istqb-technique-selectionlisted

# ISTQB Technique Selection, Justified > **Standalone adaptation.** This is a self-contained version of the `istqb-design` skill from > [QAIA](https://github.com/QAIA-Project/QAIA) (MIT), packaged as a single file for directories > that expect one. The canonical version, its `references/`, and the measured failures behind > several rules below live in that repository. QAIA is pre-alpha and says so. ## When to use this After the ambiguities in a story have been surfaced, before writing any scenario. Also whenever someone asks *which* technique applies to a requirement, or asks you to justify a test design to a reviewer. ## The rule that makes this useful **Every technique choice carries its reason, in one sentence, tied to the shape of the criterion.** > "AC2 sets a time threshold at 2 hours → boundary value analysis on that limit, inclusive per the > answer recorded during the ambiguity pass." A technique named without a reason is decoration. It cannot be reviewed, cannot be challenged, and gives no signal about whether the *right* one was picked. ## Scope, and two deliberate exclusions **Black-box only.** Techniques are chosen from the specification, never from the target application's implementation — which this skill never reads. Structure-based coverage (statement, branch, decision, MC-DC) is therefore excluded by construction, not by oversight. **Exploratory and session-based testing is the symmetric exclusion.** It is a human practice this does not attempt to