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Basically, task boards are physical displays in which the user stories that make up the sprint backlog are displayed, along with their constituent tasks. Task boards are used by individuals, teams, and organizations to represent the work being done and to track its progress towards completion. Since they are so flexible, task boards are becoming a classic tool for project management. As illustrated below, it includes tasks in progress, completed tasks, as well as new upcoming tasks that may have been added to the backlog.

Continuous testing (CT) is a methodology used in software development, where applications are continuously tested during the entire software development life cycle (SDLC) to determine whether a new release entails risks. CT is designed to provide critical feedback earlier on in the software development life cycle and to enable high-quality and faster deliveries. It extends and develops test automation strategies to address the increasing complexity and pace of development and delivery of modern applications.

As a team's huddle, daily stand-ups are the basis for Agile project management. Often referred to as the daily scrum, it keeps everyone on top of the team's progress and landscape by focusing on "we". Agile teams have daily standup meetings as part of their daily activities. They set a mutually convenient time for team meetings and meet every day to stay on top of all the pertinent information for improving project coordination.

• This facilitates effective communication between team members. Integrating effective communication concepts with face-to-face interaction into the team's culture fosters greater agility.


• Moreover, it aids in ascertaining roles and responsibilities in a concise and clear manner and prevents silos throughout the organization. Each team member is aware of the other's work and progress continuously, allowing transparency about project’s progress.


• By holding daily stand-ups, companies can adapt to changes and address issues that arise during the day-to-day operations of an organization or during the course of a project.


• It leads to a sense of shared goals, which is a key element to the team since, without shared objectives, there is only a group of individuals working together.


• Furthermore, regular team meetings facilitate knowledge transfer within the organization.

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  Epic: An epic is usually a large story that is difficult to accomplish in a single sprint. An epic is usually accomplished over the course of months. Epics are usually very broad in scope, lack details, and must be broken into smaller user stories before the story can be developed. Epic is often viewed as being the pinnacle of the work hierarchy. In cases where multiple epics share a common goal, they can be grouped into a still-broader business objective, called a theme.


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  User Story: Basically, a User Story is a list of what needs to be done within a project. It's similar to a to-do list and is owned by the Scrum Product Owner. It provides the Scrum team with enough to get a sense of what the finished product should be like and to calculate an estimate for completion.


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  Tasks: Each epic is followed by a set of user stories, and for these stories to become workable components, the Scrum team needs to identify and sort tasks. Depending on the complexity of the task, it can take a few hours to several hours (typically up to 12 hours). The task will be assigned to team members with the relevant skills and expertise. A story can only be considered complete when all tasks associated with it have been completed.

In Agile Methodology, Velocity is a measure of the amount of work a team can accomplish during an iteration, and is frequently used by development teams to build accurate and effective timeframes. It is a simple calculation that measures how many units of work have been completed in a given period of time. There are several ways to measure units of work, such as story points, user stories, and engineer hours.

From the chart above, it's clear that Sprint 5 was exceptionally productive - almost 40 story points were produced. Their average velocity is approximately 10 story points.

​​Agile story points are a metric for measuring the difficulty of implementing a user story, and therefore reflect the level of effort involved in implementing it. Story points are measures of the difficulty level of a story. It can be related to the risks, complexities, and efforts involved. An increasing number of story points will result in a greater effort. One popular method for estimating agile story points is to use Fibonacci sequences. In this series, each number represents the sum of the two preceding ones. The Fibonacci sequence begins with 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89... and so forth.

A sprint is defined as a short, time-limited period in which an agile team completes specific amounts of tasks or deliverables. Getting sprints right will help your agile team deliver better software with fewer headaches, since sprints are the basis of the scrum and agile methodologies.  Typically, sprints don't last longer than a month. While some teams may prefer to work in two-week sprints, others may prefer working in weekly sprints.

Agile Scrum Methodology can be used in the following situations:

• When the client isn't clear on what exactly they need.


• When the client expects a quick delivery of the product.


• When the client does not provide all the requirements at once.


• For projects where requirements fluctuate frequently.

Agile test plans are very important documents that cover a variety of testing types carried out within an iteration, such as test data requirements, test environments, test infrastructure, and test results. In an agile model, test plans are written and updated for each new release. A typical agile test plan consists of the following:

• Scope of Testing.


• Test requirements, sprint objectives, and the scope of the task.


• New functionalities that are being tested.


• Testing levels or types based on feature complexity.


• Performance testing and load testing.


• Considerations related to infrastructure.


• Plan for mitigating or reducing risks.


• Resource allocation.


• Defining milestones and deliverables.

Known as Agile development methodologies, Agile is an iterative approach to software development projects. It focuses on delivering value to customers faster and with fewer headaches than traditional ways. In contrast to risking everything on one big launch, agile teams deliver work in incremental, but consumable, stages over time. Continuous evaluation of requirements, plans, and results allows teams to implement changes quickly. This approach aligns with the principles and values outlined in the Agile Manifesto. 

Below is a diagram that illustrates different types of Agile methodologies:

Good agile test leads lay a strong foundation for fostering an agile working culture in any organization through the application of good agile practices. An Agile tester should possess the following qualities:

• Focus on company goals and mission.


• Effectively sharing project ideas.


• A better understanding of requirements and risks associated with changing requirements.


• Ability to prioritize work based on requirements.


• Communicate effectively with business associates and developers.


• Understand the results of testing and examine them for specific product or application behaviour.


• Testers must have coding skills.


• An analytical mindset for improving testing methods and varying scenarios.


• Demonstrating information clearly and concisely.

Agile testers are tasked with the following responsibilities:

• Understand, implement, and update Agile test strategies.


• Measure and report test coverage.


• Assure proper testing tool usage.


• Set up, manage, and use testing environments.


• Write and execute automated tests and report results to the team.


• Identify defects and resolve them with the team.


• Provide coaching and training to other team members.


• Schedule appropriate testing activities during release and iteration planning.


• Develop clear requirements for testability, consistency, and completeness through collaboration with developers and stakeholders.


• Active participation in daily stand-up meetings, story grooming sessions, and retrospective meetings of the teams.


• Propose and implement improvements.


• Assessing new agile metrics such as velocity, sprint burndowns, release burndowns, etc.

Unlike traditional development methodologies, agile development gives users flexibility through its iterative approach. An agile testing life cycle consists of the following five phases:

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  Impact Assessment: The impact assessment process is probably the most important phase of an agile testing life cycle, as during this process, the agile testers are expected to gather all the necessary information from all stakeholders involved in the project.


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  Agile Testing Planning: Stakeholders and testers collaborate at this stage to schedule the testing process and deliverables.


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  Release Readiness: Agile testers must test the feature in this phase to see if it meets our clients' expectations and is ready to go live.


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  Daily Scrums: This will probably include a morning meeting to check the progress of testing and set goals for the day ahead.


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  Test Agility Review: Test Agility Review is the final phase of the project in which a meeting is held with the stakeholders to assess the progress of the project and to determine whether the milestones have been reached or not.

 Eight main principles underlie agile testing. They are as follows:

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  Practice of continuous testing: Agile teams continuously test their products to ensure that they are improving. It is carried out alongside development.


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  Feedback on an ongoing basis: Agile testing provides team members with ongoing feedback and ensures that the product meets its business objectives. Feedback is primarily focused on quality rather than requirements.


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  Participation of the entire team: In agile methodologies, developers, business analysts, and testers all take part in the testing process.


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  Speeding up feedback: Agile involves the business team during each iteration, resulting in faster feedback and a lower cost associated with repairing errors.


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  Quality comes from clean code: Testing the software regularly allows issues and vulnerabilities to be detected and fixed during the same iteration, maintaining code integrity.


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  Fewer Documentations: Agile testers use reusable checklists rather than long, bloated documents and concentrate on the essence of the test rather than on the incidental details.


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  Test-Driven: Unlike conventional methodologies, agile testing involves testing during the actual implementation process.


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  Client satisfaction: The client can see their product being developed and make changes and updates to it as it evolves. The test procedures can be updated to fit the current requirements.