Someone has rightly said that if something cannot be measured, it can not be managed or improved. There is immense value in measurement, but you should always make sure that you get some value out of any measurement that you are doing. You should be able to answer following questions before starting or following any measurement programme -

• What is the purpose of this measurement programme?
• What data items you are collecting and how you are reporting it?
• What is the correlation between the data and conclusion?
• What value addition are you getting out of this programme?

Any measurement program can be divided into two parts. First part is the collection of data, and second part is analysis of that data to get valuable insight which might help in decision making. Information collected during any measurement program can help in:

• Finding the relation between data points,
• Correlating cause and effect,
• Input for future planning.

Normally, any metric program involves certain steps which are repeated over a period of time. It starts with identifying what to measure. After the purpose is known, data can be collected and converted in to the metrics. Based on the analysis of these metrics appropriate action can be taken, and if necessary metrics can be refined and measurement goals can be adjusted for the better.

Data presented by testing team, together with their opinion, normally decides whether a product will go into market or not. So it becomes very important for test teams to present data and opinion in such a way that data looks meaningful to everyone, and decision can be taken based on the data presented.

Every testing projects should be measured for its schedule and the quality requirement for its release. There are lots of charts and metrics that we can use to track progress and measure the quality requirements of the release. We will discuss here some of the charts and the value addition that they bring to our product.

Some of the charts / matrices which could be used in your decision making process are

• Defect finding rate
• Defect fixing rate
• Defect cause distribution chart
• Closed defect distribution
• Functional coverage
• Platform coverage
• And so on..