Success is 20% skills and 80% strategy – says Jim Rohn the renowned, award-winning motivational speaker. To understand his claim, let’s consider an extremely skilled race car driver. His strategy for a cross country car race that goes on for days is strikingly different from his strategy for a Formula 1 race, which is slated to last for 2 hours or less. The kind of car, the competencies that he will focus on, his physical and mental preparation, etc. will greatly be defined by the category of race he wishes to clinch. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ kind of strategy will spell disaster on the race course, despite his excellent skills – and could even cost him his life.
This is true with Test Automation too – the right strategies will help test automation come out a winner, but poor strategies will result in the death or abandonment of the test automation program.
In today’s fast paced, ever-evolving digital landscape, successful test automation will be intertwined with various factors like the nature of the project, the team’s skills, the kind of testing that the project’s success depends on, the tool that best suits all the components of the testing environment, etc. Without a well-planned strategy, the test automation program may never take off, or will die out before long, despite having the best team and tools in place. This blog therefore focuses on strategies required for successful test automation, to help apps win the all-important ‘Go-to-market’ race and also win the hearts of its users. Of course it goes without saying that meticulous implementation of the strategy is as important!
Pointers for Deciding Strategies for Successful Test Automation
- Determine Test Automation Goals Unambiguously
The purpose for automation should be crystal clear. Fine tuning what is sought to be achieved is the first step in the right direction. The goals could include: speeding up the testing process; reducing time taken by testing cycles; increasing test coverage; improving test efficiency; reducing testing costs; etc. Prioritizing the objectives will bring synergy into the team’s efforts and build the foundation for successful test automation.
- Decide which Tests to Automate
The fact is that there are some tests like exploratory tests which are better done with Manual Testing. Hence it’s important not to have blanket automation, but to decide which tests to automate. In general tests that are repetitive, time-consuming, stable, have low risk, and tests that involve large data inputs – must be automated. Apps that require multi-platform support for testing on various browsers and devices must necessarily automate cross-browser testing to save time. It pays to concentrate efforts on scenarios that provide maximum coverage, in a bid to add value to the testing process.
- Evaluate and Put Together the Right Team
The skill sets of the team can make or break test automation success. If the existing team is to be employed, then strategies need to be built around their skills, to ensure that too much time will not be spent in training. If the required skills are largely lacking, it may be necessary to recruit people with the right skills. A suitably skilled and efficient team will go a long way in ensuring successful test automation. Conversely, a team with mismatched skills will result in inefficiencies that are counter-productive for test automation success. Hence the team’s competencies must be in sync with the type of tasks to be executed.
- Select the Right Testing Tool/Framework
It’s vital that the test automation tool or framework is a result of a well thought out decision, and best suits the project. It must be remembered that the best tool in the market is not necessarily the best suited tool for the project, as different tools have different purposes and offerings. Some of the factors that help determine the right tool are: Analysis of the project’s needs; Features considered necessary in the tool; Team’s programming knowledge and skills; Budgetary constraints; Ease of test case creation and test case maintenance; Script reusability; Support for keyword and data-driven testing; Integration capabilities; Compatibility with modern methodologies like Agile and Devops; Functional Reporting; Facilities for collaboration between stakeholders; Training, technical support, and updates. For more detailed guidelines, check out our Whitepaper: Guide to Choosing the Right Test Automation Tools.
- Divide Tasks Based on Skill
To get the most out of the available skills, the test suites and cases, should be allocated to the team members on the basis of their technical proficiency and experience. This is more so when an open-source tool is used as the complexity of script writing increases and may require higher coding skills. Proprietary tools on the other hand, offer ease in test script creation making it easier for testers in general, even if they are not skilled in programming languages. It is also important to ensure that high-priority, as well as risky tasks are assigned to well-experienced testers. The thumb rule is that tasks should be divided on the basis of coding expertise, technical capabilities, and experience related to the type of testing required, and the kind of tool in use.
- Re-prioritize Tests Regularly
The double whammy of a rapidly progressing digital environment and extremely limited testing time can result in critical functionalities going untested or hurriedly tested. This is more so in the volatile development stage where testing priorities can change frequently, given the dynamic digital landscape. Regularly re-prioritizing tests can prevent the disasters related to critical functionalities being overlooked or not given their dues in the testing process.
- Code Quality Maintenance
Automation scripts need progressive maintenance to keep them abreast with updates, as well as with the app’s progress. To ensure code quality and relevance, timely review and refactoring of codes is vital. Automated test codes must be treated with the same diligence as production codes. Hence all coding standards must be strictly followed and meticulous code documentation must be ensured. This will greatly help in augmenting code readability and maintenance, and promoting efficient teamwork for successful test automation.
- Integration of Test Automation with CI/CD
The Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline greatly helps improve testing quality and speed, and is very vital to the dynamic digital environment. When test automation is integrated with the CI/CD pipeline, it sets in place a mechanism to activate automated testing with each code commit. This ensures quick feedback on the quality of code changes, which in turn fosters early identification and speedy rectification of errors.
- Data Management
The immensity of data generated during testing can be overwhelming. It is therefore important to have a good Test Data Management System to ensure successful test automation. Data management involves ensuring that relevant data is generated and channelized in a meaningful way, to be readily available as and when required by various stakeholders.
- Cross-Browser and Cross-Platform Testing
The customer is king and hence superior viewing experience is vital for app success. Apps must therefore cater to a variety of user preferences and combinations of browsers, platforms, devices etc. Device fragmentation poses additional problems for developers and testers. Apps need to be optimized for different configurations, viewports, and screen resolutions. Hence cross-browser, cross-platform and cross-device testing must be given due importance in deciding strategies for successful test automation.
- Continuous Learning and Improvement
The ever-evolving digital environment demands ongoing knowledge updates, hence continuous learning is a must to keep test automation up-to-date with the dynamic digital world. This will help incorporate and reap the benefits of the latest tools, technologies and methodologies for successful test automation.
- Collaboration and Communication
Successful test automation requires that the testing infrastructure and environment enable the entire team to be on board at all times. This will make the testing process dynamic and collaborative rather than individualistic.
Agile and Devops methodologies have taken centre-stage in the world of software development and testing, advocating that collaboration and efficient communication need to go beyond the developer-tester teams – extending to management, clients, and all other stakeholders. Collaboration will provide a platform for open and on-going exchange of insights, challenges, breakthroughs, etc. bringing synergy which greatly contributes to test automation success. It’s also important that reports are relevant, complete, concise, graphical and not too technical so as to be understood by all stakeholders for meaningful participation.
- Automate Testing Early and Test Frequently in the SDLC
Introducing test automation in the development stage itself, contributes greatly to early detection and rectification of errors, thus preventing costly rework and delays. It’s also important to run tests as often as required to ensure smooth integration of new or modified codes, which will in turn help successful test automation.
- Test on Real Devices before App Release
There are various volatile real world scenarios that cannot be replicated on emulators and simulators – e.g. low battery, interruption by incoming calls, slow networks, etc. Hence in order to ensure superior user experience, it is important to test on real devices before app release. Facilities like Device Labs and Cloud Testing can prove economical in case of cost constraints.
Before concluding this blog, it’s important to underline the fact, that for successful test automation, the automation tool you select should promote, and not hinder the implementation of strategies adopted for successful test automation.
If you are looking for a mobile app testing platform that has been fine-tuned for successful test automation, BOTm which consistently keeps abreast of technology, is a choice you must explore. It is an accelerator BOT for automated and manual testing of mobile apps, developed for both Android and iOS devices.
Visit botmtesting.com and avail of our Free Trial. Verify the power of our AI and ML driven platform’s error-free mobile app testing, which is the result of our in-built state-of-the-art app testing technologies. Check out our advanced facilities that include audio interaction with Alexa; and our Appium Converter feature which enables you to convert Appium Script Logs into BOTm Script format. With BOTm you are assured of futuristic world class testing solutions, to secure your mobile apps with error-free testing across spectrum. All this contributes to making BOTm an idea tool for successful test automation.