Test Automation Strategy Example: A Practical Guide

Feeling the squeeze of constant software testing? A smart test automation strategy is your key to faster releases and better quality. This post shares practical advice and a test automation strategy example to get you started. We'll cover the essentials of building a winning automated testing plan, including different types of automated tests and best practices. Plus, we'll explore how to balance automated and manual testing for maximum impact.

Test automation quickly tests software by minimizing manual regression efforts in case of any changes. It also increases test coverage by covering all corner cases, reduces test execution time, and reduces the count of resources. The automated testing strategy also helps to quickly track changes and receive feedback to enhance the application development process.

For example, a fintech company could use automated testing to check the functionality of the product regularly to ensure the health of the product. By implementing a proper automated testing strategy, companies can improve the quality of the product and reduce the risk of failures to give a seamless experience for the customers, ensure customer satisfaction, and increase revenue.

All the above reasons make the automated testing strategy the prominent and important phase in the automation test life cycle.

Create a Winning Test Automation Strategy

There are six stages to an automated testing strategy:

1. Scope of Automation
2. Automated Testing Approach
3. Automated Testing Environment
4. Risk Analysis
5. Execution Plan
6. Review and Failure Analysis

Below is the flow diagram which has the flow of the Automated Testing Strategy.

Now let’s understand each stage in detail.

Key Takeaways

• A well-defined test automation strategy streamlines software testing and maximizes efficiency: Focus on automating repetitive, high-risk, and complex test cases to free up your team for more strategic testing activities. Select tools and frameworks that align with your team's expertise and project requirements.
• Balance automation with manual testing for comprehensive coverage: Leverage automation for repetitive tasks and error reduction, while retaining manual testing for exploratory testing, usability evaluations, and direct user feedback.
• Treat your automated tests like valuable code: maintain and update them regularly: Implement version control for test scripts and adapt your testing strategy as your software evolves to ensure continued effectiveness and relevance. 

Test Automation Strategy Example

Defining Your Goals and Scope

Clear Vision and Objectives

A test automation strategy provides a structured plan for incorporating automation into your software testing process. Think of it as your playbook, outlining the steps to enhance your testing efforts. This plan, much like a detailed playbook, should clearly define your objectives. Are you aiming to reduce testing time, increase test coverage, or improve software quality? A well-defined scope ensures everyone is on the same page and working towards a common goal. For instance, are you focusing on automating specific features or targeting the entire application?

Metrics for Evaluating Effectiveness

How do you know if your automation strategy is working? By tracking key metrics. These could include the number of automated test cases, the number of bugs found, the time it takes to complete testing cycles, and even the frequency of your software releases. Consider also tracking user satisfaction and return on investment (ROI) to demonstrate the value of your automation efforts. These metrics provide concrete data to assess the impact of your strategy and identify areas for improvement.

Key Considerations Before Automating

Is Automation Right for Your Project?

While automation offers numerous benefits, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. Before diving in, consider whether automation aligns with your project's needs. Prioritize automating essential tests, such as unit tests (verifying individual components), API testing (ensuring seamless communication between different software parts), and regression tests (confirming that new code changes haven't introduced bugs). These tests often provide the most significant return on automation investment.

Avoiding the "Testing Squeeze"

Careful planning is crucial to avoid the dreaded "testing squeeze"—a situation where insufficient time is allocated for thorough testing. Proper planning helps allocate sufficient time for both manual and automated testing, ensuring comprehensive coverage without compromising quality. This proactive approach prevents rushed testing and allows for more effective bug detection.

When to Introduce Automation

Introducing automation at the right time is key to maximizing its effectiveness. Often, it's best to start automating after a substantial portion (around 60-80%) of manual testing is complete. This allows you to identify stable functionalities suitable for automation and establish a solid testing foundation. Waiting until this stage ensures you're automating stable features and maximizing your automation efforts.

Types of Automated Tests

Functional Tests

Functional tests verify that your software performs its intended functions correctly. These tests focus on the "what" of your software—does it deliver the expected output for a given input? For example, in an e-commerce application, a functional test might verify that a user can successfully add items to their cart and complete the checkout process.

Non-Functional Tests

Beyond functionality, non-functional tests assess aspects like performance, security, usability, and scalability. These tests focus on the "how" of your software—how quickly does it respond, how secure is it against attacks, and how easy is it for users to interact with? For instance, a non-functional test might measure the time it takes for a web page to load or assess the application's resilience under heavy user traffic.

Unit Tests

Unit tests target the smallest parts of your code, typically individual functions or modules. Focus on automating repetitive tests, high-risk areas, complex logic, data-driven scenarios, time-consuming checks, and tests related to compatibility or regression. By isolating and testing these units, you can identify and address issues early in the development cycle.

End-to-End Tests

End-to-end tests simulate real-world user scenarios, verifying the entire flow of an application from start to finish. These tests provide a holistic view of your software's functionality, ensuring that all components work together seamlessly. Different testing levels exist, from testing small code units (unit tests) to testing the entire system (end-to-end tests). Choosing the right type of test depends on your specific needs and goals.

Automation vs. Manual Testing: Finding the Right Balance

Benefits of Manual Testing

While automation is valuable, manual testing still plays a crucial role. It's particularly useful in the early stages of development, for evaluating usability, and for gathering direct user feedback. Manual testing allows for exploratory testing, where testers can creatively explore the software to uncover unexpected issues.

Benefits of Automated Testing

Automated tests excel at repetitive tasks, executing the same steps precisely every time. They eliminate human error, run significantly faster than manual tests, and provide consistent results. This efficiency frees up human testers to focus on more complex and exploratory testing activities.

What Should You Automate?

Defining the scope from an automation perspective includes outlining timelines, sprint milestones, and resources. In this stage, any team should clearly define which tests to automate and which to keep as manual tests. 

A rule of thumb is the Pareto principle, also known as the  80/20 rule. In this case, it means that 80% of test cases will be automated, reducing manual efforts and the risk of errors during regression testing. The remaining 20% can be automated after determining whether the rest of the tests require automation or not.

Prioritizing Tests for Automation

Choosing the right test cases to automate is key. Tests run frequently (like regression tests) are ideal candidates. Also, consider high-risk areas of your application, complex scenarios, data-driven tests, and anything time-consuming when done manually. These areas often yield the biggest returns from automation.

Prioritize the most important and repetitive tests, aiming to automate around 80% of your test cases. This frees up your team for exploratory testing, usability testing, and other tasks that benefit from human perspective. It also significantly reduces human error in repetitive tasks.

When deciding what to automate, consider these factors:

• Repetitive Tests: Tests run frequently (like regression tests).
• High-Risk Areas: Critical functionalities with high business impact.
• Complex Scenarios: Intricate test cases with multiple steps or dependencies.
• Data-Driven Tests: Tests requiring large datasets or variations in input.
• Time-Consuming Tests: Tests that take significant time to execute manually.
• Compatibility and Regression Testing: Ensuring consistent behavior across different platforms and after code changes.

It's generally good practice to introduce automation after a solid foundation of manual testing (around 60-80% completion). This helps identify the most valuable areas for automation based on real-world testing. 

How to Approach Automated Testing

The Automated Testing Approach is the foundation for building a framework by selecting test cases that are robust and maintainable. In this stage, the team selects which type of framework needs to be implemented as it requires the same way of implementation as that of software development. While deciding, there are three areas to consider, processes, technology, and roles.

Choosing the Right Automation Framework

Selecting the right automation framework is crucial for successful testing. The framework provides structure and guidelines for your automated tests. Here’s a look at some popular frameworks and their benefits:

Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)

Behavior-driven development (BDD) bridges the gap between developers, testers, and business stakeholders. It emphasizes describing the application's behavior from the user's perspective, using plain language that everyone can understand. This shared understanding ensures everyone is on the same page and the software meets actual business needs. 

Data-Driven Testing

Data-driven testing (DDT) lets you run the same test multiple times with different data sets. This is incredibly useful for validating how an application handles various inputs and scenarios. Instead of writing separate tests for each input, you can store your data (like usernames, passwords, or product details) in external files (like spreadsheets or databases) and feed it into your tests. DDT boosts test coverage and reduces redundant test scripts, saving you time and effort. This approach is particularly valuable for applications with extensive data input requirements, such as e-commerce platforms or financial systems. Consider DDT if you're working with a large volume of test data.

Modular-Driven Testing

Modular-driven testing involves breaking down your application into smaller, independent modules. Each module is tested separately, making tests easier to manage and maintain. This approach promotes the reusability of test scripts—if a module is used in multiple parts of your application, you can reuse the same test scripts, saving development time. Modular testing also simplifies troubleshooting; if a test fails, you can quickly pinpoint the affected module. This framework is well-suited for complex applications with distinct functionalities. If your application has a modular architecture, this framework can be a great fit.

Hybrid Approach

A hybrid approach combines elements from different testing frameworks, allowing you to leverage the strengths of each. For example, you might combine BDD for high-level acceptance tests with data-driven testing for comprehensive input validation. This flexibility allows you to tailor your testing strategy to your specific project requirements and achieve more efficient testing processes. A hybrid approach often provides the most practical solution for real-world projects with diverse testing needs. This approach can be particularly beneficial when working with a diverse team or a complex application where a one-size-fits-all approach isn't ideal. If your project has varied testing needs, a hybrid approach might be the best choice.

Setting Up Your Testing Environment

This stage is key in automation strategy as this is where the actual Application Under Test comes into the picture. Although the test environment development is unpredictable due to various reasons, a stable testing environment is essential for successful test automation to increase ROI.

There are many things to consider regarding environmental conditions. Do you need any certificates to install to proceed? Do you need any tokens or VPNs? Do you need a Launchbox or Sandbox? How does that work and who will be supporting that? How does the Load Balancer work? What are the servers and who is supporting these?

We need to have clear documentation of all these details in case of any issues and also if any new tester joins the team, as it will be helpful for them to understand.

Analyzing Potential Risks

Risk Analysis is an important stage of Test Strategy. We should create a risk document containing parameters such as those below:

• Description – A clear explanation of what the risk is.
• Risk Level – What is the impact of risk on the project?
• Probability – Chance of Risk in the project?
• Mitigation – What are the actions needed to be taken in case of risk?
• Cost Estimate- What would be the cost of risk?

The risk document should be dynamic in the sense that things can be added and removed as per the requirement.

Your Automated Testing Plan

An execution plan consists of which test cases are to be automated. Before automating any test case, we need to run and verify multiple times and ensure they are working as expected and is automation feasible. Few test cases are time-consuming, so it’s essential to identify test cases based on robustness and reliability.

Gathering Requirements

A strong automated testing plan has several key parts: defining what you'll test, choosing the right testing tools, setting up the testing environment, deciding what data you need, connecting it to your software development process (CI/CD), and prioritizing tests. This initial groundwork ensures your automation efforts are focused and effective. It's like planning a road trip—you map your route and make sure your car is road-ready.

Defining the scope from an automation perspective includes outlining timelines, sprint milestones, and resources. Your team should clearly define which tests to automate and which to keep as manual tests. This careful selection ensures you're automating the right things for maximum impact. Think of it like packing a suitcase—you bring the essentials, not everything you own. This stage also involves identifying the right automation framework and understanding the roles and responsibilities within the team.

Planning Test Data and Environment

This stage is crucial because it's where the Application Under Test comes into play. A stable testing environment is essential for successful test automation and a strong return on investment. However, setting up this environment can be unpredictable. It's like building the foundation of a house—it needs to be solid.

Consider the environmental conditions carefully. Do you need specific certificates, tokens, or VPN access? Will you use a dedicated Launchbox or Sandbox environment? How does it work, and who will support it? Understanding your load balancer setup, servers, and support structure is also critical. These details can make or break your testing process. It's like making sure you have the right tools before starting a construction project.

Clear documentation of these details is essential for troubleshooting and onboarding new team members. A well-documented environment ensures everyone understands the setup. Think of it as the instruction manual for your testing environment.

Reviewing Results and Failures

The Review and Failure Analysis stage is a circular never-ending task in which we need to continuously review the test scripts and understand what is the cause of failure.

Understand the script and think about how it can be done better. The success of test automation depends on how well the strategy is defined and how it is implemented.

Best Practices for Your Automated Test Strategy

Below are some of the best practices and recommendations for creating an automated testing strategy:

1. Plan the test automation and have documentation as early as possible.
2. It’s not possible to have 100% automation, as not all test cases can be automated. Because of this, we need to carefully identify the tests to be automated.
3. Perform risk analysis on the project. Document potential risks and mitigation plans.
4. Include the right people and the right technology for automation.
5. Review test artifacts with the development team. As the product requirement changes over time, we must ensure automation aligns with designed functionality.
6. Select the automation tool and technology by inspecting various factors. Select the one that best suits you and gives more ROI.
7. Development and test environments should be identical to ensure consistency.
8. Define the Test Case document with all the tests that are planned to automate to ensure the test flow of the script is correct.
9. One should understand where the code is running at all times and need to have the flow documented.
10. Before adding any test into the execution suite, make sure to Dry Run and verify to ensure the specific test script quality.
11.  Use the pipeline in which tests are running frequently at least daily once to make sure that the pipeline is healthy and servers are stable. Make sure that there are no network connection failures and avoid unexpected failures.
12.  Identify slow and frequently failing tests. It helps to reconfigure the tests and maximize the testing efficiency.
    
    

Tool Selection Guidance

Picking the right automation tools is crucial for your testing strategy’s success. It's a bit like choosing the right kitchen appliances – you want something reliable, easy to use, and within your budget. A fancy, high-tech blender might be tempting, but if you only need to make smoothies, a simpler model might be a better fit.

Considering Team Familiarity and Cost

Think about your team’s existing skills and the overall cost. If your team already has expertise with a particular tool, the learning curve will be much shorter, saving you time and resources. Plus, if a tool is overly complex or requires extensive training, it could slow down your testing process.

Trying Before Committing

Just like you’d take a car for a test drive before buying it, try out different testing tools before committing to one. Many tools offer free trials or demos, allowing you to explore their features and see if they’re a good match for your needs. This hands-on experience can give you valuable insights into a tool’s usability and effectiveness.

Test Maintenance and Updates

Creating your automated tests is just the first step. Like a well-tended garden, your tests need regular maintenance and updates to stay effective. Otherwise, they can become overgrown and difficult to manage, hindering your testing efforts.

Version Control for Test Scripts

Treat your test scripts like any other valuable code – use version control! Platforms like GitHub provide a centralized repository for storing and managing your scripts, making it easy to track changes, collaborate with team members, and revert to previous versions if needed. 

Adapting Your Strategy

Your testing strategy isn’t set in stone. As your software evolves and your needs change, your testing approach should adapt as well. Regularly evaluate your testing process, identify areas for improvement, and make adjustments to ensure your tests remain relevant and effective. With MuukTest, you gain a partner who can help you adapt your testing strategy to meet evolving demands and achieve comprehensive test coverage within 90 days.