In this fast-growing software industry, the development of quality software applications has increased to maintain the pace. To this, automation testing is an integral part of the Software Testing Life Cycle as it expedites in development of quality software applications. However, performing automation testing requires robust planning and smooth execution to avoid any pitfalls in detecting bugs and improving the functionality of software applications. Here comes the need to create effective automation test plans for the successful execution of automation testing.
The automation test plan is a detailed document outlining the goal, objective, and approach for automation testing. This directs the automation testing toward the right path, analyzing what to test, how to test, and when. Therefore, it is important to incorporate best practices in creating an automation test plan and avoid any underlying pitfalls like over-dependency on automation and poor test case selection.
This article will explain different best practices for creating an automation test plan, which will guide you to get started with automation testing. In addition, we will highlight some common pitfalls to avoid in the automation test plan. Knowing this, you can optimize the testing process and make the automation test plan reliable and effective.
Let's dive deep into understanding the automation test plan.
Introduction to Automation Test Plan
Automation test plans are detailed documents that outline the test scope, objectives, goals, and the right approaches, technologies, and methodologies for the testing process. This also includes information on the right set of test cases, and scripts, identification of automation tools that line your software projects, and the role of the testing team.
When you have an effective automation test plan, ensuring the testing process is efficient, repeatable, and scalable is easy. You can also identify any risks or errors with software applications which helps in the timely elimination of bugs and its quality release in the market. It also allows you to select the right set of test cases, which requires to be automated and assures that the tools used fit the software application’s technology stack.
Pitfalls in Creating Effective Automation Test Plans
Creating automation test plans for executing the test is a complex process, and if not done correctly, it could lead to flawed software applications. To create an effective automation test plan, you should address the potential pitfalls. This will help avoid any future challenges while automating the test. Here are some common pitfalls:
Over-dependence on automating the task
Not every test scenario can be automated is a well-known fact. However, being over-reliant on automation without addressing its limitations is the common pitfall of test plans. Despite automation testing being inclined to give accurate test outcomes and lower time and error, it should not be seen as a solution for all tests. For example, exploratory, usability, and ad-hoc tests require manual testing and cannot be automated effectively.
When you create an automation test plan, it is crucial to maintain a manual and automation testing approach addressing each of its strengths and limitations.
Poor test coverage
In creating an automation test plan, inadequate test coverage is the common issue leading to poor testing of software applications and the rise of bugs and errors. Here, inadequate test coverage means that your automation test plan did not cover all crucial aspects of the application and missed testing some important components. This often leads to defects and issues going undetected.
The major reasons for test coverage could be insufficient understanding of the application, lack of collaboration among teams, and time and resource constraints. To avoid this pitfall, it is important to identify all critical aspects of applications and design test cases while you plan your automation testing.
Non-maintenance and lack of updates on test cases
Lack of maintenance of tests is the common pitfall in automation test plans which often leads to false positives and negatives as test outcomes. Here, maintenance involves updating the test plan, like updating test cases, reviewing the test plan, and maintaining the test environment to make it effective and relevant.
When a software application undergoes any changes (features and functionalities may be added, removed, or modified) or there are changes in the environment and requirements, the test cases must be updated to show those changes. However, suppose the test plan is not maintained. In that case, such relevant updates can be missing, and the team can encounter challenges in automation testing, for example, a lack of testing of all critical aspects of the software applications.
When creating an automation test plan, always be mindful of maintaining the plan and updating the test cases as per the changes.
Now let's read on to best practices that can be used to create an automation test plan.
Best Practices to Create Automation Test Plan
Creating a robust automation test plan is significant for the success of automation testing. Here are some best practices that ensure the test plan is correct and its implementation gives positive test outcomes.
Include all critical information related to the automation test
One of the major steps in creating an automation test plan is to define the scope of the automation test. This means that when you prepare a test plan, include boundaries and objectives of testing efforts to give clarity to the involved team on what to test. It is also important to define the feature and functionality of the software applications with any of the specific requirements and expected results. You should identify any testing process limitations, like resource, time, and technical constraints.
This will help the software development team avoid misunderstandings during testing.
Be specific in identifying test scenarios
In creating an automation test plan, being mindful of identifying the correct test scenario is key to including all aspects of the software application to be tested. It includes a series of test cases that are required to be executed to ensure the software application meets the Software Requirement Specification.
As the best practice, you should first review the project requirements and define different types of relevant tests like functional, performance, or usability testing. The best thing to be performed while creating a test plan is to break the test scenario into specific test cases, each having its own sets of inputs and expected outputs.
It will help to identify any dependencies between the test cases and ensure that they are executed in the correct order. You will also be able to determine which software application component needs to be tested and what specific actions should be taken during testing.
Be clear and thorough in specifying assumptions in the automation test plan
One of the major steps in creating an automation test plan is a specification of assumptions related to the planning process. These may include assumptions regarding test automation, software application to be tested, availability of resources, and other factors. When you create an automation test plan, document each assumption in detail by explaining why it was made and how it affects the testing process.
However, while specifying any assumption, you should be specific about potential risks associated with each assumption to avoid any contingencies. In this process, it is advisable to communicate the assumptions to all stakeholders, like a testing team, development team, and project managers.
Choose the right automation testing tool.
When creating an automation test plan, deciding on the right automation testing tools that align with the software application requirement is preferred. To this, identify the area of software projects that would benefit from automation, including repetitive tasks and time-consuming tests. This will help you choose the right automation testing tool beforehand, and based on that, you can find information on the testing procedure in the plan.
The preferred frameworks for automating web applications are Selenium, Cypress, and others. However, for scalable and reliable tests, it is recommended to test on a cloud-based platform like LambdaTest. It is an intelligent unified digital experience testing cloud that allows real-time and automation testing across an online browser farm of 3000+ real mobile devices and environments.
LambdaTest offers a real device cloud to test your software application in real-user environments. Hence, there is no need for an internal device library, which instantly reduces operational costs.
Conclusion
Creating an effective automation test plan requires careful planning and execution to make automation testing accurate and reliable. Consideration of all activities detailed in the plan related to automation testing of software applications ensures its successful release in the market. We have discussed the best practices and pitfalls associated with creating automation test plans, using which you can optimize the automation testing strategy.
The best practices include identifying the application's critical areas, identifying test scenarios, specifying assumptions, selecting the appropriate automation tools, and ensuring that the test plan covers all aspects of the application. On the other hand, pitfalls to avoid include over-reliance on automation, inadequate test coverage, and lack of maintenance and update of test cases.
Addressing the best practices and avoiding pitfalls can help the organization to improve the quality of software applications, lowering the risk of defects and increasing the efficiency of the testing process. Thus, creating an automation test plan can be a valuable approach that meets the end user's needs and gives better ROI.
