Systems Thinking CT-ATLAS Practice Questions (Page 2)

Questions 6–10

1. 6expert · hard

   In a scaled agile environment, the test automation team maintains a suite of 2,000 end-to-end tests. The suite runs in a CI pipeline and takes 3 hours. Developers complain that the suite is too slow and often fails due to environment issues, so they have started skipping the pipeline and merging directly to main. The test leader wants to restore trust in the pipeline. Which approach BEST applies systems thinking to address this challenge?

   • AInvest in stabilizing the test environment and reducing test flakiness, while also shortening the feedback loop by prioritizing tests based on risk.
   • BReduce the end-to-end suite to 500 critical tests and run them in 30 minutes, while moving the rest to a nightly run.
   • CImplement a policy that blocks any merge to main without a green pipeline, and enforce it strictly.
   • DCreate a separate 'trusted' pipeline for developers to use, distinct from the official release pipeline, to reduce pressure.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
2. 7foundation · easy

   Which scenario best exemplifies a feedback loop in a testing process?

   • AA team reports test metrics to management at the end of each release
   • BA team executes the same test suite every sprint without any changes
   • CA team reviews defect reports and updates their test automation to prevent similar defects
   • DA team stores all test results in a shared repository for future reference
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4. 8foundation · easy

   Which of the following is most likely to be a leverage point in a testing system?

   • AIncreasing the frequency of status meetings
   • BShortening the feedback loop between defect discovery and fix verification
   • CAdding more test cases to the regression suite
   • DIncreasing the number of testers on every team
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5. 9application · medium

   A scaled agile organization has multiple feature teams sharing a common test environment. Each team independently schedules its own deployment to this environment for integration testing. Recently, teams have started experiencing 'flaky' tests that pass locally but fail intermittently in the shared environment. The failures correlate with times when multiple teams deploy simultaneously. What is the most likely systemic explanation for this emergent behavior?

   • AThe interactions between teams' independent deployment schedules create resource contention and data conflicts that manifest as flaky tests.
   • BThe test code itself is inherently unstable and needs to be rewritten to be more robust.
   • CThe shared environment is undersized for the combined load of concurrent deployments and test executions.
   • DThe test environment is not properly isolated from production, causing production traffic to interfere with test results.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first
6. 10expert · hard

   A test leader at a large enterprise observes that defect discovery is concentrated in late-stage system testing, causing costly rework. The organization has a comprehensive unit test suite, but developers often skip writing tests for new features due to time pressure. The test leader wants to apply systems thinking to shift quality left. Which intervention represents the HIGHEST leverage point in this system?

   • AProvide additional training to developers on test-driven development techniques.
   • BConduct a root cause analysis workshop after each major release to identify systemic issues.
   • CImplement a policy that blocks merging any code without accompanying unit tests, enforced by the CI pipeline.
   • DIncrease the number of testers in the system testing team to find more defects earlier in that phase.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first