Common Test Areas

• Functional testing
o Verify the basic functionality of an application
o Example: Can you unscrew the cap off of the water bottle?

• Stress testing
o Hostile User Scenarios that happen to an application on a daily basis
o Example: Can you squeeze the bottle without breaking it?

• Safety / Security
o Is the application safe to run on your home computer? Is it secure from outside intrusion?
o Example: Does the bottles safety seal break when the you apply pressure to the cap on the water bottle, without twisting?

• Localization / Globalization Testing
o Is the UI in the correct language for your particular market? Can the grammatical / language content be changed to a different language without breaking the application?
o Example: Is the text on the label of the bottle grammatically correct when it is translated into Chinese for sale in the Chinese market?

• Boundary
o Does the application crash / perform badly when you push the boundaries of it’s intended use?
o Example: Does the bottle hold the amount of water specified in the spec?

• Scalability
o Is the application the proper size for it’s intended audience?
o Example: Does the bottle fit into it’s packaging?

• Usability
o Can anyone pick up the application and easily use it for its intended purpose?
o Example: Can anyone pick up this bottle and figure out how to open it?

• Setup / Uninstall
o Does the application install / uninstall correctly?
o Example: Dose the setup program copy all necessary files to the computer hard drive during installation? Does uninstall remove the correct files during un-installation?

• Ap / compat
o Is the application compatible with other applications while running?
o Example: When you copy a word for a Word Pad document into an Excel spreadsheet, does it cause either program to hang / crash?