Kanban is a specific agile methodology that is connected with Japanese business philosophy. Its idea was firstly implemented on the activity of supermarkets. But now the Kanban is successfully implemented in software testing field.

Kanban visualizes the scope of work and simplifies its perception. A lot of researches have proved that people perceive and remember the image elements quicker than the text. This methodology can be implemented with the help of several things.

What Is Necessary for Kanban?

• Marker
• Sticky notes
• Board

A certain task is written on the note. All such cards are placed on the board. In the process of task execution, the cards pass several phases before they will be closed. For example, for functional testing there may be such columns as ‘to do’, ‘doing’, ‘waiting’ and ‘done’.

There are several principles of the Kanban methodology which were developed by David J. Anderson.

What Are the Kanban Fundamentals?

• Continuation the current processes. It is useless to reinvent the wheel. Despite the model of software development, Kanban is able to effectively interact with the in-process work.
• Implementation of changes. Usually, conceptually new changes are not effective for the long-term projects. But Kanban makes the processes more flexible and ensures a smooth workflow.
• Saving of the current roles and duties. Psychologists have proved that people are afraid of changes. That is why it is not recommended to change the employees’ roles from the very beginning.

The Kanban principles will help to provide an effective checking of the product under test. Its methodology presupposes the keeping of some steps.

What Are the Kanban Workflow Steps?

• Visualization. It is better to make a map for the main processes and project areas. In such a case, the whole scope of work will be easily comprehended.
• Limitations. A certain tasks should be limited to ensure its proper execution.
• Flow management. The state duration of every card should be measured. The specialists need to control the transitions of cards between this or that state.
• Explicit definitions. There should be a full understanding of functionality of the product under test.
• Models and methods implementation. A lot of various workflow models are available. They will help a tester to begin the fulfilment of assigned tasks.

Kanban should not be used only on paper. It has various ways of implementation. Trello is one of them. It is a free management tool for various projects. Trello is widely used in software testing company. A tester may create several boards for certain system aspects or projects. The specialists add the cards with assigned tasks and comment them to keep other team members aware of the task status.

The management of mobile testing, website testing or game testing becomes easier and more detailed with the help of implied Kanban principles.