Introduction to Test Strategy
Test strategy is the document that describes the testing approach of the software product. The test strategy is created to inform project managers, developers and testers about key issues of the testing process. The test strategy describes how the risks need to be mitigated at the test level, what criteria are needed to apply and the type of testing needs to be performed. Writing a test strategy is a skill that one develops with experience. The testing strategy needs to be circulated with the whole project team so that the team will be consistent on approach and responsibilities.
How to Create Test Strategy?
Every organization has unique rules and priorities for software development. Hence the process of creating a test strategy document varies. Always ensure that the document is compatible and add values to the development process before following any template.
Generally, a test strategy document contains below sections:
1. Scope
In this section, the scope of testing activities will be mentioned. What to test, Why to test, who will review this document, who will approve this document and the timelines.
2. Test Approach
This section usually contains the following:
- Test Levels: In this subsection, we define the level of testing such as unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and user acceptance testing.
- Test Types: In this subsection, we define the type of testing such as load testing, security testing, performance testing, etc.
- Roles and Responsibilities: In this subsection, we describe the roles and responsibilities of the project manager, lead and individual testers.
- This section also defines the testing process.
3. Test Environment
This section defines the requirement for the test environment. In a software company, there could be more than one test environment. E.g. Staging environment, QA Environment (Quality Assurance), Dev Environment and Production environment. The staging environment is sometimes called UAT (User Acceptance Testing). This section will describe the need for an echo system required for a developed project.
4. Testing Tools
This section will describe the automation testing tools and test management tools. There are hundreds of tools out there in the market for testing. It really depends on the type and size of a project for a testing tool to be chosen. Management tools like JIRA, Asana, etc. Automation tools like Selenium, Appium, etc.
5. Release Control
This section will describe the release plan with appropriate version history. This will help to maintain the test execution with modification for that release.
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6. Risk Analysis
This section will list all the risks involved in the testing process and how to mitigate them.
7. Review and Approvals
All of the above-mentioned activities require a review and after that a sign off by the business team, project management team, development team, etc.
8. Test Summary
This section describes the test summary reports to be produced with frequency. These reports could be generated daily, weekly or monthly basis.
As mentioned earlier, the document varies organization to the organization. There could be a possibility that a few sections might be added or removed from the document based on the organization’s policies.
Importance of a Test Strategy
Now why we need an approach before testing the product? In any industry, Creating a quality product does require quality design, quality ingredients, and a method. Here Quality is a big word. If your product does not reach some quality standards say bye-bye to the product.
So it’s all about making a quality product. Now in the software industry, a product needs to go through some testing before it gets released to the outside world. Before testing the product it requires some set of planning and approach. A team of quality engineers sits together and decides which type of testing required for a product in order to consider it a quality product.
For that, they decide some type of strategy which describes what to test, how to test and when to test. And all those needs to be documented somewhere. Here comes the test strategy document. It is the first and crucial document for the testing process. Writing a good test strategy document improves the complete testing process It gives a clear vision of what the test team will do for the project. Hence it should be circulated with the entire team.
Conclusion
The test strategy document is a static document. It means that it doesn’t change very often. The test plan is derived from this document. As this document is going to drive the entire team and it is static, The document needs to be prepared by a person with a good experience.
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