An Agile task board is a visual framework to display and sync up on the tasks moving between production steps. It is usually applied to the two most popular Agile development frameworks — Kanban and Scrum. Used by software developers and project managers, an Agile board helps manage workloads in a flexible, transparent, and iterative way1. An Agile task board provides a detailed visual representation of the whole team’s status, showing which tasks remain to be started, which are in progress, and which are done. It also helps to track the progress of the current sprint, identify bottlenecks, and facilitate collaboration and communication among team members2. References:

• : ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus, Version 2014, Section 2.1.1
• : ASTQB Agile Tester Certification Resources, Agile Testing Foundations, Chapter 2, Section 2.1.1
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Testers replace developers in writing unit test automation scripts. Comprehensive Explanation: The integration of development and testing activities in Agile projects is based on the principle of cross-functional teamwork, where all team members collaborate and share their skills and knowledge to achieve a common goal. In the context of testing, this means that testing is not seen as a separate activity or phase, but as an integral part of the development process. Therefore, the following sentences are correct:

• While developers develop automated unit test scripts, testers write automated system level tests. This is an example of how developers and testers can work in parallel and complement each other’s testing efforts. Developers can focus on testing the internal quality of the code, while testers can focus on testing the external quality of the product.
• Developers write acceptance criteria and test cases, together with testers. This is an example of how developers and testers can work together to define and verify the user requirements and expectations. Developers can provide their technical expertise and input, while testers can provide their business and user perspective and feedback.
• Developers and testers may work as a pair to develop and test a feature. This is an example of how developers and testers can work closely and interactively to deliver a feature. Developers and testers can exchange ideas, suggestions, and information, and support each other in the coding and testing tasks.

The following sentence is incorrect:

• Testers replace developers in writing unit test automation scripts. This is not a valid example of the integration of development and testing activities in Agile projects, because it implies that testers take over the responsibility of developers, rather than collaborate with them. Testers should not replace developers in writing unit test automation scripts, because developers have more knowledge and experience in coding and debugging, and because unit testing is an essential part of the development process. Testers should instead work with developers to ensure that the unit test automation scripts are adequate, effective, and maintainable. References: ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus1, Section 1.2.1, page 9; ISTQB® Glossary of Testing Terms2, version 4.0, pages 16 and 55.

As an agile tester, you should work together with the developer, suggesting reasons why the tests are failing. This is an example of the agile principle of collaboration and communication within the team, as well as the agile testing practice of early and frequent feedback. By working together with the developer, you can help to identify and resolve the root causes of the test failures, as well as share your testing knowledge and perspective. This can lead to faster and better quality delivery of the user story, as well as improved team relationships and trust.

Option A is not a good action, because reviewing and improving the design of the user story is not the tester’s responsibility, and it may not address the test failures. Option B is also not a good action, because creating bug reports for blocked tests is not an agile way of handling issues, and it may create unnecessary overhead and waste. Option D is not a good action, because it does not help to unblock the current user story, and it may distract you from the sprint goal and the team’s focus.

References: ISTQB Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus, Section 2.3.1, page 171; ISTQB Foundation Level Agile Tester Sample Exam Questions, Question 2.3.1-2, page 82

 Business-oriented work products are those that describe what is needed (e.g., requirements specifications) and how to use it (e.g., user documentation). A user manual is an example of a business-oriented work product, as it provides instructions and guidance on how to use the product from the user’s perspective. A user manual may also contain information about the product’s features, benefits, and limitations. A user manual is typically written by technical writers, who may collaborate with developers, testers, and business analysts to ensure the accuracy and clarity of the content. A user manual may be delivered in various formats, such as printed, online, or interactive. References: ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus1, Section 1.2.1, page 10; ASTQB Agile Tester Certification Resources2, Section 1.2.1, page 10.

 Agile software development is a term that encompasses a group of software development methodologies that are based on iterative incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams. Agile methods promote adaptive planning, evolutionary development and delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourage rapid and flexible response to change. Some examples of agile methods are Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Kanban, and Lean Software Development. References:

• : ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus, Version 2014, Section 1.1.1
• : ASTQB Agile Tester Certification Resources, Agile Testing Foundations, Chapter 1, Section 1.1.1

 Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) is a software development approach that allows a developer to define accurate unit tests focused on business needs. BDD uses a common language that is understandable by both technical and non-technical stakeholders, such as Given-When-Then scenarios.BDD helps to align the development and testing activities with the customer expectations and business goals . References:

• : ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus, Version 2014, Section 2.2.2
• : ASTQB Agile Tester Certification Resources, Agile Testing Foundations, Chapter 3, Section 3.2.2

According to the ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, a retrospective is a meeting held at the end of each iteration or release, where the agile team reflects on what went well and what can be improved in their processes, practices, and interactions. The purpose of a retrospective is to identify and implement actions for continuous improvement, and to foster a culture of learning and collaboration. Therefore, the items that would be the most effective to generate discussions on process improvement are those that are related to the team’s performance, challenges, feedback, and suggestions. Option D is the least effective item to generate discussions on process improvement, as it is a personal attack on one of the team members, and it does not offer any constructive feedback or solution. This kind of item can create a negative and hostile atmosphere in the retrospective, and damage the trust and respect among the team members. Option A is an effective item to generate discussions on processimprovement, as it identifies a problem with the build process that affects the team’s efficiency and quality, and it can lead to finding ways to optimize the build process or to mitigate the delays. Option B is also an effective item to generate discussions on process improvement, as it reveals a discrepancy between the team’s estimation and actual effort, and it can lead to analyzing the root causes of the deviation and to improving the estimation techniques or the team’s capacity. Option C is also an effective item to generate discussions on process improvement, as it highlights a weakness in the automation tests that hinders the team’s ability to debug and fix the failures, and it can lead to enhancing the automation tests with better logging mechanisms or to reviewing the automation strategy. References: ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 2.1.1, page 14; ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 2.1.2, page 15; ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 2.2.1, page 16; ISTQB Tester Foundation Level Agile Tester syllabus, section 2.2.2, page 17.

The best black box test design technique for verifying the accuracy of this user story is equivalence partitioning. Equivalence partitioning is a technique that divides the input domain of a system into classes or groups that are expected to behave similarly. By testing one value from each class, the tester can reduce the number of test cases while still achieving good coverage. In this case, the input domainof the system is the amount of income, which can be divided into classes based on the tax percentage applied to different income ranges. For example, if the tax percentage is 10% for income below 10,000, 20% for income between 10,000 and 20,000, and 30% for income above 20,000, then the equivalence classes are: low income (<10,000), medium income (10,000-20,000), and high income (>20,000). By testing one value from each class, such as 5,000, 15,000, and 25,000, the tester can verify that the system calculates the correct tax percentage for each income range. This technique is more efficient and effective than testing all possible values of income, or testing only one value of income, or testing the states of income entry, or testing the statements in income calculation. References: ISTQB Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus1, Section 2.3.1, page 19; ISTQB Foundation Level Agile Tester Extension Sample Exam Questions2, Question 5, page 6.

 Equivalence partitioning is a black-box test design technique that divides the input domain of a system into classes of data from which test cases can be derived. The idea is that if a system works correctly for a representative value from an equivalence class, it will work correctly for all values from that class, and vice versa. Equivalence partitioning reduces the number of test cases by eliminating redundant ones. For the given user story, equivalence partitioning is the most suitable technique because it can test the different outcomes of the annual car tax calculation based on the power of the vehicle, which is the main input for the system. By testing one value from each partition, the tester can verify the functionality of the system and detect any errors in the calculation logic. The other techniques are not as suitable because they do not focus on the inputdomain of the system, but rather on the conditions, transitions, or scenarios that are not directly related to the user story. References:

• : ISTQB® Foundation Level Agile Tester Syllabus, Version 2014, Section 2.2.2
• : ASTQB Agile Tester Certification Resources, Agile Testing Foundations, Chapter 3, Section 3.2.2
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