One of the most in-demand expertise in the software industry is automation testing. Of course, this does not suggest that it is always simple to practice. A lack of preparedness can cause incorrect implementation, which will eventually lead to its own major and minor drawbacks.
The dynamic changes the IT sector has undergone have given rise to several fresh viewpoints and goals for automated testing. This is particularly relevant to those fields that have recently evolved to take center stages, such as e-commerce, SaaS applications, and cloud-based services.
The IT sector has embraced the use of many new tools to keep up with a constantly evolving approach and increasingly competitive and dynamic market scenarios. Testing automation has been one of the most notable developments in this area.
What Makes a Test Project Successful?
The initial stage for teams should be to decide on success metrics. Is it your test coverage percentage? Is there a rise in consumer satisfaction? Perhaps you’re interested in the overall development costs. All of these are valid, but with different people assessing based on differing metrics, it would be especially difficult to truly qualify outcomes.
To ensure the success of your testing project, you must:
- Begin by creating a set of specific, attainable goals that are agreed upon by all stakeholders.
- Communicate project goals to everyone involved, including decision-makers, testers, business analysts, and developers.
- When the project is over, all stakeholders must agree that the objectives were met. There should be no doubt about whether or not you’ve completed your testing.
Common Mistakes that a Tester Should Avoid
The Proper Selection of Test Cases
A misstep to avoid attempting to automate all test cases. When the goal is efficiency and quality, automating everything is not a viable option. It can result in a waste of money and effort without adding value to the total output.
Check out the blog to get a better understanding of how to do agile testing
Some cases benefit from automated analysis, while others do not. A test case should be automated only if it requires a significant amount of manual testing and takes a significant amount of time to execute manually. If your application’s functionality changes frequently, automating the test may be too costly and not a feasible solution.
There is no Regression Testing.
So a new feature has been added, and it works properly. That’s great! However, don’t forget about other features. After installing a new feature, you should always perform regression testing to ensure that no new issues have been introduced and that the app’s essential functionalities are still working per user expectations.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to overlook this criterion in the excitement of rolling out a shiny new feature. Some even opt out of doing regression testing because they believe it is unnecessary for seemingly “always working”, outdated functionalities. It’s best to not make the mistake of assuming that if something worked in the past, it will continue to work in the future, especially when changes have been made to the product.
Instead of Testing, You’re Creating Test Tools.
Intelligent testers are always on the lookout for better methods to design and distribute manual test steps. Automation testers strive to make things better by developing new frameworks or utilities. When you have the time, that is an excellent practice, but if it was not part of your plan, your resources will be diverted from the task’s completion and original deadline. The issue isn’t that they’re trying to better your tools and processes; it’s when the activity is used in place of actual testing. If this is the case, you must get your team back on track as soon as possible.
- Place the tool work on hold or plan time for tools in a different project.
- Provide them with their overview, objectives, and measurements. Separately estimate the resources.
Allow the tool to work afterward. Yes, it frequently leads to fantastic automation, however, if you can’t count on it, you’ll need to focus that energy when you’re in the thick of a testing project.
Choosing an Automation Tool That’s Not the Right Fit
A popular automation product may have a commendable and comprehensive collection of features while remaining quite affordable. However, that might not guarantee it is the right fit for your team or circumstances. There also exists the possibility of hidden issues such as insufficient product support that your team might need. Such problems can occur with both open source and paid tools.
An agile environment can be utilized for both test-driven development and behavior-driven development. However, the hefty licensing cost is frequently a barrier to automating the testing process.
When choosing a commercial test automation solution for your project, examine not only the pricing and functionality of the tool but also the advice and feedback from people who have successfully used the same on real-time projects. Customer feedback is beyond essential when evaluating your options, particularly as posted on third-party websites.
A solid community and an active forum can also assist you in resolving any issues you may have with your automation product, so tools such as forums may also be options worth evaluating. Check out: QA Touch to test whether it’s the right fit for you.
Test Automation or Manual Testing: The Right Way to Choose
When an organization’s automated testing and manual testing teams do not communicate on the same frequency, it results in an agile test automation fault. You can end up putting in a lot of effort only to be met with subpar software in the end. Because of a lack of expertise on the part of the manual testing team, they are sometimes forced to delegate responsibilities to the automated testing team, resulting in a loss of synchronization among the units. Furthermore, certain portions of the application are given more attention than others.
Ideally, QA team members should work collaboratively with Team members to improve quality, speed of delivery, and business value. While this may not always be financially viable, QA teams can also function in distributed locations in some instances.
The test cases should be given in easily readable and understandable ways so that non-technical staff may understand them. This can be accomplished in a variety of methods, including the use of keyword-driven frameworks and the maintenance of clean code. Furthermore, agile development requires only one testing team to handle both human and automated testing while working closely with the development team.
Conclusion
QA is an undeniably necessary job that can be successfully done (and even enjoyed) with some care and attention. Understanding the genuine nature of your role, as well as selecting the appropriate tools and working well with your colleagues, will help you get off on the right foot.
Troubleshooting these issues ensures that QA experts can do their duties effectively even when budgets are limited.
