Testing adds value a lot earlier than you think

A lot of people assume that testing is somethging that happens towards the end of software development, but most of the value and impact is much earlier.

The cost of fixing a bug increases by a factor of 10 with every level of testing.

Ok, we can argue if it’s 10 or only 5.26. Maybe if you have a CI/CDin place it’s only 1.5 or 2. Regardless, the fact that costs go up the further right you go remains. You have to undo or fix more. More people have come into contact with it.

The thing about that graph is that it misses out a bit…

What about the design?

What about the requirement or user story?

Does this make sense to do? Do we understand fully what we want to build? What are the edge cases?

Asking those questions is vital to trying to make sure that we don’t run off really fast in the wrong direction or skip over the important details. This is where that testing mindset of looking for the holes adds value from the very first step.

If you have thought about testing, you have seen this: