7 Steps to Creating a Successful Test Strategy

What is the Test Strategy (TS)?

Test Strategy is the way you determine the test approach, what you want to achieve, and how you can achieve what you want.

In the strategy file, make a plan to approach the test object explicitly. This is one of the most important documents of QA. Writing effective TS is a skill that every tester should have. Thinking about TS thoroughly will help to identify the missing requirements. Activity before the test helps the team determine the test coverage and coverage of the test. It helps the test manager capture the status of the project at any time. The likelihood of a lack of test activity is low because of TS.

There are no test plans that have run the test case and will be less effective. There are teams writing TS but when the test does not look back. TS should be discussed with the whole team to unify responsibility, approach to the test.

Test Strategy vs Test Plan?

According to IEEE Standard 829-2008, TS is part of Test Plan. Test Plan includes the scope of the project and the test objectives. Simply, it will include: test what, features tested, features not tested, evaluation, test scheduling, test management resources. In the meantime, the TS provides guidance, a test approach to achieve goals and the performance of test types defined in the test plan. It includes test objectives, approach, test environment, tools and automation strategies (if any), hazard analysis and contingency planning. Summary, Test plan is what you want to achieve, Test Strategy is the plan to accomplish the goal you set out.

What is the Strategy Strategy?

1. Scope and Overview.  Project overview with information about who will use this material. Please add details about the reviewer and approve the TS. Define test activities and test periods with a clear timeline corresponding to the project timeline defined in the test plan.

2. Test approach. Determining the test progress, test level, roles and responsibilities of the project members. For each type of test (eg, unit, integration, system, regression, usability, load, performance, and security testing), describe why the test should be executed, when it comes to information. test, test, test approach, test automation strategy and auto test tools if available. When testing, there are many new bug fixes, how to prioritize bugs, assign bugs, test bugs, regression tests, UAT. You must define exactly what steps need to be taken for each activity. For each activity, include animations that describe things related to each activity, including the number of testers and who performed the activity. For example: Bug Management Cycle - Include a new process log bug that will include, where to log, new log bugs,

3. Environment Test.  The test environment includes information about the number of environments and settings needed for each type of environment. For example: 1 test environment A for functional testing, 1 environment B for UAT. You need to determine the number of user tests per environment, user access, hardware and software requirements such as operating system, memory, free space, etc. Defining the requirement to create test data is also important. In the TS, give instructions for creating test data explicitly. Finally, a back up and restore plan is needed to ensure no loss of data in the event of a code failure.

4. Test tool.  Identify test management tools and automation if available. With performance tests, load, and security testing, describe the approach and tools needed to execute. Note if the tool is open source or commercial, who can support it.

5. Control release.  Unplanned release will lead to many inadequacies: there will be too many different versions of the software and can not be tested and managed. Establishing a plan / tool / process for managing these releases will ensure that all builds are tested prior to release to the Customer.

6. Hazard Analysis.  List all the hazards you can think of. Provide clear plan to counter and reduce the damage if occurred with the project.

7. Review and approve.  When all the activities are listed in TS then it should be reviewed by the relevant individuals such as PM, dev department, admin system. If there are any corrections to this document, it should be noted at the beginning of the document, with the name of the approver, the time of editing, and a note if any. Test Strategy is a living document, which means it should always be reviewed and updated.

Summary:  TS is a reflection of the tester's performance in the software testing process. We should refer to this document when testing and follow the plan until release. When project close to release with customers, we often look at what was outlined in the TS. But we need to discuss with the project whether the abandonment of any test activity poses a threat or problem after release. Most Agile projects ignore TS writing because they focus on test execution rather than writing documentation. But setting out a simple TS document will help set a clear plan, minimizing possible hazards to the project.