How I use SFDIPOT to learn applications quickly
There are different ways to do quick tours within an application. When I say “Quick Tours”, I mean exploring the application in a strategic way with a specific intent i.e. to learn about the application. There are many approaches (heuristics) to do quick tours and one of which I personally use in my daily work is SFDIPOT, also known as “San Francisco Depot” to help remember this approach.
It stands for - Structure, Function, Data, Interfaces, Platform, Operations and Time (SFDIPOT) and was designed by James Bach as part of his Heuristic Test Strategy Model (see Resources).
SFDIPOT heuristics
How have I used it?
I go through each of the categories in the heuristic and see what aspects of the product are covered. Identify any questions that come up while doing this.
Collaboration tool for helping to generate conversation with Developer/Architect/QA/PO to clarify the questions and better understand the product, risks and potential areas for test coverage.
It’s very useful for identifying a test strategy when the acceptance criteria says it should work “like it has always”, but no-one knows the complete functionality.
It’s a useful approach when testing legacy applications that are being broken into microservices.
Why I like it?
Helps to better to understand and describe the product.
It’s helpful for ensuring all areas of the product are considered, especially those areas that are not visible through the UI.
Using this approach while exploring helps in identifying areas of the product that need further investigation and clarification.
Identify new areas of risk for test coverage that are not considered otherwise.
Identify the scope of testing and help stakeholders understand the effort involved.
Find bugs and issues in areas not specified or considered in story acceptance criteria.
Challenges I faced using this heuristic
Implementing this the first time could be hard if no-one has tried it before.
Trying to record your effort using this approach can be challenging.
It could get hard to take good notes. But you can always follow up with clarifying questions later and paraphrase your notes.
Mind maps can be a good solution to overcome some of these challenges. It at least worked for me :-)
My atomic talk for TestFlix 2021
I was delighted to speak about SFDIPOT at TestFlix 2021, where I showed an example of how I would use the SFDIPOT approach for a simple new upload video feature being added into an application. All that in only 8 minutes! It was great to get the chance to show an actual example of how to apply SFDIPOT in practice. I have added a link to the talk below.
