Artifact: Test Design
| Description of the structural test elements and the realizations of the test cases. | |
| Other Relationships: | Part Of Design Model |
| Role: | Test Designer |
| Optionality/Occurrence: | Optional. Used mostly when the target test item is a subsystem. |
| Templates and Reports: | |
| Examples: | |
| UML Representation: | Package. |
| More Information: | - Guideline: Test Design |
| Input to Activities: - Implement Developer Test | Output from Activities: - Define Testability Elements |
Purpose
The Test Design incorporates all the decisions regarding the test structural elements and their collaborations, required to enable testing of the already identified targets. This artifact drives the test implementation activities and increases the testing focus during the design and implementation.
Brief Outline
For each target test item, all the test mechanisms should be identified and described and all the test responsibilities have to be assigned to the appropriate test structural elements. For each significant test case, the design should specify how is realized in terms of collaborating elements, using collaboration or/and sequence diagrams.
Properties
| Property Name | Brief Description | UML Representation |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | A textual description that serves as a brief introduction to the model. | Tagged value, of type “short text”. |
| Packages | The Packages used for organizational grouping purposes, usually representing a hierarchy. | Owned via the association “represents”, or recursively via the aggregation “owns”. |
| Interfaces | The interfaces in the model, owned by the packages. | Owned recursively via the aggregation “owns”. |
| Key Events and Signals | The relevant Events and Signals in the model, owned by the Packages. | Owned recursively via the aggregation “owns”. |
| Key Test Suites and Test Scripts. | The relevant Test Suites and Test Scripts in the model, owned by the Packages. | Owned recursively via the aggregation “owns”. |
| Key Relationships | The relevant relationships in the model, owned by the Packages. | Owned recursively via the aggregation “owns”. |
| Key Diagrams | The key diagrams in the model, owned by the Packages. | There are various UML diagram representations. |
| Key Use-Case Realizations | The relevant Use-Case Realizations in the model, owned by the Packages. | Interaction and Class Diagrams supplemented with textual documents. |
Timing
As the main drivers are the Design Model and the Test Cases, the Test Design starts with the first iteration of the Elaboration phase and is refined throughout the same phase.
Responsibility
The Test Designer role is primarily responsible for this artifact. Those responsibilities include:
- Identifying the scope and the level of detail.
- Identifying a group of significant test cases which will be realized in terms of collaborating elements.
- Maintaining the Test Design up to date.
Tailoring
The level of formalism could be reduced in order to accommodate smaller or low-ceremony projects.
This artifact is often regarded as being enclosed in the Design Model