Page 95 - SOFTWARE TESTING & QUALITY ASSURANCE

Software Testing and Quality Assurance

7.1 Documentation Testing

What is documentation? Documentation refers to written information that defines, describes, specifies,
reports or certifies the activities, requirements, procedures or results of the software application. It also
includes pictorial information. Documentation is used to provide information about the product such as
design documents, code commands, white papers, and so on. It refers to the product's technical
manuals which are made available both online and in the form of a printed book.
When you purchase a mobile phone there is a manual present along with the
mobile phone. This manual will provide all the necessary information about the
mobile product such as model number, list of features, information about the
keys, safety tips, and so on. This ‘documentation’ helps the user to know and
understand the features easily.

The end user can be a common man who might not understand the technology

and just uses the application. Alternatively, the end user can be a highly skilled
technician, who will install or repair the system. Therefore, the type of

documentation and information covered varies depending on the end users.
Documentation meets its objective only if it provides necessary and complete information to the end
users or customers. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that no error or incorrect information is
included in the documentation. In order to remove such errors the process of documentation testing is
carried out.
Documentation is often considered a part of any software product. Therefore, documentation deserves
the same level of testing that is applied to software. It is very essential to test documentation because
good documentation not only improves ease of use, but also improves customer satisfaction. If the
documentation is poor, it can lead to extra work and costs for the vendor support desk, and it might put
the software producer in legal troubles. Some of the important characteristics that any documentation
testing program should include are:
1. Frequent and early testing
2. Assessment of accuracy and ease of use
3. Evaluation by people who did not write the documentation

Therefore, software testing process is incomplete without performing an efficient documentation
testing.
7.1.1 Types of Software Documentation
Documentation contains information on software and its components. This information makes the
software user friendly and makes it easier to use the software.
Testing text based documentation is simpler compared to other forms of documentation. The tester has
to make sure that the information provided is correct and is meant for that particular group of audience
for which it is developed. However, when some software elements are also part of the software
documentation then it becomes very important to carry out testing effectively.
The following are the elements of software that are part of software documentation testing:

1. Packaging Text and Graphics
2. Marketing Material and Other Inserts
3. Warranty/Registration
4. End User License Agreement (EULA)
5. Labels and Stickers
6. Installation and Setup Instructions

7. User's Manual

88 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY