Hi Folks,
Have you all used mind maps to sketch a QA process flow or strategy ? I am using Lucidchart at the mo. Which tools have you guys used and how effectively you used mind map to present your ideas. Any positive stories that made an impact ?
Thanks
Swathika
A lot of people start to use Figma or Miro.
But I recently became a fan of using: https://www.mindmup.com/
Interested to see what others are using! 
Lucidchart is pretty good - MetroRetro is also a versatile tool you might want to look at. I second Miro as well.
I’ve never seen mindmup so I might have to check that out.
I’m interested how effectively you guys made use of the mind maps you created… 
Like using them to project your QA process flow to the team ?
Made it collaborative by getting feedbacks from the devs?
Any interesting responses you received from your team ?
Which tools have you guys used and how effectively you used mind map to present your ideas.
Xmind. Never found something I like better, although I haven’t researched the tools in a few years now. For me a mindmapping tool has to be very carefully linked to its controls - the shortcuts must be good and make sense, because I’m not stopping to click “add” or whatever. A mindmap is just a squashed bullet point list, and I want it as easy to make a mindmap as a list.
I’m interested how effectively you guys made use of the mind maps you created…
- Like using them to project your QA process flow to the team ?
- Made it collaborative by getting feedbacks from the devs?
- Any interesting responses you received from your team ?
I don’t really know what a QA process flow is. I looked it up, and found one article on QA process flow that didn’t define QA process flow. So I went back to the words, and, to me, QA = testing, process = series of actions to achieve a goal, flow = moving in a continuous stream. That’s a problem for me because I find that testing doesn’t flow in one direction and the actions I need to take are unpredictable and testing is inherently unbounded.
When I work with teams I tend to use whatever they want to use. So if I’m working with stories on a kanban board then we adapt that, perhaps add a test column (at least initially), and from there I work my magic. I find that I give people what they need to know in my reporting, and what I choose to do depends on each product, area, story and so on. I do whatever it takes, then inform people in the best way I can. So I have some guides on how I do things, but it’s mostly informed by existing process and context. I like this flexibility and power. So it’s hard to mindmap - but I might be entirely wrong at what you’re getting at, I’m making assumptions.
I do use mindmaps for some things; I like them for mapping something when doing recon sessions because the detail I have to include shows me which branches have a lot of functionality, and I can keep track of how important each one is, so I get a good idea of complexity and risk factors as I go, and can better decide on how to use my resources as I build my strategy. I can also take it to others to ask questions about how things are structured. Because mind maps don’t tend to support loops, like graphs, I can find out if there are any loops in the flow of the program.
I also like them for reference, broken up by area, for things that rarely change like some risk catalogues or process checklists, or other mnemonics like the HTSM if I’m going to take a printout to work with on a design meeting or something.
In an Agile environment I used a mind map with SFDIPOT:
In the last story “Show them & They Tell me” I used a mind map for setting up a test strategy for a migration:
I’ve just started using MindMeister for mindmapping out test possibility and flow. I’m fairly new to the QA world, having started in my current role in Nov. '22.
Currently I am testing VR software, along with hardware requirements, and the content that my company produces for the software (it is an immersive experience application).
I’m using mindmaps to keep all three testing realms in my sphere of awareness - I tend to get focused on the software side. I’ve found it is helping to keep me thoughtful when using various headsets and watching the content that I should also be testing those aspects instead of just focusing on the app in front of me.
It also has allowed me to mark notes or comments under the three sections that I hope will help with documenting error prone areas so that I can write focused tests in the future.
I’ll be honest, I’ve used mindmaps in the past and they never really stuck. I found that a good notion note taking system worked just as well for me. I’m hoping that this time they will help with presenting test coverage to teammates as well as showing holes in that coverage.
We use mindmaps for all our testing. Each of our products has a suite of maps which are broken down into features then used for regression testing templates. We find it works well for us as they are easy to understand and maintain. We used to use Xmind which have a great desktop version, but due to their lack of collaboration we moved to Mindomo which is working well. I do find there are a few features that Xmind had which Mindomo don’t have, the biggest one for us is only the creator of the map can copy, cut and paste the map regardless of their permissions.
I use Freemind, used it long before I started testing. I have a boy with special needs and it’s a great way getting his thoughts organised.
At our work some of us use mindmaps, others use tables or bullet points, depends on what works best for you.
hi @swathika.visagn,
Welcome to the club! I hope some of the tools above have helped you along.
For your QA process consider illustrating your “road to production”, more as a flow diagram with a direction, than a mind map. I learned about it here:
For your strategy - consider that a strategy is more about why than how. While you can do a mind map to explore a topic, the strategy is about prioritizing and deciding what to do with the nodes in the mind map. Mnemonics help you explore a topic, but you still have to decide which is more or less relevant to you. I hope you find your way
/Jesper
Here are some (excluding ones already posted):
https://www.mindmeister.com/555408205/quality-assurance
and my personal favorite, QA Fortress for lots of QA terminology:
https://github.com/bornfight/qa-fortress