Test Scenario

Introduction to Test Scenario

As we know that in order to test any software application test cases are created and executed to test whether the application is working as expected or not. The test scenario, in general, is a statement describing the functionality of any application. It checks the end-to-end functionality/ feature and business requirements of any application. Test Scenarios are the one-liner statements that further can include specific positive and negative test cases in detail for each requirement. We can say test scenarios are a high-level classification of requirements that is derived from use cases. It helps in reducing the complexity of test requirements.

Why do we Need Test Scenario?

Some of the important reasons for the need for test scenarios while testing any software application are given below:

• It serves as an easy and quick way to write the test requirements as creating detailed test cases takes more time and effort.
• It ensures that all the use cases given by the client according to the requirements have been covered.
• Creating test scenarios ensures maximum test coverage.
• In case of time limits where the project is running short of time, testing of test scenarios instead of individual test cases act as a savior and it gives an idea of completion of end to end testing of the application.
• Creating test scenarios before starting the testing of an application helps in gaining the client’s confidence regarding the testing of an application.
• It helps to save time and effort as the test cases can easily be created afterward through the test scenarios.
• Before starting the testing of an application, test scenarios can be presented to the client and other stakeholders in order to confirm their requirements which helps in avoiding future ambiguities.

How to Write Test Scenario with Example?

Below given is the step by step procedure for writing the test scenarios for a feature:

Step 1: First and foremost step for writing the test scenario is read the important documents on which requirements are described like SRS (Software Requirement Specification), FRS (Functional Requirement Specification), BRS (Business Requirement Specification), etc in order to understand the system or feature under test.

Step 2: The second step is to find the possible user actions that could happen for a single requirement. With the technical requirements attached, finding the maximum scenarios with a critical mindset is important.

Step 3: After finding out the maximum user actions, it is now important to enlist the various scenarios that could be possible to check the various requirements/ features of an application.

Step 4: It is important to test that every requirement has respective test scenarios covered with them. In order to verify that, the traceability matrix is created to verify that all the product features/ requirements are covered.

Step 5: It is important that the test scenarios created are verified by supervisors and other stakeholders to check whether the team is proceeding in the right direction. The last step is to verification of the created test scenarios and do modification/ addition of test cases according to the requirements.

Example:

Consider an example of creating test scenarios of Facebook application

Scenario 1: Verify the login to the application is working fine

It may consist of specific test cases like:

• The login screen contains the required elements like username, password, login button. Forgot Password link, etc.
• Verify the application behavior for valid username and password
• Verify the application behavior for invalid username and password.
• Verify the application behavior on submitting blank fields of username and password.
• Verify the Forgot Password link is working fine or not.

Scenario 2: Verify the Home Screen functionality is working fine

It may consist of specific test cases like:

• Verify all the elements are in proper position on the screen.
• Verify the news feed is loaded properly.
• Verify that textbox for posting messages and photos is displayed.
• Verify that the photos or text are posted successfully.

Scenario 3: Verify that Search Functionality is working fine

Scenario 4: Verify that User Profile is working fine

Scenario 5: Verify the functioning of Notifications.

Advantages

Some of the advantages are as follows:

1. It helps in saving future efforts as they can be presented to the client before the creation of test cases (which are quite time-consuming) as the modification is quite easy at this stage.
2. It is an easy approach to cover the test requirements for large projects having many features and test requirements.
3. It helps to determine the efforts required in the future in terms of time and resources by creating all the test scenarios through the test requirements.
4. In order to complete testing meeting the deadline, It helps a lot in the end to end testing of an application without going down in detail.
5. Creating test scenarios is very helpful in the case of large projects where there is a specific team working on some features so that team members can also get a glimpse of what the other team is doing or the basic functionality of the features on which they are not working on.

Disadvantages

Some of the disadvantages are given below:

1. When the requirements of any feature are not fixed and keep on changing with time, there is no use of creating test scenarios and updating them timely as it would lead to the wastage of team efforts.
2. Sometimes, it created by testers are one-liner and not detailed enough that it consumes time in going back to the product features, discussions and understand the exact functionality.
3. If the test scenarios are written by one team and afterward a different testing team is working on it, it may create issues in understanding while creating detailed test cases.
4. Sometimes, creating test scenarios can consume a lot of time of the testing team that it may hamper the project deadline.
5. For low-budget projects, creating test scenarios needs a specialized team of testers which can affect the project budget.

Conclusion

In real-world scenarios, it is not possible to cover each and every test case by drilling down in the application with different combinations of test data. With different types of testing on an application like GUI testing, database testing, functional testing, etc, a quick check of test scenarios covering all the business flows and bug logging works fine with the modern Agile projects. It also helps in meeting deadlines and keeping the system easy with comparatively less efforts.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to Test Scenario. Here we discuss how to write a test scenario with an example along with advantages and disadvantages. You may also look at the following articles to learn more –

1. The methodology of Mainframe Testing
2. How is Adhoc Testing performed?
3. Techniques of Black Box Testing
4. What is eCommerce Testing?