Session-based testing as a foundation for test activities Martin Jansson
Session based testing is most often discussed in combination with exploratory testing. The idea is to make exploratory testing more structured by using it, as James Bach expresses it. I like the whole concept about testing in sessions, thus breaking the day into chunks of work. Considering that you know that there is an infinite set of tests possible, that it is easy to get side-tracked by meetings and other activities, you can use these sessions as a way to gain focus on testing and notify others that this time is holy. You can take the whole package with what this means, but you could also start with working in sessions. Further down the road it is possible to take the transition into using the whole spectra of Session Based Testing Management (SBTM).
Based on my own observations… it seems like it is easy for observers to understand the benefits of using SBTM. The concept of focus, defocus and debrief are quite self-explaining. The initial response is positive from personel utterly new to testing. Some comments I’ve heard was that it feels like you get things done and that you can easier move on to the next task at hand. I also notice that the test group seem to collaborate more, enjoy themselves in the testing tasks and gain confidence as testers. The hard part is the continuous documentation, known as a charter, created in order to make each session accountable. I see this as a natural step in becoming a good tester. If you cannot explain what you have been doing, cannot show or present some kind of results or observations, I would question what you really had been doing.
If you are in an organisation (probably a big one) where process changes takes time and might need a long line of approval, this might be something worth trying out. It is possible to implement directly into the test team. What you put in these sessions is up to you. The mission for each test session can be many different things, such as a group of test cases or a few test ideas or risks worth exploring. Using SBTM does not have to replace the way you work today, but complement it by adding a new and, as I see it, improved way of handling the exploratory part of testing.