12 Easy Steps to Unlock Your Test Automation Potential
An effective automated test strategy can help teams to improve their software quality and reliability while reducing the costs and risks associated with manual testing.
This reduces human error and time spent on mundane tasks such as testing for bugs or other issues that could interfere with the overall product.
An effective software automation strategy is critical to the success of any business, and we strongly believe in that. As what we have experienced, it can positively help to increase efficiency, reduce development costs, and improve end-customer satisfaction.
In this article, I will discuss how we defined the Test Automation Strategy at Incube8 by following 12 simple steps.
1. Define your Goals and Objectives
Clearly define what you want to achieve with automated testing, such as reducing the number of defects found in production, improving the efficiency of the testing process, or reducing the costs associated with manual testing.
Before beginning any automated testing project, it’s crucial to establish a clear expectation that should be achieved by running the tests. This foundational step ensures all team members are on the same page and working towards a common purpose.
Setting goals allows testers to track their progress toward the completion of each goal. Without tangible goals in place, there is no way to determine success. Moreover, having well-defined goals enables project teams to set expectations for themselves and other stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of the automated test.
2. Identify the Types of Tests to Automate
Determine which tests are best suited for automation, such as regression, functional, or performance tests.
Automation is likely to be beneficial if the test runs more than once per release cycle. Tests that require manual user input or complex user interactions should also be considered for automation, including looking into automating integration tests between different components or systems.
Identifying which application features to automate is essential in creating an effective test automation strategy.
Here are some practical steps to help you identify which features to automate:
- Determine which features of the application are crucial to its operation and have the most significant commercial value. More emphasis should be placed on automating these aspects.
- Find activities that are tedious and repetitive, time-consuming, and prone to human error. The quality and speed of the tests can be increased by automating these processes.
- Find the often modified parts, such as the user interface, and automate them to reduce the risk of introducing bugs.
- Features dealing with sensitive data or potentially compromising security should be prioritized for automation testing.
- It is important to identify features that are challenging to test manually, such as complex workflows or features that entail a large amount of data, so that they can be automated to make the testing process more manageable.
- Features that are actively utilized or have a significant impact on the application’s performance should be prioritized for automation testing.
- Consider which features, such as those that rely on a variety of browsers, devices, and configurations, need to be tested in many scenarios so that you can automate the testing of these features.
- Determine which features should be tested during each development phase, from early prototyping to final testing in the production environment.
3. Define the Scope of your Automation
Defining the scope of test automation is essential for any successful software development project. When determining the scope of test automation, organizations should consider factors such as their testing objectives and goals, budget constraints, available resources, product lifecycle phases, and user expectations.
Identifying which parts of the application will be tested using automated tools and which will require manual testing or none at all is essential. The scope should also include details about how often tests must be run to ensure quality assurance throughout the development cycle.
Determine which parts of your application should be included in the automated test suite, such as the user interfaces (UI), API, backend services, data storage components, business logic, and performance scenarios.
Furthermore, organizations should also consider whether they need additional tools or frameworks to manage their test environment effectively.
4. Choose the Right Tools
Select the appropriate tools and frameworks for your automation, such as an open-source tool like Selenium or Appium or a commercial tool like TestComplete or Katalon.
Choosing the right test automation tool for your software development project can be challenging. Here are some practical steps to help you choose the right tool:
- Identify your Testing Needs: Clearly define your testing needs, including the types of tests you need to automate, such as functional tests, regression tests, performance tests, and the platforms and devices you need to test on.
- Research Available Options: Research the available test automation tools and their capabilities, including the languages they support, their level of integration with your development environment, and their cost.
- Evaluate the Features: Evaluate the tools you are considering, such as the level of support for different browsers and operating systems, the ability to handle dynamic web pages, and the ability to integrate with other tools and frameworks.
- Assess the Usability: Assess its usability, including how easy it is to set up, how easy it is to use, and how well it is documented.
- The Vendor Support: Consider the vendor’s support, including the level of documentation and training provided and the level of support offered in case of issues.
- Test the tool: Test the tool with a small set of test cases to see how well it fits your needs and how easy it is to use.
- Evaluate Scalability: Consider the tool’s scalability in terms of the number of test cases it can handle, how well it can handle distributed testing, and how well it can manage parallel execution.
- Consider Integration: Consider the tool’s integration capabilities, such as its ability to integrate with your development environment, your test management tool, and your CI/CD pipeline.
- The Cost: Consider the cost of the tool, including the upfront cost, the cost of maintenance and support, and the cost of licensing.
- Community Support: Consider the community support for the tool, the number of users, the number of contributors, and the number of available resources such as tutorials, forums, and documentation.
By following these steps, you can choose a test automation tool that meets your specific needs and helps improve the quality and reliability of your software.
5. Create a Test Library
Creating a test library is essential to test automation, as it allows engineers to develop and store test scripts that can be reused for future projects. This saves time compared to creating each script from scratch and helps ensure that all tests are consistent, reliable, and accurate.
A test library can help automate the testing process by providing engineers with a centralized repository of existing scripts that they can access quickly. Access to reusable test scripts is beneficial for speeding up the testing process and allowing engineers to focus their energy on more complex tasks.
It eliminates the need to manually write code or perform tedious tasks such as regression testing or debugging, allowing them to use their skillset more effectively in other areas of development. Furthermore, readily available scripts encourage team collaboration as changes are easily shared and tracked over time.
6. Design the Test Environment
Design the test environment by including the correct operating system, browser, and device configurations on which the tests will run.
It is essential to define the test environment when conducting any software testing. The proper definition of the test environment provides a controlled setting for performing tests on software applications, where the behavior and performance of a system can be observed and measured accurately.
This allows testers to understand how their designs will interact with other systems in their production environment, thus identifying potential issues in advance.
7. Define the Test Data
Identify the test data needed for the automation and how it will be generated and managed.
Defining test data for an automated software test assures testers that their tests will be consistent and repeatable. Additionally, developers have more control over how their software functions under various conditions by explicitly defining what values should be used in each test case.
This ensures that any changes made during production are thoroughly tested against expected outcomes, which helps reduce bugs and improve the quality of the final product.
8. Prepare the Test Schedule
When developing software, creating an accurate and comprehensive test schedule is crucial. The test schedule serves as a roadmap for the development process, ensuring that all aspects of the software are thoroughly tested to guarantee its quality.
By having a set timeline, developers can identify any bottlenecks or issues that may arise during development and work to resolve them before launch. Creating a test schedule also helps structure the development process and helps ensure deadlines are met. Creating a test schedule also structures the development process and helps to meet deadlines.
It allows developers to identify potential risks and plan accordingly for any contingencies. It will enable project managers and stakeholders to track progress. Developers can save time and money throughout the project’s life cycle.
9. Define the Test Maintenance Process
Defining the automated test script maintenance process is critical to keeping up with changing requirements and ensuring that the codebase remains reliable. Here are some reasons why defining a maintenance process for automated tests is essential.
Firstly, automation testing can quickly become outdated if no effort is put into maintaining it. Any bugs that were previously identified may resurface, resulting in wasted time and resources trying to fix them again.
Furthermore, with a well-defined maintenance process, it may be easier to determine which parts of the code need correcting or updating when changes are introduced. A dedicated plan detailing how and when test scripts should be updated will help ensure they remain valid and accurate.
10. Design the Test Report
Creating automated test reports is an essential step in ensuring the success of any software development process. Automated tests help identify and correct errors during development without manual intervention or expensive rework.
By designing automated test reports, developers can quickly and easily pinpoint areas where improvement is needed and take corrective action. Automated test reports provide a way for developers to track progress throughout the testing process.
Reports can include the time taken to complete a task, the number of successful test cases, the total number of failed test cases, code coverage, and other performance metrics. This readily available information helps developers make informed decisions about their project’s progress and predict potential issues before they become costly problems.
With automated test reports in place, it’s easier to ensure quality control from start to finish, which helps streamline the entire software development cycle.
11. Define the Test Metrics
Defining appropriate test metrics during the quality assurance process is a crucial part of this equation. Test metrics provide a roadmap for measuring and assessing the performance and quality of software, as well as guiding it throughout its development cycle.
Test metrics are invaluable in helping to identify weaknesses, flaws, or weak areas within a piece of software, allowing developers to make necessary adjustments before it reaches the end user.
With test metrics defined early in the development process, they can be regularly monitored and adapted to ensure that any changes made during the coding phase do not adversely affect a program’s overall reliability or usability.
Additionally, clear test metrics allow testers and developers to focus on their goals throughout each production stage, leading to better results for stakeholders and end users.
12. Continuously Evaluate and Improve
It is essential to continuously evaluate the software testing processes to keep up with the changing needs of their customers. Assessing and improving the software testing process helps ensure that errors are identified early in the development process before they can become costly to fix later.
Moreover, regular evaluation and improvement of the software testing process ensure that tests are designed correctly and meet customer expectations and industry standards.
Furthermore, it helps identify gaps or deficiencies in existing test procedures, which can be addressed accordingly. Regular evaluations also help organizations remain up-to-date with new technologies, such as automation tools which can help improve efficiency across various stages of the testing cycle.
In conclusion, this is how we have defined the Test Automation strategy at Incube8. If you should follow these 12 steps, I am sure it will help you through to a positive outcome. From defining goals and identifying tests to choosing the right tool and creating a test library, these steps provide an excellent framework for successful test automation.
Additionally, scheduling maintenance, reporting progress, and regularly improving existing processes are essential for ensuring that test automation efforts are practical. With the right strategies, you can leverage the full power of automated testing to improve product quality.
