QA is involved in design reviews which are informal. At the start of first generation product test, the test plan is ready and sufficiently developed in terms of test cases to exercise the product against test cases. A test database of test cases is developed. Traceability from the test cases back to the requirements is maintained. Software problem reports are tracked back to the test database.
All tests are black box tests and are formally documented.
Tests are prioritized by functional group and automated. In addition, tests are platform and user interface independent. There are more than 700 test cases and more than 1500 messages in the data base. In addition, the tests are classified into more than 40 functional groups and 5 categories. Category 1-4 tests represent varying gradation of regression tests.