Refining Requirements with Test Cases

Requirements are supposed to be the basis of most test cases, but can you use test cases to define what the system needs to do--to improve or to actually become the requirements? To some degree, your development process dictates the opportunities you have for test cases to define or refine requirements. However, everyone can benefit from test case writing techniques to identify missing requirements, surface ambiguous statements, and expose implied requirements early in the process. Find out how Tanya Martin-McClellan produces test cases that accurately reflect the requirements, as they are understood at the time, and conducts team reviews to find the gaps and misunderstandings. Although more time is spent writing and rewriting test cases, less time is spent later discussing requirements.

• Find the vaguely defined parts of the requirement definition
• A template of implied requirements you can customize
• Test cases force design and documentation decision