How MindMaps helps to build Test cases

A Mind Map is a graphical representation of a concept. Also known as a brainstorm, they are an amazing tool for discovering great ideas.

It's a diagram used to visually and organize information, showing relationships among pieces of the whole. It is often created around a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, to which associated representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added. Major ideas are connected directly to the central concept, and other ideas branch out from those major ideas.

Our brain is more capable of processing and recalling visuals than written words. A visual image brings quick clarity and understanding in ways that descriptive words cannot. Mind Map is a tool that takes advantage of this fact to pictorially organize and present information.

Mind Maps drawn through tools can have notes, links, nodes that can be unfolded and folded, zoomed and searched. All these make it versatile and allow to add more details into the map.

Mind Mapping in Software Testing

In terms of testing, a Mind Map uses symbols, colours, lines and images to represent the various phases of testing followed by activities under each phase. In short, it shows a visual representation of the testing function in its entirety and provides a creative way to logically plan the testing.

They can be used in variety of testing activities like requirements analysis, test design, test planning, measuring test coverage etc. They can also be used at granular level like validation of a test case or depicting the steps of a complex test case.

Differences from other visualizations

• Concept maps: Mind maps differ from concept maps in that mind maps focus on only one word, whereas concept maps connect multiple words or ideas. Also, concept maps typically have text labels on their connecting lines/arms. Mind maps are based on radial hierarchies and tree structures denoting relationships with a central governing concept, whereas concept maps are based on connections between concepts in more diverse patterns. However, either can be part of a larger personal knowledge base system.
• Modelling graphs: There is no rigorous right or wrong with mind maps, relying on the arbitrariness of mnemonic systems. A UML diagram or a semantic network have structured elements modelling relationships, with lines connecting objects to indicate relationship. This is generally done in black and white with a clear and agreed iconography. Mind maps serve a different purpose: they help with memory and organization. It is a collection of words structured by the mental context of the author with visual mnemonics, and, through the use of colour, icons and visual links, are informal and necessary to the proper functioning of the mind map.

Benefits of using Mind Maps in Testing

Better Test planning: Drawing a mind map helps to visualize the series of tasks that need to be done as part of the testing. Draw an initial mind map, discuss it with stakeholders and add/remove tasks as required. The final mind map represents the final scope of your testing and can become a direct input for task planning. Doing this ensures no test activity is inadvertently missed out.

Testing Traceability: can be drawn to include requirements and those requirements can be linked to corresponding test cases. This ensures adequate test coverage and also makes it easy to verify test results.

Monitor testing progress: make it easy to track the progress of testing and assess the health of the project. Management can easily review the test plan to assess if testing has progressed as planned and also get a quick view of pending activities.

How to create a sample testing Mind Map?

• Draw the main idea or subject in the centre, for ex: Test Plan for project XYZ
• Draw branches radiating from the centre to represent the various themes under the main idea, for example, the various test activities like unit testing, functional testing, test environment set up, preparing test status reports etc. Each branch can now be further split to twigs that represent activities that need to be performed under each.
• Use color coding to group objects and also to differentiate critical tasks from non-critical ones

Keep in mind

• One thing to keep in mind is that the Mind Map is supposed to pictorially represent a theme for quicker understanding. Hence, it does not help if it is too elaborate and heavy on information. If need be, items in the main Mind Map that are too descriptive can be moved to a separate Mind Map
• Mind Maps need adequate brainstorming with all stakeholders to ensure their completeness and correctness.
• Free mind mapping tools available in the market make it easy to arrange information in a logical manner with sub-functions nested under the main functions in nodes which can be expanded and collapsed. This makes the diagram clutter-free. Xmind and Free Mind are two popular open source mind mapping tools.

Mind Map examples:

References:

https://www.ayoa.com/mind-mapping

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

https://www.cigniti.com/blog/using-mind-mapping-techniques-in-software-testing-2/

http://apps.testinsane.com/mindmaps/