What is risk-based testing?
Risk-based testing prioritizes test cases based on potential failure impact and likelihood. It tackles the most critical areas first, catching high-risk defects early in development. This approach helps teams focus limited testing resources where they matter most.
Do you have any examples of risk-based testing?
In practice, testers assess risk levels across different functionalities with stakeholders. For an online banking system, you'd extensively test security features like authentication and transaction processing (high-risk) while giving less attention to user profile customization (low-risk).
Another example—in a medical device application, patient data handling would receive a lot of testing compared to administrative reporting features.
Why is risk-based testing important?
Risk-based testing delivers maximum value with limited resources. By targeting high-impact areas first, you catch critical issues early when they're cheaper to fix. This approach reduces overall project risk, improves confidence in essential features, and helps meet tight deadlines by making smart trade-offs about test coverage.
What are the challenges of risk-based testing?
Getting stakeholders to agree on risk levels is often difficult—developers, business owners and security teams frequently have conflicting priorities. The approach also requires continuously reassessing risks as requirements change.
