.

Names are important, as are the roles the

persona fills within a real company.

Create a web site for your personas so they

are easy for everyone in your organization (requirements, development, testing) to find.

8

What’s in a persona?

Environment (sit in an office or cubical) Work hours (8am – 5pm) Quotes from customer interviews Job title Individual goals or job responsibilities Daily/weekly/monthly activities “A day in the life”

schedule

Pain points Anything that affects how they use your product.

9

Persona Examples for an SUV

10

Sally

“I just want to get my family there safely”

5 feet 2 inches tall Lives in North Dakota Takes kids to school/daycare, runs errands over

lunch, pickup kids and go home for the evening.

Takes long road trips to visit the in-laws Married with 3 children

1.5 years, 5 years, 8 years (Joey, Rachael, Ross)

Wants in a new vehicle:

Room for the family, DVD player, room for car seat, 4WD,

AC, Block heater for cold winters

11

Jeff

“I love the outdoors and having fun.”

6 feet 4 inches tall Lives in Washington state Single, no children Owns a boat Goes out into the woods fishing and boating

most weekends with his buddies

Wants in a new vehicle:

Towing package, good stereo, durable interior,

moon roof, nice tires, scratch resistant

12

Test Cases for the SUV Sally

Can I fit 5 people (2 adults and 3 children)

comfortably?

Can I access the DVD controls from the front seats

as well as rear?

Is it easy to get in and out of? (side step?) Is it easy for the kids to get into the 3rd row of seats? I’m short, can I reach the pedals? Is the 4WD easy to operate? I don’t want to get out

and lock the hubs

13

Sally cont.

Safety – What are the controls like on the

power windows? Can the kids accidentally roll them up or down? Can I lock the windows so the kids don’t have control of them?

14

Test Cases for the SUV Jeff

I’m tall, can I fit in the driver’s or other seats

comfortably?

How does it ride when towing? How easy is it to clean mud from the interior mats? Can I mount a CB in the SUV? Can I fit all of my camping/boating/fishing supplies in

the back?

Can I see around the back of the vehicle with my

mirrors when towing?

How loud can I turn up the stereo? Can I add

satellite radio?

15

Limitations of Personas

They don’t cover every user scenario. They

are just a starting point.

They do not replace other types of testing

methods, they enhance them.

16

Persona based test cases

Think like your persona! As the tester be the

persona

Do they know a lot about your product or a little? Are they fairly new to computers or a computer

genius?

Are they visually impaired?

17

Persona based test cases, cont.

Use your persona’s name in your test cases. Write

test scenarios on his/her behalf.

Jeff goes down a steep hill and rolls his SUV. Will the

moon roof crack and spread glass?

Jeff is towing a boat over a mountain pass. Can he still

drive 60 mph?

It’s 30 degrees below zero in North Dakota. Is it easy for

Sally to find the plug cord to keep her engine from freezing?

Can Sally easily reach the DVD controls to adjust volume,

frame forward, etc. for her children while driving? Was this designed so the controls are on the steering wheel so she can concentrate more easily on the road?

18

Persona based test cases, cont.

Your personas will see the same features in

different ways. Use this to create multiple test cases for the same feature.

Jeff is tall. How well does the seat adjust for him?

With the seat all of the way back does he still have enough leg room?

Sally isn’t tall. How well does the seat adjust for

her? Can she fit Joey’s child seat behind it? Can she drive safely with the seat moved completely forward (i.e., still see the speedometer, reach the pedals, etc.)

19

Writing Bugs using Personas

Bug Title: A driver under 5’ 5” can’t reach the

pedals

Description: Sally is only 5’ 2” tall. When

sitting in the driver’s seat she is unable to reach the pedals, even with the seat moved completely forward.

Recommended Solution: The pedals need to

be adjustable so they move toward the driver’s seat to accommodate the shorter drivers.

20

Writing Bugs using Personas, cont.

Bug Title: Moon roof glass can puncture the

air bag

Description: Were the moon roof to shatter in

a roll over the glass would puncture the air bag, therefore decreasing the safety to Jeff and his passengers.

Recommended solution: Recommend

stronger glass in the moon roof or better material used to create the air bags so they are less prone to puncture.

21

Selling to the Team

Why is this hard?

Convincing your requirements personnel to create

yet another document/type of requirement when they are already crunched on time can be difficult

Finding time to write new test cases based on

personas can be difficult due to time constraints

You might just be duplicating existing test cases if

you already have an extensive set

22

Selling to the Team

Convince them of what’s in it for them

Testers without direct customer knowledge will be

more likely to think like the customer/persona when testing

Using personas to write bugs will result in

customer centric bugs which are more likely to be fixed

23

Conclusions

A persona is a “fake person” based on real

facts of users of your system.

Personas are useful in getting everyone to

view the system from the end-user’s point-of- view.

Multiple test cases for the same feature can

be written based on how each persona will use it.

Use your personas in your bug writing to

convince the need to fix the defect.

24

QUESTIONS?