Risk-Based Testing Strategies Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Risk-Based Testing Strategies flashcards as text
In risk-based testing, which group of stakeholders should be MOST involved in risk assessment?
Answer: A cross-functional group including business analysts, developers, testers, and business owners
Risk assessment benefits from diverse perspectives; business owners understand impact, developers know complexity, and testers know testability — all contribute to accurate risk ratings.
A safety-critical embedded system and a low-volume internal reporting tool both have a 'medium' likelihood score for a defect. Why might the safety-critical system still receive far more testing effort?
Answer: Because the impact of failure in the safety-critical system is catastrophically higher
Risk exposure accounts for both likelihood and impact; catastrophic safety consequences dramatically increase the overall risk level even with equal likelihood scores.
What is 'risk-based exit criteria' in software testing?
Answer: Conditions that define when acceptable risk levels have been achieved, allowing testing to stop
Risk-based exit criteria define the acceptable residual risk threshold; testing continues until the remaining risks are at or below the agreed level.
Which of the following is an example of a 'project risk' rather than a 'product risk'?
Answer: Key developers leaving the project mid-sprint could delay delivery
Project risks threaten the project's ability to achieve its objectives (schedule, budget, resources), while product risks relate to potential failures in the software itself.
How does risk-based testing differ from coverage-based testing in terms of effort allocation?
Answer: Risk-based testing allocates effort proportional to risk level; coverage-based testing aims for uniform code coverage
Risk-based testing intentionally concentrates effort on high-risk areas, whereas coverage-based testing aims to achieve a defined level of coverage across all code or requirements uniformly.
When should risk assessments be updated during a project lifecycle?
Answer: Continuously throughout the project as new information becomes available
Risk assessments should be treated as living documents and updated whenever project changes, new defects, scope changes, or other new information alter the risk landscape.
Which scenario BEST illustrates the concept of 'risk-based test design'?
Answer: Creating more test cases and using more rigorous techniques for high-risk functionality
Risk-based test design applies more intensive techniques (e.g., combinatorial testing, boundary analysis) and creates more test cases for high-risk features than for low-risk ones.