Test Design in Practice

You've learned four test design techniques. Now let's apply them all to one scenario and see how they complement each other.

The Scenario

You're testing a movie ticket booking system with these rules:

Ticket pricing:
- Children (0-12): $8
- Adults (13-64): $15
- Seniors (65+): $10

Showtimes:
- Matinee (before 5pm): 20% discount on all tickets
- Evening (5pm and after): Regular price

Booking states:
- Available → Selected → Reserved (10-min hold) → Purchased
- Reserved seats return to Available after 10 minutes if not purchased

Your Assignment

Apply each technique to this scenario:

1. Equivalence Partitioning

Identify the equivalence classes for the age input. What are the valid and invalid partitions?

2. Boundary Value Analysis

List the boundary values for age and showtime. What values would you test at each boundary?

3. Decision Table

Build a decision table for ticket pricing. Conditions: age group (child/adult/senior) and showtime (matinee/evening). What are all the price combinations?

4. State Transition Testing

Draw the booking state transitions. What test cases cover the happy path? What invalid transitions should you test? (Hint: what happens if someone tries to purchase a seat that just timed out?)

Bonus Challenge

Combine all your test cases into a single test plan. How many tests do you need in total? Can any be combined without losing coverage?

The key takeaway: No single technique catches everything. Use them together — partition your inputs, test the boundaries, table the combinations, and trace the states.