Conversations surrounding TDD tend to be riddled with statements along the lines of “Tests are really <something else>.” While I am certainly not going to try and convince you that “tests aren’t really tests,” we will briefly discuss how tests can be used for process control, specification, analysis, design, etc. In fact, I believe the list of duties that a test can fulfill will continue to grow for decades.

The point of this talk is to open up our eyes to yet another way to look at tests and reconciling them with lean principles. Tests are also increments of process improvement.