An Industrial Case Study on Test Cases as Requirements

Elizabeth Bjarnason; Michael Unterkalmsteiner; Emelie Engström; Markus Borg

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-18612-2_3

An Industrial Case Study on Test Cases as Requirements

Elizabeth Bjarnason, Michael Unterkalmsteiner, Emelie Engström, Markus Borg

Blekinge Institute of Technology

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Paper in conference proceeding › peer-review

Abstract

It is a conundrum that agile projects can succeed ‘without requirements’ when
weak requirements engineering is a known cause for project failures. While
Agile development projects often manage well without extensive requirements
documentation, test cases are commonly used as requirements. We have
investigated this agile practice at three companies in order to understand how
test cases can fill the role of requirements. We performed a case study based
on twelve interviews performed in a previous study. The findings include a
range of benefits and challenges in using test cases for eliciting, validating,
verifying, tracing and managing requirements. In addition, we identified three
scenarios for applying the practice, namely as a mature practice, as a de facto
practice and as part of an agile transition. The findings provide insights into
how the role of requirements may be met in agile development including
challenges to consider.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming
Subtitle of host publication	16th International Conference, XP 2015, Helsinki, Finland, May 25-29, 2015, Proceedings
Publisher	Springer
Number of pages	12
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-319-18612-2
ISBN (Print)	978-3-319-18611-5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18612-2_3
Publication status	Published - 2015
Event	Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming 16th International Conference, XP 2015 - Helsinki, Finland Duration: 2015 May 25 → 2015 May 29

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing
Publisher	Springer
Volume	212
ISSN (Print)	1865-1348
ISSN (Electronic)	1865-1356

Conference

Conference	Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming 16th International Conference, XP 2015
Country/Territory	Finland
City	Helsinki
Period	2015/05/25 → 2015/05/29

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Computer Science

Free keywords

Behaviour-driven development
Agile development
Acceptance test
Require-ments and Test Alignment
Case study

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-319-18612-2_3

EASE: Embedded Applications Software Engineering
Åkesson, J. (Researcher), Magnusson, B. (Researcher), Svensson Fors, D. (Researcher), Magnusson, E. (Researcher), Hedin, G. (Researcher), Kuchcinski, K. (Researcher), Andersson, P. (Researcher), Nugues, P. (Researcher), Robertz, S. (Researcher), Ekman, T. (Researcher), Loconsole, A. (Researcher), Orucevic-Alagic, A. (Researcher), Johnsson, B. A. (Researcher), Pfahl, D. (Researcher), Bjarnason, E. (Researcher), Söderberg, E. (Researcher), Sabaliauskaité, G. (Researcher), Jonsson, H. (Researcher), Janneck, J. (Researcher), Wnuk, K. (Researcher), Borg, M. (Researcher), Skoglund, M. (Researcher), Sulaman, S. M. (Researcher), Minör, S. (Researcher), Sandholm, T. (Researcher), Alce, G. (Researcher), Wallergård, M. (Researcher), Zhang, C. (Researcher), Barney, S. (Researcher), Martinsen, J. K. (Researcher), Grahn, H. (Researcher), Jalali, S. (Researcher), Ardö, A. (Researcher), Engström, E. (Researcher), Berntsson Svensson, R. (Researcher), Regnell, B. (Researcher), Runeson, P. (PI), Wohlin, C. (PI), Höst, M. (Researcher) & Wisbrant, J. (Project communication officer)
2008/09/30 → 2018/12/31
Project: Research

Best Paper Award
Bjarnason, E. (Recipient), Unterkalmsteiner, M. (Recipient), Engström, E. (Recipient) & Borg, M. (Recipient), 2015 May
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)

Cite this

Bjarnason, E., Unterkalmsteiner, M., Engström, E., & Borg, M. (2015). An Industrial Case Study on Test Cases as Requirements. In Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming : 16th International Conference, XP 2015, Helsinki, Finland, May 25-29, 2015, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing; Vol. 212). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18612-2_3

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title = "An Industrial Case Study on Test Cases as Requirements",

abstract = "It is a conundrum that agile projects can succeed {\textquoteleft}without requirements{\textquoteright} when weak requirements engineering is a known cause for project failures. While Agile development projects often manage well without extensive requirements documentation, test cases are commonly used as requirements. We have investigated this agile practice at three companies in order to understand how test cases can fill the role of requirements. We performed a case study based on twelve interviews performed in a previous study. The findings include a range of benefits and challenges in using test cases for eliciting, validating, verifying, tracing and managing requirements. In addition, we identified three scenarios for applying the practice, namely as a mature practice, as a de facto practice and as part of an agile transition. The findings provide insights into how the role of requirements may be met in agile development including challenges to consider.",

keywords = "Behaviour-driven development, Agile development, Acceptance test, Require-ments and Test Alignment, Case study",

author = "Elizabeth Bjarnason and Michael Unterkalmsteiner and Emelie Engstr{\"o}m and Markus Borg",

year = "2015",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-319-18612-2_3",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-3-319-18611-5",

series = "Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing",

publisher = "Springer",

booktitle = "Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming",

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note = "Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming 16th International Conference, XP 2015 ; Conference date: 25-05-2015 Through 29-05-2015",

}

Bjarnason, E, Unterkalmsteiner, M, Engström, E & Borg, M 2015, An Industrial Case Study on Test Cases as Requirements. in Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming : 16th International Conference, XP 2015, Helsinki, Finland, May 25-29, 2015, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol. 212, Springer, Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming 16th International Conference, XP 2015, Helsinki, Finland, 2015/05/25. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18612-2_3

An Industrial Case Study on Test Cases as Requirements. / Bjarnason, Elizabeth; Unterkalmsteiner, Michael; Engström, Emelie et al.
Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming : 16th International Conference, XP 2015, Helsinki, Finland, May 25-29, 2015, Proceedings. Springer, 2015. (Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing; Vol. 212).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Paper in conference proceeding › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - An Industrial Case Study on Test Cases as Requirements

AU - Bjarnason, Elizabeth

AU - Unterkalmsteiner, Michael

AU - Engström, Emelie

AU - Borg, Markus

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - It is a conundrum that agile projects can succeed ‘without requirements’ when weak requirements engineering is a known cause for project failures. While Agile development projects often manage well without extensive requirements documentation, test cases are commonly used as requirements. We have investigated this agile practice at three companies in order to understand how test cases can fill the role of requirements. We performed a case study based on twelve interviews performed in a previous study. The findings include a range of benefits and challenges in using test cases for eliciting, validating, verifying, tracing and managing requirements. In addition, we identified three scenarios for applying the practice, namely as a mature practice, as a de facto practice and as part of an agile transition. The findings provide insights into how the role of requirements may be met in agile development including challenges to consider.

AB - It is a conundrum that agile projects can succeed ‘without requirements’ when weak requirements engineering is a known cause for project failures. While Agile development projects often manage well without extensive requirements documentation, test cases are commonly used as requirements. We have investigated this agile practice at three companies in order to understand how test cases can fill the role of requirements. We performed a case study based on twelve interviews performed in a previous study. The findings include a range of benefits and challenges in using test cases for eliciting, validating, verifying, tracing and managing requirements. In addition, we identified three scenarios for applying the practice, namely as a mature practice, as a de facto practice and as part of an agile transition. The findings provide insights into how the role of requirements may be met in agile development including challenges to consider.

KW - Behaviour-driven development

KW - Agile development

KW - Acceptance test

KW - Require-ments and Test Alignment

KW - Case study

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-18612-2_3

DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-18612-2_3

M3 - Paper in conference proceeding

SN - 978-3-319-18611-5

T3 - Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing

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PB - Springer

T2 - Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming 16th International Conference, XP 2015

Y2 - 25 May 2015 through 29 May 2015

ER -

An Industrial Case Study on Test Cases as Requirements

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Free keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

EASE: Embedded Applications Software Engineering

Prizes

Best Paper Award

Cite this