Question posed by Jayant Deo:
“Currently, in the industry, the expectation for testers is to possess technical testing skills as well as knowledge of the field or industry, particularly in the BFSI sector.
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I’m interested in understanding why and at what point in the testing cycle the tester receives this industry knowledge?”
To begin, let’s understand the three-dimensional career in testing as identified by Danny R. Faught. Prior to hiring any software tester, the following three types of skills are essential:
What are these three skill categories?
- Testing abilities
- Domain knowledge
- Technical proficiency
Certainly, all testers should possess basic skills such as Manual Testing and Automation Testing. Testers with good judgment are generally able to identify most obvious bugs in the software. However, is this level of testing sufficient? Is it enough to release the product based on this testing level? Definitely not.
You would definitely want your product verified by a domain expert before introducing it to the market.
When testing any software, adopting the perspective of the end-user is critical.
However, everyone has their limitations, and it is impossible for one to be an expert in all three aforementioned areas. (Indeed, if you believe you are an all-around expert, do enlighten me ;-)) Therefore, you can’t be completely confident that you can think exactly like the end user of your product.
The individuals who will be using your software will likely have an extensive understanding of the field they’re involved in. To cater to all the product functionalities, these skill sets must be appropriately balanced.
In recent times, the professionals being recruited by companies appear to be more domain experts than technical whizzes. The ongoing trend in the software industry involves several skilled developers and domain experts transitioning into software testing roles.
One reason for the high demand for domain experts could be that recent engineering graduates cannot realistically compete with more experienced professionals. This is because those with experience generally have an advantage in terms of domain and testing knowledge—they comprehend varied facets better and are capable of delivering the application more proficiently and swiftly.
Here are some examples where domain knowledge offers a clear advantage
- Mobile Application Testing
- Wireless Application Testing
- VoIP Applications
- Protocol Testing
- Banking Applications
- Network Testing
How can one test these applications without specific domain knowledge?
Would you simply evaluate the BFSI applications (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) for the user interface, functionality, security, load, or stress?
It is crucial to understand banking user requirements, operational procedures, trade backgrounds, exposure to brokerage, etc., and accordingly test the application—only then can your testing be deemed satisfactory. Here is where subject-matter experts become necessary.
Consider the following example from my current project:
I am currently working on a search engine application. To do this, I need to be familiar with the basic terminologies and concepts of search engines. Quite frequently, I find myself being asked to explain terms like “publishers” and “advertisers” and their differences and functions by testers from other teams.
Do you think they could effectively test the application based on current web advertising and SEO without this knowledge? Certainly not. They must first familiarize themselves with these terminologies and functionalities.
Once my understanding of the functional domain improves, I’ll be capable of creating and executing more test cases and imitate end-user activities more effectively, proving hugely beneficial.
Here are some of the required testing knowledge aspects:
- Testing skills
- Bug hunting skills
- Technical skills
- Domain knowledge
- Communication skills
- Automation skills
- Basic programming skills
- Quick learning
- Capacity to perform under pressure
Considering the lengthy list, you might ask, do I need all these skills?
The answer depends on you. You may focus on one or become proficient in one area while maintaining decent knowledge about the others or evenly distribute your focus. This is a competitive industry, and you should certainly take advantage of it. Be sure to become an expert in at least one domain before switching.
What if your Domain Knowledge is Insufficient?
You may be assigned to any project, and the company may provide you with any task. So, what if you don’t have enough domain knowledge for the project?
You have to rapidly understand as many concepts as you can. Strive to understand the product as if you’re the customer and consider what they might do with the application.
If possible, visit the customer’s website to learn how they use the product, read online resources about the domain you’re going to test the application in, participate in relevant events, and network with domain experts.
Occasionally, the company provides in-house training for domain-specific tasks to the testers.
There’s no specific stage at which domain knowledge is needed—it must be applied throughout the software testing life cycle.
If you’ve read this far, we’d love to hear about the domain you’re working in to give our readers an idea about different domains and projects.
Note: Responding to our reader’s requests, our Software Testing Resource Page for the BFSI domain has been updated with online documents and articles for download.
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