Analyzing and Interpreting Test Results - Software Testing: Testing Across the Entire Software Development Life Cycle - page 178

an incorrect screen output value critical to routine business, then the unsuccessful
test case presents a high business risk to not correct. An example of this kind of “at-
tempted but unsuccessful” results would be an incorrect loan payment amortization
schedule based on a loan principal value and annual interest rate. Testing can con-
tinue, but the application cannot be shipped or deployed to a business until the actual
results match the expected results.
A low business risk example would be a “submit” message that appears in green in
the lower right-hand corner of the screen instead of appearing in red in the upper left-
hand corner of the screen. The actual execution result is different from the expected
result, but the application is usable in business with the different outcome. The test
manager needs to discuss this test fi nding with the application development manager to
determine the priority of correcting the code that produces the “submit” message.
Testers tend to prioritize unsuccessful testing outcomes using the range of num-
bers from 1 to 4. Priority 1 is used to indicate the highest business risk. Priority 4 is
used to indicate the lowest business risk. Historically, testers use the term “severity”
i nst e a d of “pr ior it y” to convey relat ive busi ness r isk of u nsuc c essf u l t est s. Fig u re 12 .1a
demonstrates how a test case execution schedule might appear. Figure 12.1b shows
the analysis of the Figure 12.1a fi rst week's test execution results.

Figure 12.1a A test schedule with first-week outcomes