ISTQB FOUNDATION 4.0 | Tutorial 25 | Early Feedback | Review Process | Roles & Responsibility | CTFL

Summary

This tutorial on ISTQB Foundation level certification covers Chapter 3 on static testing, focusing on the review process and the importance of early and frequent stakeholder feedback. It explains the benefits of early feedback in identifying anomalies early in the software development lifecycle, thus saving time and costs. The video outlines the formal review process, detailing the phases like planning, review initiation, individual review, communication and analysis, and fixing and reporting. It also highlights the roles and responsibilities of participants, such as the manager, author, moderator, scribe, reviewers, and review leader, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the review process.

Takeaways

• 1. The video tutorial covers chapter 3 of the ISTQB Foundation Level Certification, focusing on static testing and the review process.
• 2. Early and frequent stakeholder feedback is crucial for identifying and correcting anomalies in the requirements phase, saving time and resources.
• 3. The review process helps in detecting potential quality problems early, ensuring the product meets stakeholder expectations and preventing costly rework.
• 4. Frequent stakeholder feedback throughout the SDLC can prevent misunderstandings about requirements and ensure changes are implemented correctly.
• 5. The review process involves several phases: planning, review initiation, individual review, communication and analysis, and fixing and reporting.
• 6. The planning phase involves defining the scope, objectives, types of documents, review type, time allocation, and selecting the right participants.
• 7. The review initiation phase, led by a moderator, ensures all participants are prepared, understand their roles, and have the necessary materials.
• 8. During the individual review phase, each reviewer independently assesses the work product and logs their findings, recommendations, and questions.
• 9. The communication and analysis phase, or review meeting, involves discussing and analyzing anomalies, deciding on their status, and determining required actions.
• 10. In the fixing and reporting phase, the author addresses the identified issues, and the moderator ensures all activities are completed and documented, meeting the exit criteria.

Q & A

What is the importance of early and frequent stakeholder feedback in the review process?

Early and frequent stakeholder feedback helps identify anomalies and misunderstandings early in the process, saving time and cost. It ensures the product meets stakeholder expectations and prevents project failures.

What are the main phases of a formal review process?

The main phases of a formal review process are planning, review initiation, individual review, communication and analysis, and fixing and reporting.

Who is responsible for defining the scope, objectives, and participants of a review during the planning phase?

The manager is responsible for defining the scope, objectives, and participants of the review during the planning phase.

What is the role of the moderator in the review process?

The moderator ensures the effective running of the review meeting, including mediation, time management, and maintaining a safe environment where everyone can speak freely.

What activities are involved in the review initiation phase?

In the review initiation phase, the moderator ensures all participants have access to the work product, understand their roles and responsibilities, and are prepared to start the review.

What is the purpose of the individual review phase?

The purpose of the individual review phase is for each reviewer to independently assess the work product, identify anomalies, and log their findings for discussion in the review meeting.

What happens during the communication and analysis phase?

During the communication and analysis phase, reviewers present their findings, the author addresses questions, and anomalies are discussed to decide their status, ownership, and required actions.

What is the role of the scribe in the review process?

The scribe is responsible for recording all details during the review meeting, including decisions and new anomalies found.

What is involved in the fixing and reporting phase?

In the fixing and reporting phase, the author works on open defects, the moderator gathers metrics, and defect reports are created. The process concludes when the exit criteria are met.

Who can play the role of a reviewer in the review process?

A reviewer can be anyone responsible for reviewing the work product, such as project team members, subject matter experts, or other stakeholders invited to review.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Introduction to ISTQB Foundation Level Certification - Chapter 3 Overview

The video begins with a warm welcome and introduces the topic of ISTQB Foundation Level Certification, specifically focusing on Chapter 3 which deals with static testing. The segment to be discussed is 3.2, covering feedback and the review process, including benefits of early and frequent stakeholder feedback, the review process itself, and standard roles and responsibilities in reviews.

05:00

📋 Importance of Early and Frequent Stakeholder Feedback

This section emphasizes the significance of obtaining early and frequent feedback from stakeholders. It explains how early feedback helps identify anomalies in requirements sooner, thus saving time and effort. Frequent feedback ensures continuous improvement and alignment with stakeholder expectations, which is crucial for preventing misunderstandings and ensuring the product meets the desired quality standards.

10:03

🔄 The Formal Review Process: Phases and Roles

The formal review process involves several key phases: planning, review initiation, individual review, communication and analysis, and fixing and reporting. Each phase has specific activities and roles, such as the manager who defines the scope and objectives, the moderator who facilitates the process, and the reviewers who identify issues. The section details the responsibilities of each role and the importance of conducting reviews systematically to ensure thorough quality assessment.

15:03

📑 Detailed Phases and Roles in the Review Process

This paragraph further elaborates on the individual roles and responsibilities in the review process, such as the scribe who records details, and the reviewers who assess the work product. It discusses the importance of the review leader in organizing and overseeing the review logistics. The conclusion highlights that these structured roles and phases help maintain the effectiveness and thoroughness of the review process, contributing to the overall quality of the product.

Keywords

💡Static Testing

Static testing involves examining and reviewing documents and code without actually executing the code. It helps identify errors and defects early in the development process. In the video, static testing is discussed in Chapter 3, highlighting its importance in the review process.

💡Early and Frequent Feedback

Early and frequent feedback refers to the practice of continuously reviewing and providing feedback on work products as soon as they are created. This approach helps in identifying issues early and prevents misunderstandings. The video emphasizes the benefits of this practice, linking it to agile methodologies.

💡Review Process

The review process is a systematic approach to evaluating work products to identify defects and improve quality. It includes various activities such as planning, individual review, and communication. The video outlines the phases of the review process and the roles involved.

💡Stakeholder Involvement

Stakeholder involvement means engaging stakeholders, such as customers and business owners, throughout the development process. Their feedback ensures the product meets their expectations. The video discusses the significance of stakeholder involvement in preventing costly rework and project failure.

💡Formal Review

A formal review is a structured process with defined phases and roles to ensure thorough evaluation of work products. It includes planning, review initiation, individual review, and communication. The video describes the formal review process in detail, including the responsibilities of each role.

💡Moderator

The moderator is a trained individual who facilitates the review process, ensuring it runs smoothly and effectively. They handle mediation, time management, and create a safe environment for open discussion. The video explains the role of the moderator during the review initiation phase.

💡Scribe

The scribe, also known as the recorder, is responsible for documenting all the details discussed during the review meeting. This includes recording decisions, anomalies, and actions. The video mentions the scribe's role in the communication and analysis phase.

💡Anomalies

Anomalies are inconsistencies or issues identified during the review process that may not necessarily be defects. They need to be analyzed and addressed to ensure product quality. The video highlights the importance of documenting and resolving anomalies during the review meeting.

💡Review Techniques

Review techniques are methods used to evaluate work products, such as checklist-based reviews and scenario-based reviews. These techniques help reviewers systematically identify issues. The video refers to these techniques and mentions the ISO IEC 20246 standard for detailed guidance.

💡Agile Methodology

Agile methodology is an iterative approach to software development that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and customer feedback. It includes practices like frequent reviews and stakeholder involvement. The video connects the concept of early and frequent feedback to agile practices.

Highlights

Early and frequent feedback allows for the early communication of potential quality problems.

Failure to deliver what the stakeholder wants can result in costly rework, missed deadlines, and even complete project failure.

Frequent stakeholder feedback throughout the SDLC can prevent misunderstandings about requirements and ensure changes are implemented earlier.

Early feedback helps the development team improve their understanding of what they are building and focus on features that deliver the most value.

Prioritization during backlog refinement helps identify risk areas much earlier in the lifecycle.

Formal review process includes phases like planning, review initiation, individual review, communication and analysis, and fixing and reporting.

The planning phase involves defining the scope, objectives, type of document, review type, and selecting the right set of participants.

Review initiation, or kickoff, ensures that every participant is prepared, has access to the work product, and understands their roles and responsibilities.

Individual review phase involves participants reviewing the documentation independently to identify anomalies and recommendations.

Communication and analysis phase, also known as the review meeting, involves discussing and analyzing identified anomalies.

Fixing and reporting phase involves the author working on open defects and reporting back to the concerned reviewers.

The manager is responsible for deciding what is to be reviewed and providing resources such as staff time for the review.

The author, who has written the document under review, is responsible for fixing identified issues.

The moderator ensures the effective running of the review meeting, including mediation, time management, and maintaining a safe review environment.

The scribe records all details during the review meeting, including decisions and new anomalies found.

Reviewers are responsible for performing the review and may be project team members, subject matter experts, or other stakeholders.

The review leader takes overall responsibility for the review, organizing when and where it will take place, and ensuring all logistical aspects are covered.

Transcripts

Hello friends and greetings for the day

welcome back to another tutorial on

istqb Foundation level certification we

are in chapter 3 talking about static

testing and moving on to our next

segment which is 3.2 feedback and the

review process and as a part of this

segment we have many other segments and

today we'll be talking about

3.2.1 benefits of early and frequent

stakeholder feedback

3.2.2 the review process itself that is

what are the activities and in that

Activity 3 2.3 that what are the

standard roles and responsibility in the

reviews of these stakeholders so let's

quickly have a look on what exactly the

review process is all about and why

should be conducted how should be

conducted and how does it make a

difference to the overall

process to kick off the discussion of

course uh the very first thing we

talking about early and frequent

feedback from different stakeholders and

certainly the early and frequent

feedback is coming back from aile

methodology and being Blended together

as a part of our general process as well

early and frequent feedback certainly

talks about that we are trying to test

all the artifacts all the V products as

in when they are created say for example

if I'm trying to write a requirement and

then there was no discussion done on

that people just interpreted whatever

they wanted to understand and they

established the design based on the

design people started writing the code

and then we come to the testing and have

a different perception we raised a

concern okay not a defect but just a

concern that okay I don't think this is

what we are asking for or this is not

what the expectation is just having a

contradiction you know just ignited a

discussion and based on that discussion

we realized that there was an anomaly in

the requirement but the time consumed

here to go back to the requirement phase

and identify that the requirement had

anomaly took longer than if we could

have joined hands together right at the

requirement phase in order to understand

the requirement had anomaly right and

that's where we say early and frequent

that means early that means as early as

the document is being written you start

reviewing them and identify the

anomalies in it and second important

thing is frequently that means it's not

a one-time activity as in when you get a

moment you quickly do a informal or some

kind of casual review but do it in order

to just find those missing dots which

could create a big problem problem

tomorrow right and that's what we have

been doing in agile also if I talk about

agile every single Sprint we sit down

and do a discussion on each and every

story before we take it take up them

into the Sprints and at the end of the

Sprint also we demonstrate it to the

customer in order to get a confirmation

from them so in that context let's have

a look what exactly the benefits of

these two things could be when it comes

to our review process number one early

and frequent feedback allows for the

early communication of potential quality

Prof problems if there is little

stakeholder involvement during the sdlc

the product being developed might not

meet the stakeholders original or

current versions indeed that's one of

the key point that at the end of the day

all you're trying to make is a product

which meets the customer desired

expectations but if in case we miss out

something that would be a useless

product to the business altogether also

to add here a failure to deliver what

the stakeholder wants can result in

costly rork missed deadlines blames uh

blame games and might even lead to

complete project failure no doubt at all

certainly if you do not meet the desired

expectations of a customer or business

it certainly returns a negative feedback

indeed a complete failure of the project

as well as the product will be rejected

by the customer stating that this is not

our expectation right also to add here

the frequent stakeholder feedback

throughout the sdlc can prevent

misunderstandings about requirements and

ensure that changes to requirements are

understood and implemented earlier now

right here one thing we told you what is

the benefit of early and now frequent is

consistent so that we keep getting them

as in when it happens plus when we talk

about this helps the development team to

improve their understanding of what they

are building it also allows them to

focus on those features that deliver the

most value to the stakeholder and that

the that have the most positive impact

on identifying risk so prioritization is

being discussed here of course when we

talk about today uh working on backlog

refinement we always try to prioritize

those work items which helps us to

identify the risk areas much earlier in

the life cycle and at the same time it

we also look forward to what is most

important for the business to see first

and we try to work on those elements

first those functions first first and

then deliver them so that they can also

visualize and look forward to any

further requirements whatsoever they

have in order to blend them with the

existing other features so put together

the benefits of having early and

frequent feedback certainly saves a lot

of our time indeed in other terms it

saves a lot of Cost Plus builds a better

understanding of what you are making and

at the end gives you a successful

product so most important topic of the

day is review process or this particular

tutorial mainly is to talk about what is

a formal review process all about and

what exactly it takes to conduct the

review process very very formally what

are the different phases what are the

different standard roles and

responsibility however we can do them in

different ways and we call them as

different review types which we'll be

talking on our next tutorial but here we

are talking about how formally a review

process can be conducted so what are

those major activities let's quickly

have a look so first of all the review

process is very uh different kind of

them right we we do get different types

but here what we talking about is a very

formal review process which includes

phases like planning review initiation

individual review communication and

Analysis fixing and Reporting so on a

very nutshell way we do have different

activities taking place here and

different standard roles and

responsibility which we'll be telling

you in the next slide so let's get

started and I'll blend the

responsibilities and role right here so

to kick off of course the very first

thing we're talking about is the

planning phase the planning phase of

course uh here the manager is a standard

role which gets involved depending on

the type of work product the manager may

be different for example if you're

talking about requirement review then

the project manager will take the

ownership of the manager if I'm talking

about a test plan review or test case

review then the test manager can also

take the ownership of manager so during

the planning phase of course uh the

scope of review which comprises the

purpose the work product to be reviewed

quality characters to to be evaluated

areas to focus on exit criteria entry

criteria sporting information such as

standards effort and time frame for the

review shall be defined so manager is

someone here at this point of time

responsible to Define all these activity

that is the scope the objective the type

of document which type of review to be

conducted how much time will be allocate

in order to perform that and who all

will be responsible to participate here

because we just don't can't invite

everyone because it's just generic no

not at all we need someone who is really

experienced in conducting reviews and

participating and contributing in that

so selecting the right set of people is

also equally responsible when it comes

to the planning all right moving on to

the next one of course we have the next

phase as review initiation which in

other words is called as kickoff that

means the start of the event here

basically the moderator takes over the

responsibility moderator is someone who

is well trained on review process you do

not get a designation in the company as

moderator but someone in your

organization maybe your project manager

or technical lead or any senior engineer

who is well trained on that can play the

role of moderator so moderator B

basically during the review initiation

the goal is to make sure that everyone

and everything involved is prepared to

start the review this includes making

sure that every participant has access

to the work product under review and

understands their roles and

responsibility and receives everything

needed to perform the review process

that means we just want to make sure

that everything is in place and we are

good to go and get started so

Distributing the documentation

explaining them the objective of what is

the review all about and answering any

questions whatsoever they may have could

also be a part of the review initiation

let's look at the third one and here we

have individual review now the

participants means the reviewers whom

you have shortlisted will be starting

the review process here we will go

through the documentation individually

to find out their potential list of

questions doubts and clarification so

every reviewer performs an individual

review to assess the quality of the work

product under review and to identify

anomalies recommendations and questions

by applying one or more review

techniques which we will be talking

about like checklist based review or

scenario based reviewing Etc now the

standard what we follow for this process

is ISO IEC 20246 standard it provides

more depth on different review

techniques so if you're interested you

can certainly look forward to gain more

understanding about that but for the

examination point of view you don't have

to get into the standard discussion okay

it's just for reference also to add the

reviewer logs all their identifying

anomalies recommendations and questions

so that it can be documented and brought

to the people's discussion so in simple

words this is an individual review where

they find all their queries uh whatever

they think they have uh independently

and bring this to the team when the

review happens also uh when the next

phase comes that is communication and

Analysis this phase is also referred to

as review meeting which is inviting

everyone all the standard roles and

responsibilities to be a part of this

meeting and every single reviewer starts

presenting their list of findings where

author someone who has written the

document which is under review should be

responsible ble to address these

questions and respond to them if in case

any questions remains open we will

document it and that's where the Scribe

as a standard role will be someone who

will be responsible to document it so we

will be documenting every single point

stated by each and every reviewer and

take that into consideration even after

the review meeting gets over the author

will continue working or reworking on

the open items and respond respectively

back to each of the reviewer who you

know reported that that particular issue

so in simple words when it comes to

communication and Analysis since the

anomalies identified during the review

are not necessarily defects all these

anomalies need to be analyzed and

discussed for every anomaly the

discussion uh decision should be made on

its status ownership and required action

this is typically done in a review

meeting during which the participants

also decide that the quality of level of

reviewed work product is and what follow

up actions are required a follow-up

review may be required to complete the

action so that's not mandatory enough

but if you think there are critical

items which you will you know open

during the review meeting then certainly

a follow-up review meeting may be

required to discuss that and then close

it last but not the least of course when

it comes to the next phase which is

fixing and Reporting as I already told

you fixing is all about author starts

working on all the open defects which we

could not resolve during the review

meeting then and there and then

reporting them back to uh the concerned

reviewer who identified it also the

moderator will gather all the matrices

to make sure that it is uh successful or

all the activities of the review has

been completed and then meeting the exit

criteria we close the review process so

plus to add here for every defect a

defect report should be created so that

the corrective actions can be followed

app once the exit criteria are reached

the work product can be accepted the

review results are reporter so again

when it comes to formal review process a

lot of things have to be taken into

account like making sure that every

single documentation takes place and uh

a formal entry and exit criteria should

be taken into account to make sure that

it meets the desired you know guidelines

and deadlines so in the continuation to

our previous discussion of course we are

giving you a separate page to talk about

the standard rules and responsibilities

of a review process so let's quickly

have a look on them the reason is

because we have already discussed what

they will be doing throughout the

process and where who is responsible but

however giving them a oneline definition

is not a harm so let's have a quickly

look that what are these standard roles

and how exactly their responsibilities

are defined the very first role here is

of course manager but reviews basically

involves various stakeholders who may

take on several roles the principle

roles and the responsibilities include

the number one is manager the person who

decides what what is to be reviewed and

provides resources such as staff time

for the review Etc so manager is someone

who plans did you know defines the cost

time budget Etc and also someone who is

responsible to monitor control and take

decisions about the review at any point

of time the second important role here

is author of course author is someone

who has written the document which is

under review and will be responsible for

fixing any kind of issues identified uh

during the work product RW

the third thing is moderator the third

standard role is moderator who is also

known as facilitator as a synonym this

person ensures the effective running of

the review meeting including mediation

that means being a mediator between

different points of uh discussion or

topic and the time management making

sure that we are just not uh extending

the given timeline and a safe review

environment in which everyone can speak

freely that means also moderating in

terms of that everyone gets a chance to

talk and respecting their inputs so put

together this is one man army who is

responsible to make sure that review

goes successful if anything goes wrong

certainly things may not be up to the

mark and moderator should be held

responsible for that the third important

role here is the scribe a scribe is

someone who is responsible to record all

the details during the review meeting

again you don't hire a scribe in your

organization so you may not find someone

dedicated called a scribe so anyone in

the team like a junior test engineer or

senior engineer can be responsible to

play the role of scribe during the

review meeting so here of course is also

called as recorder uh someone who is

responsible to collate all the anomalies

from the reviewers and

Records review information such as

decisions and new anomalies found during

the review meeting so this is only in

review meeting and not afterwards or

before that okay so the next one is of

course the reviewers so reviewer again

anyone who is responsible to review the

work product will be referred to as

reviewer they are responsible to perform

the review a reviewer may be someone

working on the project a subject matter

expert or any other stakeholder who is

invited to review the work product now

remember that people certainly have

different roles like tester designer

developer and so on but when they are in

review they will only be referred to as

reviewers okay not anything other than

that and the last but not the least of

course we do have someone called as

review leader also uh someone who takes

the overall responsibility for the

review such as deciding who will be

involved and organizing when and where

the review will takes place so this

person is more on the logistic SES

taking sure making sure that how the

review will take place when and where it

will happen whether do we have enough

infrastructure to do that because

sometimes the number of reviewers could

be high and uh we just want to make sure

that everything is made available to

them to conduct this event without any

kind of you know disturbance or any kind

of U deviations so put together these

are all the standard roles what we have

in a formal review process however when

we talk about different types of review

then we certainly have different things

to take into account and they might be

lightweight in terms of being conducted

so that's all from this particular

tutorial team should you have anything

else feel free to comment below I'm

always there to address your queries and

answer them well till then keep learning

keep exploring keep understanding the

cont

thanks for watching the video team and

happy

[Music]

learning