A defect is an observed difference between the expectation or prediction and the actual outcome of a test. Many people see the finding of defects as the purpose of testing. While it should be clear that the purpose of testing is much more (the provision of information and advice concerning risks and quality) the fact remains that finding defects is one of the most important activities of testing.
- Identify Critical Risk: Identify critical risks in the system which will have a bigger impact
- Estimate Expected Impact: For each critical risk, calculate how much the financial impact would be
- Minimize expected impact: Once you identify all critical risks, try to minimize or eliminate the most critical risk. For risks which cannot be eliminated, reduce the probability of occurrence and its financial impact
