The Forgotten Power of Test Design Techniques - Rik Marselis

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"You should always combine experience-based techniques with test design techniques." - Rik Marselis

In this episode, I talk with Rik Marselis about the world of test design techniques. We go into why many testers struggle to apply the methods they learn, despite their potential to enhance quality assurance. Rik shares insights on how to select the right technique for different testing scenarios, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that combines structured methods with experience-based testing. He introduces four key groups of test design techniques and illustrates how templates and real-life examples can make these concepts more applicable. I hope this conversation inspires you to integrate effective testing techniques into your practice, reminding us that quality is ultimately a deliberate choice.

Rik Marselis is principal quality consultant at Sogeti in the Netherlands. He is a highly regarded presenter, trainer, author, consultant and coach who supported many organizations and people in improving their quality engineering & testing practice by providing useful tools & checklists, practical support and having in-depth discussions. His presentations are always appreciated for their liveliness, his ability to keep the talks serious but light, and his use of practical examples with humorous comparisons. In 2022 Rik received the ISTQB Software Testing Excellence Award. A year later he received the EuroSTAR 2023 Testing Excellence Award.

Highlights:

• Grouping test design techniques into four categories (data, condition, process, appearance) lets testers diagnose which category fits their problem before selecting a specific technique.
• Teaching too many techniques at once backfires: TMAP reduced its required techniques from 19 to five in the foundational course so learners reach actual working proficiency rather than exam-only recall.
• Condition-oriented techniques like decision tables fail when the underlying problem is data-oriented, so choosing the wrong category produces low-value test cases regardless of how rigorously the technique is applied.
• Decision coverage is more meaningful than line coverage for unit testing because decisions, not move statements, carry the real risk in software logic.