QA engineers and financial software testers
During test planning for a financial application that handles interest calculations and payment deadlines.
Use cases
About
The Time Guidewords mind map, sourced from Michael Bolton's article 'Time for New Test Ideas,' provides a structured framework of 151 nodes across 12 branches to help testers brainstorm time-related scenarios. It covers categories such as Data-flow, Financial & Business, Holiday (US), Instrument, Lifetime, Operating systems, Rates, Relationships, Schedules, Time zones, and Units of measure. Key nodes like 'blocking,' 'compound interest,' and 'Daylight saving time (DST)' illustrate how temporal factors can reveal hidden bugs. This template serves as a practical cheat sheet for expanding test coverage beyond functional checks, emphasizing that testing encompasses time-sensitive behaviors like concurrency, aging, and scheduling.
Terms and ConditionsWhen to use this template
Embedded systems testers and performance engineers
When testing a real-time system with concurrent processes and synchronization requirements.
Internationalization testers and release managers
Before a global software release to verify correct behavior across different time zones and daylight saving transitions.
How to use this template
Step 1
Open and Explore Core Categories
Download the Time Guidewords file and open it in Xmind to browse the twelve main branches of time-related test ideas.
Step 2
Expand Nodes for Detailed Concepts
Navigate through specific branches like Data-flow or Operating systems to discover detailed test scenarios such as timeouts and scheduling.
Step 3
Customize and Integrate Test Scenarios
Add your own project-specific deadlines to the map or copy relevant nodes directly into your existing test plan workflow.
Frequently asked questions
It's a brainstorming tool for software testers to generate time-related test ideas, covering areas like data flow, financial deadlines, system concurrency, and time zones.
Explore the Schedules branch to test 'alarms,' 'alerts,' 'appointments,' 'deadlines,' and 'slack time' to ensure timely notifications and proper handling of missed events.
Yes, the Time zones branch covers 'Daylight saving time (DST),' 'GMT,' 'local time,' 'standard time,' 'time zone exceptions,' and 'UTC' for global application testing.
Absolutely. Open the .xmind file in Xmind, then add, remove, or modify nodes to fit your project's specific time-related test scenarios.
Yes, it's derived from Michael Bolton's article 'Time for New Test Ideas,' a respected resource in the software testing community for heuristic test design.
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