What is the status of a test result called if the actual result does not match the expected result?

In testing terminology, when the actual result does not match the expected result, the status of the test result is classified as "Failed." This indicates that the feature or functionality being tested did not behave as intended, according to the specifications or expectations set prior to the testing.

Understanding the significance of a failed test result is critical for testers and teams, as it typically prompts further investigation, bug reporting, and a potential need for debugging or re-implementation of the functionality to align it with the expected outcomes. Having a clear and unambiguous failure status helps in tracking issues effectively and aids development teams in prioritizing fixes based on the severity of the failures observed.

In contrast, other statuses such as "Passed," "Inconclusive," and "Pending" denote different scenarios where the expected outcome either aligns with the actual (passed), the outcome is ambiguous or does not provide enough information to make a call (inconclusive), or the testing has not yet been completed (pending). Understanding these distinctions is essential in establishing effective communication within agile testing environments.