Operational Profile and Software Testing: Aligning User Interest and Test Strategy

Context: The software's operational profile is a representation of how users use the software, in which the most commonly-used parts of the software are identified. There is evidence of a possible mismatch between the tested parts of the software and the operational profile of the software. Objective: This paper aims to present a doctoral research that investigates the use of software operational profile as a resource to improve software quality from the point of view of users. As one of the expected contributions, the research proposes a strategy in which the operational profile of the software is used to: a) evaluate and adapt a test suite based on the operational profile of the software; b) as a prioritization criterion that allows, given a set of defects, to identify the defects that have the greatest impact on the operation of the software by the users and, thus, to consider this impact in the pricing of the defects. Method: To present the research, this paper describes: a) the problem addressed and the purpose of the research; b) the results obtained by the activities carried out to evaluate the feasibility of the research (systematic mapping of the literature, systematic review of the literature and exploratory study); c) the hypotheses to be investigated; d) expected contributions; e) the current state of the research. Results: The results obtained by the activities carried out were favorable to the accomplishment and continuity of the research, evidencing the originality of the research and the proposed strategy. Conclusion: Once the feasibility of the research and the progress that has been obtained in its execution are verified, the results to be obtained are promising and, consequently, the expected contributions must be obtained.