Technique Reference

Technique Reference

All 15 test design techniques used in Phase 1 (classification) are defined in ISO/IEC 29119-4. Click i on any card in-game for full details.

---

Specification-Based

Derived from requirements and functional specifications.

Abbr	Technique	ISO clause	Best for
EP	Equivalence Partitioning	5.4	Input validation, numeric ranges, login forms
BVA	Boundary Value Analysis	5.5	Boundaries of partitions (e.g. 4, 5, 20, 21 chars)
DT	Decision Table Testing	5.7	Multi-condition business rules
ST	State Transition Testing	5.8	Order flows, workflows, identifiable states
UCT	Use Case Testing	5.9	End-to-end user journeys
CTM	Classification Tree Method	5.6	Complex configuration / parameter spaces
PW	Pairwise Testing	5.3	Multi-parameter combination reduction

Common pairs: EP + BVA; DT + ST; CTM + PW.

---

Structure-Based

Derived from internal code or system architecture.

Abbr	Technique	ISO clause	Best for
SC	Statement Coverage	6.2	Executing every statement at least once
BC	Branch Coverage	6.3	Every decision branch outcome
PC	Path Coverage	6.4	Every execution path (exhaustive)
MC/DC	MC/DC Coverage	6.5	Safety-critical systems (e.g. DO-178C)

Note: Statement coverage is weaker than branch coverage; 100% SC does not imply 100% BC.

---

Experience-Based

Derived from tester expertise, intuition, and domain knowledge.

Abbr	Technique	ISO clause	Best for
EG	Error Guessing	7.2	Historical defect areas, payment flows
CBT	Checklist-Based Testing	7.4	Regression, compliance checklists
ET	Exploratory Testing	7.3	Undocumented systems, time-boxed charters
AHT	Ad Hoc Testing	7.5	Quick informal smoke checks

Note: Exploratory Testing uses a charter and produces documented findings; Ad Hoc Testing does not.

---

In-game glossary

The navbar book icon opens a searchable reference panel with additional terms (Clause 4, ISO 25010, equivalence class, risk-based testing, etc.).

---

Related pages

• ISO Standards Alignment
• Game Phases