Testing with mind maps

I first learnt about Mind Maps in 2011, however I started using them just recently.

In my current role, I am the sole tester of a team with 7 developers. There are no test cases to work off and no previous notes from the last tester who worked here. The more I learn about a feature I’m testing, the more complicated it gets and it’s hard to keep track of all the things I have tested/need to test.

Because of this, I started using mind maps a few months ago to test new features. My team saw me drawing a mind map in a meeting about a new feature. First one person looked to see what I was doing and before I knew it, the meeting had come to a standstill while everyone in the meeting looked to see what I was writing.

After the meetings, I would sit down and refine the map a bit more before showing it to the developer designing the feature. After explaining what mind maps are and how to read them, the developer would point out things I have missed and suggest more things to test which helped make my mind map more useful in testing. In my previous roles, a developer has never sat down with me to provide their input into areas I should test/have missed.

One day the CEO saw a few mind maps on my desk and took interest. A few weeks later he told me he had downloaded several different mind mapping tools to find a good one. His plan was to purchase a license when he found a good one for the whole company to use.

As a tester who doesn't like using test cases, I find mind maps a perfect alternative for taking down notes. Mind maps provide the same coverage as test cases (if not more) with very little down time writing them.

Mind maps are quick, simple and can be easily updated to fit in with product changes, whereas test cases take hours to create/update and take valuable time away from actual testing.

Tags: mind maps

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Comment by eva on April 10, 2013 at 6:43: Great,draw a process flow diagram and list requirements,then review.

Comment by Tom du Pre on April 8, 2013 at 9:39: I've also found this really useful. I start with drawing a process flow diagram of the application that normally ends up being a mixture of a user journey and an architectural diagram. They normally look pretty horrific to both user experience people and architects, but they show me what the flows and decisions are and where data goes and what happens to it. Once I've got this, I run it by the business person to make sure I've got it right, and then run it by the developer to see what they think of it. When we're all in agreement I look at each box, connector and decision point on the diagram and ask myself the following: What are different ways it could be broken (e.g, not there at all, calculation gets the wrong result, connectivity failure, timeout, etc etc etc) What would happened if it was broken in each one of those ways? How can I break it in each one of those ways? How is it likely to break in real life? How can I tell when it's working? I scribble the answers on the diagram, and keep the diagram to hand so I can add to it when inspiration strikes whilst I'm running tests. I find this approach helps with the free, creative and destructive thinking required when deciding which tests to run, and it also helps with test coverage because you can make sure all the logical paths through the app are covered.

www.hoinick.com

Comment by Richard Parslow on March 2, 2013 at 1:11: Check out the Goalscape (goalscape.com) format for test projects – screenshots and brief explanations here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113161669594485204637/albums/585...

Comment by Aaron Hodder on February 26, 2013 at 23:00: I've also written about them here: http://testerkiwi.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/building-exploratory-test-...

and here: http://assurity.co.nz/community/our-thoughts/second-wetest-debates-...

Comment by Andrew Morris on February 26, 2013 at 21:23: I have read them now, thank you for linking them to me.
Sadly I don't have their years of experience in using mind maps, so at the moment I don't have any negative reactions to them.
I haven't had Adam Knight's problem with showing my mind maps to others yet. The developers I work with are quick to pick up what I have written down and are then able to add to it. Having said that, I'm sure that day will come soon.

Comment by Laura Hensley on February 26, 2013 at 21:22: I love mind maps too. I find them helpful at the foundational stage where most of the planning and strategizing occurs. Not so helpful for sharing w/others, generally speaking. There are exceptions though. And Adam's article was very helpful!

STC TEAM Comment by phil kirkham on February 26, 2013 at 21:00: Nice story about them being used - and negative reactions to them ?

Have you read the recent blog post the latest blog post by Adam Knight about them ?

And MindMapping 101 by Darren McMillan ?