Guidelines for Identifying Automation-Ready Test Cases

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When identifying test cases suitable for automation, several criteria must be considered to ensure optimal efficiency and effectiveness in the testing process. The following are key factors to assess when determining the eligibility of a test case for automation:

• Stability: Test cases should exhibit consistent behaviour across multiple executions, indicating stability in their functionality.
• Clearly Defined Pass/Fail Criteria: Each test case should have well-defined criteria for determining its success or failure, facilitating accurate assessment of test results.
• Criticality and Error-Prone Nature: Test cases that are critical to the application’s functionality and prone to manual errors during execution are prime candidates for automation, as automating them enhances reliability and reduces risk.
• Compatibility Across Environments: Test cases that need to be executed across multiple environments, ensuring application compatibility, are suitable for automation to streamline testing efforts.
• Variability in Data Sets: Test cases that require execution with various data sets to validate different scenarios should be automated to improve coverage and efficiency.
• Repetitive Execution: Test cases that require frequent execution due to their repetitive nature can benefit significantly from automation, saving time and effort in the long run.

While these criteria serve as general guidelines for identifying automation candidates, there may be exceptions where a test case does not meet all criteria but still warrants automation consideration.

For instance, consider a scenario where your organization, let’s say abc.com, is undergoing a rebranding process to a new name, xyz.com. In this case, ensuring that all website links do not redirect to the old domain (abc.com) becomes crucial. Although this validation is not repetitive in nature, it is time-consuming and prone to manual errors. Missing any link redirecting to “abc.com” could have detrimental effects on the organization’s rebranding efforts. Consequently, this validation emerges as a strong automation candidate due to the following reasons:

• It aligns with the first five criteria for automation candidacy, ensuring stability, clear criteria, criticality, compatibility across environments, and variability in data sets.
• It offers substantial Return on Investment (ROI) by reducing manual effort, minimizing the risk of oversight, and enhancing the efficiency of the rebranding process.

By meticulously evaluating test cases against these criteria, organizations can make informed decisions regarding the automation of their testing processes, ultimately optimizing resource utilization and improving overall software quality.