Folder Structure Template Document (XMind Mindmap)
Many times while documenting folder structure I used to take a screenshot of a tree in MS Explorer and put it to the document along with some written descriptions.
There were drawbacks, but it was acceptable as "quick and dirty". Now, with a mind mapping tool, like XMind, we can finally make it "quick, nice, maintainable, and interactive".
And here's why.
- You can quickly and easily customize appearance (size, font, shape, color) of each topic
- You can insert images into topics to further improve visual presentation (2 clicks job)
- For every topic, representing a folder, you can provide that many additional details:
- short description as a Label
- long description as a Note
- attached documents
- Hyperlink to a physical folder
- sub-structure as a Floating Topic
- Relationship to another Topic
- With a free version, you can export as an image or html document; with a Pro version you can export to PDF or Word
- And all of that with a quick and convenient visual drag-n-drop interface
The image below is linked to the downloadable *.xmt template on XMind.net web-site. A generic Automated Testing Suite folder structure was taken as a sample.
XMind mindmap - folder structure template document
Test Design with Mind Maps
Today's tip is two-fold.
As a first part, it's a great example of a rapid test design practice with XMind mind mapping tool, provided as experience report by Darren McMillan.
- Mind mapping
- Increases creativity
- Reduces test case creation time
- Increases visibility of the bigger picture
- Very flexible to changing requirements
- Can highlight areas of concern (or be marked for a follow up to any questions).
- Grouping conditions into types of testing
- Generate much better test conditions
- Provides more coverage
- Using templates of testing types makes you at least consider that type of testing, when writing conditions.
- When re-run these often result in new conditions being added & defects found due to the increased awareness
- Lean test cases
- Easy to dump from the map into a test management tool
- If available the folder hierarchy can become your steps
- Blend in easily with exploratory testing. Prevents a script monkey mentality.
- Much lower cost to generate and maintain, whilst yielding better results.
As a second part, I link you back to 2006, to the article "X Marks the Test Case: Using Mind Maps for Software Design" by Rob Sabourin.
- Mind Maps to Help Define Equivalence Classes
- Identify the variables
- Identify classes based on application logic, input, and memory (AIM)
- Identify invalid classes
- Mind Maps to Identify Usage Scenarios
- Mind Maps to Identify Quality Factors
Time Management – Mind Map
Stephen Covey's Time Management Quadrants mindmapped by Chance Brown
SEED NATALI: GUI Step Automation Heuristic
Whenever you implement automation of GUI steps, suggested heuristic might help you to keep track of operations you need to code.
(click on the picture to see mind map in online version with expanded nodes)
SEED NATALI acronym stands for the following.
- Synchronize till object
- Exists
- Enabled
- Displayed
- verify Number of Arguments
- verify Type of Arguments
- Log test flow
- Investigate any issues occurred
A mind mapping book
The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential by Tony Buzan is a book I own and recommend to learn more about mind mapping. I like the pictures of sample maps because even the samples give me ideas. I read the book a year or two ago but I still pull the book off my shelf for ideas from time to time.
Free Mind, a free tool for mind mapping
The mind mapping tool that I use is Free Mind. The tool was recommended to me by Rob Sabourin.
What I like about the tool is how simple the user interface is.
And the price, it's free.
See: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Three little ideas I use to unlock myself so that I can mind map
1. I've come to realize, I sometimes drift into a mode of thinking too hierarchically - as though I'm trying to write an outline - and not collect ideas in a map. I remind myself to dump ideas out and not worry about where they go or how they get organized or what belongs where. Once I don't feel tempted to organize and edit as I draw and write, my ideas free up.
2. I often begin with a blank piece of paper - not in a notebook - because I get agitated with the first draft or two - and a blank piece of paper feels disposable to me which is even more freeing. When my ideas begin to gel - I either draw the map in a cleaner form in a notebook or if I've become attached to what I drawn, I paste (tape) the map into my notebook.
3. I like to think and play with singular words. What I mean by play is that I'll have a word in mind that encapsulates what I'm thinking and then I think about related words and opposite words to see what else comes along. I often look up words I know perfectly well to see what nuance about a word I have forgotten - that alone - brings more ideas sometimes.
Figuring out what’s related
When mind mapping it can be a challenge to figure out what's related to your central idea. For example, if you start with your question or challenge in the middle, the next step is to figure out what branches are relevant. It's a similar problem we face in testing - if you have a question about the product (for example: "How will it behave under stress?") you have to figure out what aspects of the product or your testing relate to that questions (for the stress example: performance, basic functionality, security, batch processing, realtime processing, etc...). This is why I know many testers who do mind mapping, it exercises the same muscles we use every day as testers.
So how do I figure out what's related to my central idea? I think I use the following guidelines:
- What similar questions or problems have I solved in the past? (Might branch to other questions or problems...)
- What might I need to know to answer the question or understand the problem? (Might branch to areas of study, specific books or websites, or abstract research topics...)
- What tools or data might I need to be able to solve the problem or answer the question? (Might branch to software tools, sets of data, or other key resources I'll need access to...)
- What might I need to do to answer the question or better understand the problem? (With this one I'll list verbs... these might be labels on branches to other items...)
- What results will I need? How will I know I'm done answering the question or solving the problem? (Here I'll list out what success looks like, or completion criteria...)
- How do various elements I've drawn affect other elements? (Here I'll draw connections and show positive or negative correlations between elements I've drawn... sometimes that helps me uncover something I've missed...)
How do you figure out what's related to your central idea?
Getting a mind map started
I'm stealing today's tip from Brian Johnson of PhilosopersNotes.com. Brian has some good advice on getting started with a mind map:
Take out a blank piece of paper. Write your question/challenge in the middle. Draw a circle around it. Now, think about ideas related to that challenge. Draw “spokes” out of the center—each with one idea on it and let your ideas flow…
That advice resonates with me. I think that's how I normally find myself doing a mind map. In addition, Brian recommends Michael Gelb's How to Think like da Vinci. I can agree that the book is well worth the read.
Mind mapping tools
Today's tip comes from Simon Morley. Simon has been playing around with bubbl a free web application that lets you brainstorm online. There are more free tools listed on Wikipedia.
