The Chartersaurus is a simple tool that generates heuristic test charters by randomly combining four segments of a potential charter statement from those stored in our database.
The intent of this tool is simply as a heuristic thinking trigger – the generated charter may not be directly applicable to your testing project, it may not even make sense, but it will hopefully trigger you to consider new ideas, different approaches, or unique ways of looking at your product, and thus bring more valuable variability to your testing.
The Chartersaurus works by randomly combining four segments of a charter together. We identified these four segments as useful elements of a simple testing charter:
- Techniques – a type of testing or approach
- Actions – a specific style of interaction
- Nouns – the subject of your testing
- Adjective – a descriptor of the quality criteria
The Chartersaurus randomly combines one of each of these elements in that order to create a randomised charter string.
Test charters as a concept originate from the Session-Based Test Management approach defined by James and Jonathan Bach. You can read more about that approach here.
Want more inspiration on how to create valuable test charters? Read this article by Adam Howard here.
If you have feedback about the Chartersaurus, or wish to contribute ideas to its development or charter-base, contact @AWGHodder or @adammhoward.