<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_Testing">1 What is Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_a_Testing_Framework">2 What is a Testing Framework?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_an_Agile_Testing_Framework">3 What is an Agile Testing Framework?</a></li><li><a href="#Does_an_Agile_Testing_Framework_need_to_be_agile_itself">4 Does an Agile Testing Framework need to be agile itself?</a></li><li><a href="#What_makes_a_good_Agile_Testing_Framework">5 What makes a good Agile Testing Framework?</a><ul><li><a href="#Common_vocabulary">5.1 Common vocabulary</a></li><li><a href="#Test-driven_development">5.2 Test-driven development</a></li><li><a href="#Different_tests_for_different_teams">5.3 Different tests for different teams</a></li><li><a href="#Domain_experts">5.4 Domain experts</a></li><li><a href="#Exploratory_testing_and_Extreme_Roleplays">5.5 Exploratory testing and Extreme Roleplays</a></li><li><a href="#Tests_Organization">5.6 Tests Organization</a></li><li><a href="#Sprint_demos">5.7 Sprint demos</a></li><li><a href="#User_facing_documentation">5.8 User facing documentation</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-testing">What is Testing?</h2>



Testing is the process of finding defects in a product/process to notify behaviour that isn’t acceptable for a user, to highlight how much of the product conforms to the expectations and what are the deviations. Testing ensures the quality of a product and forms a major component of the Software Development Life Cycle.&nbsp;



<h2 id="what-is-a-testing-framework">What is a Testing Framework?</h2>



A testing framework is a set of rules that define how to do the testing. It incorporates tools and practices that can make testing easier, effective and efficient. Broadly, it provides the pillars on which testing can be planned and executed.



<h2 id="what-is-an-agile-testing-framework">What is an Agile Testing Framework?</h2>



Agile is all about embracing the fact that change is constant. Software products that follow Agile Methodology are always on the roller coaster ride of constantly changing requirements, technical stack, timelines, deliverables, etc.



For software developed using Agile methodology, small iterations of the product are built and evolved at regular intervals(called sprints). These small iterations of the product also need to be tested to ensure that quality issues are identified and resolved timely.



A framework that enables testing of these small iterations of the product makes for an Agile Testing Framework.



<h2 id="does-an-agile-testing-framework-need-to-be-agile-itself">Does an Agile Testing Framework need to be agile itself?</h2>



Yes. As the product adapts to the changes getting introduced, the same needs to be done for its testing framework. The testing framework for an agile product needs to be constantly revisited to weed out obsolete tasks and practices and incorporate new ones. Also, not all components of the framework are needed from the start. You have to add and remove from the framework as per the need.&nbsp;



Also, you should start thinking about testing from the beginning. Not only in the Development Phase, testing should be incorporated in the Requirements and Design Phase also. More about this on &#8216;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Also, you should start thinking about testing from the beginning. Not only in the Development Phase, testing should be incorporated in the Requirements and Design Phase also. More about this on 'Is your automation testing tool ready for Shift Left testing?' The nature of testing performed in these phases could be a bit different. For example, in the Requirements Phase, testing could be related to business analysis. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-automation-tool-ready-for-shift-left/" target="_blank">Is your automation testing tool ready for Shift Left testing?</a>&#8216;



The nature of testing performed in these phases could be a bit different. For example, in the Requirements Phase, testing could be related to business analysis.



In the Feasibility Analysis phase, testing could be related to legal and technical analysis. In the Design phase, testing could be related to user acceptance and security. In the Development phase, testing could be actual unit testing, smoke testing, acceptance testing, performance testing, stress testing, etc.&nbsp;



<h2 id="what-makes-a-good-agile-testing-framework">What makes a good Agile Testing Framework?</h2>



An Agile Testing Framework should be good enough to cover the breadth and depth of a product. Following are some of the features that are crucial for a good Agile Testing Framework:



<h3 id="common-vocabulary">Common vocabulary</h3>



The business and technical teams must share the same vocabulary for terms and concepts related to the product even if it means developing a few new words. Using a common vocabulary eases communication among different teams and even within the same team.



<h3 id="test-driven-development">Test-driven development</h3>



Having a test case that defines the expected behaviour even before the behaviour is implemented helps in clear understanding. You precisely know what should be implemented and are not biased by the implementation details. As long as the test fails, you know the behaviour is not correct. As soon as the test passes, you know you are on the right track. Here the preciseness of the test becomes very important. Identifying what all should be verified as a part of the test to ensure correct implementation of the behaviour is critical. At the same time, care needs to be taken to keep the test easily maintainable, loosely-coupled with the system and finite scope so that it doesn’t end up testing everything or nothing useful.



<h3 id="different-tests-for-different-teams">Different tests for different teams</h3>



Different teams on the product should have different testing criteria for the product. The way business teams test the product is and should be different from the way technical teams test the product. Business teams are better aware of the user scenarios and can better judge the product for user acceptance. Similarly, technical teams are better aware of the implementation details of the product and can better test the code quality through unit tests.



<h3 id="domain-experts">Domain experts</h3>



It is good to have domain experts, as needed, on the team. Domain experts, be it business experts or security experts can provide a different viewpoint for the product. The way business experts aren’t good with technical details, the technical team is not good with the business domain. Having business experts regularly review the product deliverables helps to bring in crucial feedback for the product that could be hard to incorporate towards the end of the product development. Also, business experts are more likely to take the product iterations to customers and gather feedback that can prove crucial in shaping the product further. Similarly, security experts on the team can help close security loopholes in the product early on. Keeping security in mind from the start is important. Following security guidelines while designing the product can help in avoiding flaws that can prove fatal later.&nbsp;



<h3 id="exploratory-testing-and-extreme-roleplays">Exploratory testing and Extreme Roleplays</h3>



Testing is more about mindset, less about a job. As you become familiar with a product, your testing skills start getting influenced by the knowledge of the product. You start making assumptions on how it should be used, which means that you won’t try to use the product differently. This leaves out the scope for testing the product with a different user’s perspective.



 A user who is a novice (like Charlie Chaplin) may have a different approach for using the product than a user who is fond of pushing the product to extreme limits while using it (like Big Bunny who is known for breaking the products).



 Users from different levels or background may approach and expect the product to behave in different ways. Performing such extreme role-plays during testing can help in identifying issues with the product that cannot be noticed otherwise.



<h3 id="tests-organization">Tests Organization</h3>



When you are dealing with a large number of test cases, that span across teams and domains, daily, it becomes crucial to organize them in a trackable manner. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/the-unpleasant-phenomenon-in-agile-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agile Testing</a> Matrix could be of help here as it not only provides a skeleton to organize the test cases but also becomes the guide to understand the purpose and objective of the test cases.



This is how a basic Agile Testing Matrix looks like:



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/PbgwQjB2xsrY22Ls_FahSnrw-6o-HiVWn0ZAcEKcaoGMqeK-nKScOY3fkmdL8ezsnhuPFfFs3ms9EhhRsFnNn2l4JluFFOvWbtegTb9UzKaeyIhNuRHPhnZdeHsbUpPSFZVJUdNH_1748948980.jpg" alt="Testsigma - Tests Organization" /></figure></div>



<figcaption>Source:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21.1.html#agile-testing-project-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21.1.html#agile-testing-project-1</a></figcaption>



When you try to fill in this matrix with your test cases classified as unit tests, functional tests, acceptance tests, security tests, etc. you tend to realize what purpose each test case is serving for the product and how strongly your test cases are covering the product quality.



With the help of this matrix you can eventually also see which areas of the product have the least focus from a quality perspective and that can give you guidance on where to channelize your testing efforts.



<h3 id="sprint-demos">Sprint demos</h3>



Small iterations of the product built every sprint should be regularly demonstrated to the technical and business teams to check the gaps between what is expected and what is coming out. This helps in catching and correcting any differences in expectations and deliverables early on. Sprint demos also help in building confidence in the team for what they are building. It becomes easier to look at the overall picture when things translate from imagination to real-world and you start seeing some essential pieces of the structure. Sprint demos help achieve that.



<h3 id="user-facing-documentation">User facing documentation</h3>



Although it can be argued that user-facing documentation is/should not be the responsibility of the technical team, the truth is that documentation plays an important role in user experience. Documentation is the go-to place for a user with doubts/queries. When you write and/or review the documentation from a user’s perspective who is not aware of the internal details of the product, you can often see the missing pieces and problems.When you are making someone else understand, your understanding becomes better at what should be, why it should be and where it should be. This helps in identifying a different set of issues with the product, which could then be categorized as bugs or feature enhancements



Agile methodology helps in building products faster but a velocity without quality has no significance.&nbsp; Quality should be held as most important. To achieve velocity with quality, every team member should be concerned about quality. Be it design discussions or actual development of the product, every team member should wear the testing hat and notify issues early. The objective of a product is to serve quality and quality should be everyone’s responsibility.



Further Reading:<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/agile-scrum-methodology-best-practices-agile-teams/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Further Reading: Top 13 Best Practices For Agile Teams (opens in a new tab)"> Top 13 Best Practices For Agile Teams</a>



References



<a href="https://agilealliance.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://agilealliance.org/</a>



<a href="https://agilemanifesto.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://agilemanifesto.org/</a>



<a href="http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21.1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://www.exampler.com/old-blog/2003/08/21.1.html</a>

Understanding the Agile Testing Framework

Agile Scrum Methodology | 13 Best Practices For Agile Teams

Agile Scrum Methodology | A Comprehensive Guide to 13 Best Agile Practices

We need to follow test automation best practices as software gets more sophisticated. Recently, top QA consultancy companies QASymphony and TechWell surveyed mid-size and large-size enterprises for insights into the QA Automation trends. They found that most organizations(76%) were automating less than half of their test cases.



However, almost half of these enterprises expect to automate 50% of the test cases by this year. In general, 92% of organizations, including startups and large enterprises, perform some automation with the help of tools. You can find the full report here.



The benefits are huge and rewarding if automated testing is practiced diligently with proper planning. The ROI increases exponentially with time if we follow top test automation best practices.



However, it does not mean that we can depend on automated testing completely and bid goodbye to manual testing. The overall software testing process will always include a mix of manual and automation test cases to achieve high quality and better speed with optimum use of resources. In this blog, we will discuss 9 top test automation best practices.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#9_Test_Automation_Best_Practices_to_Follow">1 9 Test Automation Best Practices to Follow</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Automation_is_the_second_step_not_the_first">1.1 1. Automation is the second step, not the first</a></li><li><a href="#2_Identify_ideal_test_cases_for_automated_testing">1.2 2. Identify ideal test cases for automated testing</a></li><li><a href="#3_Stability_of_Environment_and_Application_Under_TestAUT">1.3 3. Stability of Environment and Application Under Test(AUT)</a></li><li><a href="#4_Choose_the_right_test_automation_tool">1.4 4. Choose the right test automation tool</a></li><li><a href="#5_Use_Data-driven_Tests">1.5 5. Use Data-driven Tests</a></li><li><a href="#6_Create_tests_that_are_resistant_to_UI_changes">1.6 6. Create tests that are resistant to UI changes</a></li><li><a href="#7_Divide_and_conquer_testing_efforts">1.7 7. Divide and conquer testing efforts</a></li><li><a href="#8_Test_on_real_devices">1.8 8. Test on real devices</a></li><li><a href="#9_Early_and_frequent_testing">1.9 9. Early and frequent testing</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Why_are_Test_Automation_Best_Practices_important">2 Why are Test Automation Best Practices important?</a></li><li><a href="#Conclusion">3 Conclusion</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">4 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#1_How_do_you_Automate_QA_Testing">4.1 1. How do you Automate QA Testing? </a></li><li><a href="#2_How_do_you_ensure_your_automated_tests_are_reliable_and_maintainable">4.2 2. How do you ensure your automated tests are reliable and maintainable?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="9-test-automation-best-practices-to-follow">9 Test Automation Best Practices to Follow</h2>



So, let&#8217;s look at some top automated testing practices we can follow while automating the test cases for a happy automated testing experience.



<h3 id="1-automation-is-the-second-step-not-the-first">1. Automation is the second step, not the first</h3>



We cannot directly start automating new software. The first step is to have a stable and well-designed manual testing process and right test cases in place. When the environment, development code and manual test processes gain stability, we can start thinking about bringing automated testing in the project. Hence, the test cases which are ideal for automated testing can be selected with the help of manual testers and put in automated testing which frees up manual test engineers&#8217; time for more human attention specific tasks, such as usability testing, exploratory testing, and ad-hoc testing.



So, how do we identify which cases to be automated? Let’s find out in the next point.



<h3 id="2-identify-ideal-test-cases-for-automated-testing">2. Identify ideal test cases for automated testing</h3>



Though 100% of the test cases present in any project can be automated, it does not imply that they should be automated. We need to be very careful while selecting the ideal cases for automation. Otherwise, we may lose time and money on creating scripts for the cases which are rarely run.



Below test cases could be picked up for automation because of their repetitive nature:



a. <a href="https://testsigma.com/regression-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Regression Testing</a>



We need to ensure that the new code changes have not introduced any new defects in the code. Execution of the regression test cases manually could be time-consuming and a mundane task for the manual test engineer. That is why regression test cases become the best for automated testing. The test engineer can use the time for other more useful tasks that require manual attention, e.g., exploratory testing. 



b. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/smoke-testing/">Smoke Testing</a>



Whenever a new build is released for testing, smoke testing is performed to ensure that the critical functionalities of the product are checked. Since these tests are run after each build, they are good candidates for automated testing. Most smoke tests are integrated with Continuous Integration(CI) tools like Jenkins to run them automatically whenever the development team releases a new build. 



c. <a href="https://testsigma.com/data-driven-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Data-Driven Testing</a>



Data-driven testing involves running data stored in several file formats like CSV, Excel, DB tables, and JSON files through the same code multiple times. 



(i) Reduction in testing time Data-driven testing is time-consuming when done manually. Automated testing considerably reduces the testing time whenever a <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/test-scenario/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test scenario</a> changes. Only the file where data is stored needs to be changed. 



(ii) High-quality test data The data we use for data-driven testing should be high quality and easily maintainable. Otherwise, if we are using just filler data or data that is difficult to maintain later with requirement changes, our purpose of automation will be lost.



Want to know the benefits of Data-Driven Test Automation? Check out &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/top-benefits-of-data-driven-test-automation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Top Benefits of Data-Driven Test Automation</a>



d. Difficult manual test cases



The manual test cases which are difficult to execute, for instance, cases involving many numerical calculations, are ideal for automated testing. Since they consume the manual tester&#8217;s time, it is better to leave such calculations to the automation scripts and make better use of the saved time. In short, the test cases repeating in nature are the best choice for automated testing.



Get to know &#8211;<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-to-convert-manual-test-cases-into-automated-test-cases-and-why/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How To Convert Manual Test Cases Into Automated Test Cases And Why</a>



<h3 id="3-stability-of-environment-and-application-under-test-aut">3. Stability of Environment and Application Under Test(AUT)</h3>



The environment and application should be stable so that the automation scripts provide consistent results.



<ol><li>Stable AUT: If the AUT is unstable and keeps changing, the QA team will have to rework automation scripts in every release. This will diminish the purpose of automated testing. Hence, ensure the application is stable before starting with automated testing.</li><li>Stable Environment: If the environment is unstable, the actual result will vary from the expected result on every automated test run. In this case, it won&#8217;t be easy to verify the correctness of the test run and then eventually debug it.</li></ol>



<h3 id="4-choose-the-right-test-automation-tool">4. Choose the right test automation tool</h3>



The next crucial factor in automated testing is choosing the right<a href="https://testsigma.com/tools/software-testing-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> software testing tool</a> for your application. There are currently plenty of automated testing tools, and it is very important to analyze them. Consider the below points before selecting the automated testing tool,



<ul><li>Type of application</li></ul>



Is your application type web, mobile, API, or desktop? This analysis is important as it will help you select the best fit.



<ul><li>Platform support</li></ul>



Will the application run on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS? Check if the tool allows you to run your tests across multiple platforms and versions.



<ul><li>Skillset required</li></ul>



Scripted testing tools require the testers to be strong in programming languages like Java, Python, Ruby, Perl, etc. One test engineer may be well versed in one language and unaware of the other. Hence, it is important to discuss with the QA team if they are comfortable with the language and the automated testing tool.&nbsp;



On the contrary, scriptless testing tools like Testsigma allow testers to create and run automated testing using low-code techniques. That is, testers need not write any test code to create automated tests. This makes test automation accessible for both technical and non-technical users in the project.&nbsp;



Also, Testsigma is a unified cloud-based AI-driven low-code testing platform that allows you to run web, mobile, API, and desktop apps in one place.



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Cut test maintenance time by 70%. Create stable, Browser-agnostic tests using Testsigma.
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<h3 id="5-use-data-driven-tests">5. Use Data-driven Tests</h3>



Using quality test data is crucial to ensure accurate and efficient testing. That is, with the help of realistic test data, you can simulate real-world scenarios, thus mimicking actual user interactions.&nbsp;



Use both valid and invalid (positive and negative) test data to make sure the app behaves as expected for any type of input. Also, this helps you achieve high test coverage as you cover most of the user scenarios.



Testsigma supports <a href="https://testsigma.com/data-driven-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data-driven testing</a> allowing you to test across a wide range of test data, thereby helping you get high test coverage and test accuracy.&nbsp;



<h3 id="6-create-tests-that-are-resistant-to-ui-changes">6. Create tests that are resistant to UI changes</h3>



Create automated tests that are resistant to changes in the UI to maintain the stability and reliability of your test suite. If your UI changes drastically after creating automated tests, then your tests will fail. To prevent this, ensure your app&#8217;s UI is stable before creating and executing automated tests.&nbsp;



<h3 id="7-divide-and-conquer-testing-efforts">7. Divide and conquer testing efforts</h3>



Testing is a very important part of the SDLC cycle. It takes a good amount of time, effort, and resources for proper and efficient testing. Instead of assigning all the QA tasks to a single tester, divide and assign tasks to every QA tester to ensure every module is properly tested in a given time. This helps prevent testing gaps, and you can cover most of the test scenarios.&nbsp;



Using a scripted testing tool will requires the entire QA team to be strong in programming languages to create test code. This will consume a lot of time to train every tester in that particular language. You can avoid this with the help of scriptless testing tools like Testsigma.&nbsp;



<a href="https://testsigma.com/">Testsigma</a> allows testers to create automated tests that are similar to natural language with the help of NLPs and Recorder. No coding is required. Also, it supports Java for <a href="https://www.educative.io/answers/what-is-code-based-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">code-based testing</a>. So, both technical and non-technical members can collaborate and perform automated testing with this tool.



<h3 id="8-test-on-real-devices">8. Test on real devices</h3>



Use real devices to test your application to get accurate test results. Running your test across all devices manually is impossible and highly expensive. Automate your tests and use a real device cloud, that is you can run your automated tests across multiple real devices and platforms on the cloud.&nbsp;



Testsigma supports more than 3000+ real devices/tablets and 1000+ browser/OS combinations for comprehensive testing. No setup is required, just a one-click <a href="https://testsigma.com/signup">sign in</a> to test your web, mobile, API, and desktop apps across different devices, screen sizes, resolutions, platforms, and versions on the cloud.



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Create stable tests without coding. Automatically pick up changes using Testsigma&#8217;s Auto-healing feature.
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<h3 id="9-early-and-frequent-testing">9. Early and frequent testing</h3>



Start automation testing early in the development cycle and run tests frequently. This helps catch bugs earlier, saving time and cost compared to fixing them later in development or production.



<h2 id="why-are-test-automation-best-practices-important">Why are Test Automation Best Practices important?</h2>



Automated testing best practices are a must for any software development process that wants to assure quality and efficiency. They will help you avoid typical problems, enhance your test coverage, and at the end of the day make the user experience better.&nbsp; Following these best practices maximizes the benefits of automation and minimizes risks.



<h2 id="conclusion-1">Conclusion</h2>



Automated testing is an important aspect of SDL, but it&#8217;s essential to follow test automation best practices to get the most value out of your tests. Time, cost, quality, and risk mitigation are key points to be kept in mind when discussing SDLC. The perfect balance of these four factors does the actual magic. 



<h2 id="frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="1-how-do-you-automate-qa-testing">1. How do you Automate QA Testing? </h3>



As part of Test Automation Best Practices, you must know the following to automate QA testing:



<ul><li>Specify which parts of testing you need to automate.</li><li>Choose the right automation tool.</li><li>Plan the test automation strategy and setup environment.</li><li>Write and execute automated tests frequently.</li><li>Examine test results and maintain tests.</li></ul>



<h3 id="2-how-do-you-ensure-your-automated-tests-are-reliable-and-maintainable">2. How do you ensure your automated tests are reliable and maintainable?</h3>



You should make sure that your automated tests are reliable and easy to maintain. You can do it by focusing on clear and simple test design, using descriptive names, and keeping the test steps updated to match any changes in the application.



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Test Automation Best Practices – 9 Ways to Ensure Efficient Testing

A typical manual QA tester spends more than 50% of the time in testing the functionality of the application. A majority of time is spent in executing the same test cases multiple times for regression testing. If these repeatedly executed test cases can be automated, a lot of time and manual effort can be saved. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_Functional_Testing">1 What is Functional Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Functional_Test_Automation">2 What is Functional Test Automation?</a></li><li><a href="#How_is_Functional_Test_Automation_in_the_Agile_World_different_as_compared_to_that_in_traditional_testing_models">3 How is Functional Test Automation in the Agile World different as compared to that in traditional testing models?</a></li><li><a href="#How_to_make_Functional_Test_Automation_successful_in_the_Agile_World">4 How to make Functional Test Automation successful in the Agile World?</a></li><li><a href="#Functional_Testing_Tools_that_can_prove_useful">5 Functional Testing Tools that can prove useful:</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-functional-testing">What is Functional Testing?</h2>



Functional Testing is concerned with verifying the functionality of all the features of an application under test(AUT). These functionalities are tested against the feature requirements making sure that all the requirements for a feature are implemented and working accordingly. 



Developers generally create unit tests for the code they write, but Functional Testing is usually the first testing done by the software testing team once a feature is ready for testing. Functional testing is also included at the time of regression testing done before the final release because the user will be first going through the workflow covered under the functional tests. Thus automating these tests becomes important. 







<h2 id="what-is-functional-test-automation">What is Functional Test Automation?</h2>



When the focus of test automation is functional tests, the process is called functional test automation. Most of the test cases automated here are black-box tests that aim to verify the functionality of a particular feature. This testing could be done for user interfaces, APIs, database, security, or any interface that needs some input and gives some output. 



<h2 id="how-is-functional-test-automation-in-the-agile-world-different-as-compared-to-that-in-traditional-testing-models">How is Functional Test Automation in the Agile World different as compared to that in traditional testing models?</h2>



In traditional testing models, different tasks related to development and testing happens one after the other and usually testing starts once the development is complete. This means that the testers do not have much productive work to do while development is in full swing and this also means that developers won’t have much to do while testing is going on unless there are a lot of bugs to fix. 



Agile Methodology provides a solution to these problems by breaking big tasks into small tasks that are doable in each sprint. This also means that a deliverable is supposed to be ready by the end of each sprint for evaluation. Following this strategy, testing also needs to be broken down into smaller tasks that can be taken up at each sprint. For this, functional test automation should start in parallel with development.







<h2 id="how-to-make-functional-test-automation-successful-in-the-agile-world">How to make Functional Test Automation successful in the Agile World? </h2>



An important <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/ux-testing-ux-lessons-learned-from-my-real-life-experiences-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part in making functional test</a> automation successful is played by the test automation tool. Hence this tool should be chosen after carefully understanding the needs not only short term but long term too.&nbsp; 



Below mentioned points should give you an idea of how to go about it: 



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Decide whether to use an already existing test automation framework or build one from scratch:</li>



At the moment, considering there are multiple options available for software test automation, it is recommended that you go through those options first and decide to build your tool from scratch only in case you are sure your application needs such an in-house framework.&nbsp;



An automation framework may need to be built from scratch if:



<ul class="list_style_disc" style="padding-bottom:20px"><li>the application under test uses a technology whose testing is not supported by any of the available tools in the market.&nbsp;</li><li>building a framework from scratch will prove more beneficial than investing in an already existing tool.</li></ul>



<li>The automation framework should give testers the ability to start with automation when the development starts:</li>



Any automation framework you choose should give your testers the ability to design test cases even before actual implementation is in place. Testers should be able to make those test cases work once the features are developed and ready for testing. 



<li>The low learning curve for creating new test cases:</li>



Time is also an investment in today’s world where software development and deployments are happening at breakneck speed. So, choosing a framework that could be learnt easily in a short time is a good investment to make. 



<li>The automated test cases should be easy to create/edit/maintain:</li>



Being developed in an Agile world, the application will go through multiple changes according to the client’s feedback. To keep up with all the changes with ease, an automation framework/tool is needed that enables easy test creation, edits and maintenance. The tool being used should also have the capability to reuse and regroup already created test steps. 



With the advent of AI, now there are tools available in the market that can automatically maintain test cases that fail due to changes in the application. 



<li>The test cases created under the test automation framework should be easy to understand:</li>



It is unsure if the same tester remains with you during the product’s lifecycle and is highly unlikely so make sure whatever framework you choose, the tests created are easy to understand. The tests should be easy since they need to be reworked on by someone who did not create them at some time. 



At present, there are multiple tools available in the market that automate test cases via plain English test steps or flowcharts or screenshots. You need to decide what best meets your requirements. 



<li>Easy to debug:</li>



If any of the automated test cases fail, there should be ample support in the tool to enable the testers to debug and find the cause of failure. If the tool does not make debugging easy, a lot of time could be spent just figuring out what caused the test case to fail. Some of the most sought out features that help to debug are: 



<ul class="list_style_disc" style="padding-bottom:15px"><li>Step by step execution</li><li>Ability to pause execution while debugging</li><li>Ability to take screenshots at the moment of failure</li><li style="padding-bottom:15px">Ability to skip steps while debugging</li></ul>



<li>Scope of integration with other tools if needed:</li>



There are a lot of stand-alone tools in the market starting with CI/CD tools to reporting tools. Before you start working on test automation, make sure the tool you use supports integration with the tools you may be planning to use or may have been already using.



Also, reporting should provide all the needed information in an easily understandable format. 



<li>Support for different types of Test Data:</li>



For different types of test cases, different types of test data could be needed. Sometimes hardcoded, sometimes passed through CSVs or JSON or XML or any other format. Make sure the tool you are using supports passing test data in the format you need. 



<li>Support for API testing:</li>



At present, APIs are the basis of development of functionalities for a lot of products. If your product also uses APIs, the test automation framework or functional testing tool you plan on using should support the automation of these.&nbsp; 



<li>Support for Visual Testing:</li>



Sometimes a need may arise to test the application visually for eg. for the presence or absence of components or text. The tool should have the support either for performing such testing or the ability to integrate with a tool that will allow testing the application visually. 



<li>Ability to run tests against all needed environments:</li>



These days applications are being released on all kinds of devices including desktops, laptops and mobile devices. The application must be tested on all the supported devices of all screen sizes and hence the support for testing on all needed environments should be verified before choosing a tool for automation. 



<li>Parallel execution of test cases:</li>



When the test cases are less in number, execution does not take much time and parallel execution support does not matter but once the number of automated test cases increase, which is bound to happen eventually. Without parallel execution, the execution of automated test cases can become quite cumbersome and may cause unnecessary delay in providing feedback. 



<li>Ability to host test cases on the cloud:</li>



Most of the companies these days use cloud infrastructure for all their development and testing needs and invest in minimal on-premise infrastructure. Thus, a tool that also enables the testers to host their test cases on the cloud and run them directly there can prove highly beneficial. 



<li>Support:</li>



Whatever tool/framework you decide to use, there will be times when you will come across a situation where external help will be needed. At such times, dedicated support for the tool being used becomes essential to make sure your functional test automation keeps going up without any interruption. 



<li>The automation should provide ROI:</li>



There is no point investing in a tool that takes up all your time in the automation of test cases first and then the maintenance of test cases later. Also, if for automation and for understanding the automated test cases you need to hire new resources with specific skills, which means additional investment in terms of money. And if the automated test cases are brittle and are failing most of the time, the contribution to quality can be considered as negligible.&nbsp; 



So, out of all the points above the most important point to consider is to use a functional testing tool that will give ROI in terms of time, money and quality eventually.&nbsp;







<h2 id="functional-testing-tools-that-can-prove-useful">Functional Testing Tools that can prove useful:</h2>



Considering the above requirements, there are a few tools in the market that meet the above requirements:



<ol><li style="padding-bottom:20px">Testsigma: Test cases can be written in plain English and the AI core ensures that the test cases are maintained automatically in most of the scenarios. The test cases are hosted on the cloud and could be executed on a wide range of devices that are again hosted on the cloud. The tool also supports integration with most of the widely used tools.</li><li style="padding-bottom:20px">TestComplete: Automation could be scriptless via keyword-driven testing or could be done by using supported scripting languages. The test cases could be run on a wide variety of browsers and mobile devices. The tool also supports integration with most of the widely used tools ranging from CI/CD to reporting.</li><li style="padding-bottom:50px">TOSCA: Automation is again scriptless(model-based approach) with easy automatic maintenance support.</li></ol>



 Refer this DZone article to know more about the different <a href="https://dzone.com/articles/scriptless-testing-is-not-just-record-and-playback?utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=feedpress.me&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:%20dzone%2Fdevops" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">functional test automation methods and tools</a> available.&nbsp; 



Thus, when you decide to implement functional test automation in your organization, even before choosing the tool to use, it is essential to understand all your requirements and goals end to end.

Criteria and Requirements of Functional Testing in an Agile World

Scriptless Automated Testing is not the same as Record and Playback

Record and Playback Testing vs Scriptless Automation Testing: Which is Good?

Selenium was first conceptualized in 2004 at ThoughtWorks for website automation and has come a long way from it&#8217;s first Web Driver version to becoming a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Selenium was first conceptualized in 2004 at ThoughtWorks for website automation and has come a long way from it's first Web Driver version to becoming a W3C standard protocol. With a single interface that lets you write test scripts in programming languages like Ruby, Java, NodeJS, PHP, among others and being open-source has gained quite a lot of popularity so much so that Selenium stands tall among the most popular commercial tools today.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.w3.org/TR/webdriver/" target="_blank">W3C standard protocol</a>. With a single interface that lets you write test scripts in programming languages like Ruby, Java, NodeJS, PHP, among others and being open-source, Selenium has gained quite a lot of popularity so much so that it stands tall among the most popular commercial tools today. 



Anyone who has worked on&nbsp;<a href="http://seleniumhq.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Selenium</a>&nbsp;would agree that it is not that easy. If the number of&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/issues" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">issues</a>&nbsp;open at the moment and the number of questions being posted on forums like StackOverflow is any indication, the problems faced by Selenium users does not seem to be decreasing.



The test cases are brittle, the failures are common, and the maintenance of automated test cases takes more time and cost than it takes to automate them. However, with a very strong community and integrations, it is workable. But if you are working in tight timelines, this wouldn&#8217;t be the ideal way. 



If we start thinking about why Selenium tests fail, an obvious reason would be that the websites and the technologies used to build them have been evolving at a fast pace. And the number of additions to the features and functionalities has only been increasing exponentially.



Keeping up with the changes and making sure the tests run reliably every single time is not an easy job. 



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Let_us_look_at_a_few_reasons_why_Selenium_tests_fail">1 Let us look at a few reasons why Selenium tests fail:</a></li><li><a href="#Some_common_errors_that_most_Selenium_users_may_have_come_across_but_are_easy_to_fix">2 Some common errors that most Selenium users may have come across but are easy to fix:</a></li><li><a href="#Limitations_of_using_Selenium_for_Automation">3 Limitations of using Selenium for Automation:</a></li><li><a href="#Alternatives_to_Selenium">4 Alternatives to Selenium</a></li><li><a href="#Benefits_of_using_above_tools">5 Benefits of using above tools:</a></li></ul></div>
<h2>Let us look at a few reasons why Selenium tests fail:</h2> 



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Asynchronous websites</li>



Selenium tests are developed keeping a particular order in mind and when there are websites that are built using asynchronous architecture. The order of response cannot be fixed at all times. In such scenarios, sometimes the responses from the website are not in order. As a result, the test case fails. Such failures are tough to debug as well because they are not reproducible at all times. 



<li>Bugs</li>



With websites rapidly evolving, multiple languages and libraries are available for website development. There are a lot of features that needs to be supported.Selenium does come out with a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="With websites rapidly evolving, multiple languages and libraries are available for website development. There are a lot of features that needs to be supported.
Selenium does come out with a better version frequently supporting any new changes that come up but they also leave out bugs and sometimes these bugs appear while people are trying to automate their websites.
 (opens in a new tab)" href="https://medium.com/hackernoon/selenium-4-0-alpha-released-what-test-automation-engineers-can-expect-6c1838b79243" target="_blank">better version</a> frequently supporting any new change that comes up but they also leave out bugs and sometimes these bugs appear while people are trying to automate their websites. 



<li>Dynamic websites that change without refresh</li>



Now websites are built that do a page reload or refresh rarely and, all the changes happen dynamically using JavaScript on the same page. In some scenarios, if there is a small error in one step, the whole test case fails because there is no opportunity to reload or refresh the page.&nbsp; 



<li>Small changes in the website source code</li>



The most common example of such a change is when a unique ui identifier(also known as locator) of an element on the web page changes. When such a change is checked in, all the test cases that were referring to this unique ui identifier fails and needs to be fixed.
Sometimes small changes are passed on to the code that make the test cases fail but Selenium does not report the exact reason for failure and it makes the test cases seem flaky. 



<li>Timeouts</li>



Timeout errors where Selenium fails while waiting for a component to load are very common while automating using Selenium and can be handled by adding appropriate &#8220;waits&#8221;. Just ensure that explicit waits are only added where necessary because that increases the overall run time of the test case. Implicit waits are better to use in such scenarios.



<h2>Some common errors that most Selenium users may have come across but are easy to fix:</h2> 



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Alerts, Pop-ups, Nested IFrames</li>Selenium Users faced problems while automating alerts, pop-ups and Nested IFrames related functionalities on a website but with the latest version of Selenium, this problem has been handled quite well. If there is anything that cannot be handled, it is the OS level alerts because Selenium can only handle website related operations. <li>Selenium WebDriver version mismatch</li>Selenium releases WebDrivers for supported browsers to execute tests on them. If the installed browser on the system does not match the versions supported by the web drivers, an exception like this is reported: “This version of ChromeDriver only supports Chrome version 74”. The solution is to either update the Selenium WebDriver to support the installed browser or update the installed browser to the version supported by selenium webdriver and the error will go away.
 <li>ElementNotFoundException</li>
Sometimes during automation, testers miss out on accounting of small components like the page load progress icon and when the script executes, it fails to find the element that will load after the page loads. These situations can easily be solved by accounting for the page load and waiting for the page to load completely. Sometimes an implicit wait for the required element to load can also solve such problems. <li>TimeOutExceptionThis exception appears when Selenium waited for some operation to complete or for an element to appear or disappear but it did not happen during the time it was expected to wait. The time it is supposed to wait can be configured as well.</li> 



<li>Changing location for Selectors</li></ol>



Sometimes when a site is responsive, the location of the selectors on a web page changes with change in size. This results in test cases failing with the web page size. Such failures can be fixed by using a selector that does not change with changing size for eg. using unique names or ui identifiers as selectors. 



Above are the most common exceptions that people face but if you are looking for a more detailed list, check <a href="https://katalon.com/resources-center/blog/selenium-exceptions">here</a>.
These exceptions may occur while testing using any automated testing tool but there are certain limitations of Selenium that are detailed below.



<h2 style="padding-bottom: 10px">Limitations of using Selenium for Automation: </h2>



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Difficult to set up initially</li>



Selenium works with certain programming languages. Elaborate setup for development in the programming language and support for Selenium needs to be prepared before automation can be started.



<li>Substantial time is taken to automate</li>



Because every step has to be coded it takes a good amount of time for just automating a simple workflow.



<li>Substantial time is taken to maintain the test cases</li>



If there are failures in test scripts, it may take a long time to debug and figure out the root cause of failure which also means more cost.



<li>Pass/Fail Reports</li> Selenium does not offer rich reports on its own and requires third party integrations for more than just Pass/Fail error reports.</ol>



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://testsigma.com/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="1407" height="374" data-id="5352" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Testsigma_Banner.png" alt="Testsigma_Banner" class="wp-image-5352"/></a><figcaption>Write simple tests while the AI maintain the tests&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>
</figure>



<h2 id="alternatives-to-selenium">Alternatives to Selenium</h2>



Instead of spending a lot of time, money and effort on getting things to work with Selenium, try using other tools that are there in the market and have dedicated technical support, some of such tools are:



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Testsigma</li>



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Testsigma is an NLP based automated testing tool that lets you create automated tests easily and efficiently in just plain English. The AI-powered system learns to maintain test cases if there are any changes in the website also suggest changes and indicate the tests that will be affected.https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-alternative-for-automated-regression-testing/ (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank">Testsigma</a> is an NLP based automated testing tool that lets you create automated tests easily and efficiently in just plain English.



This AI-powered automated testing tool is an <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Testsigma is an NLP based automated testing tool that lets you create automated tests easily and efficiently in just plain English. This AI-powered automated testing tool is an ideal alternative for Selenium. maintain test cases if there are any changes in the website also suggest changes and indicate the tests that will be affected. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/selenium-alternative-for-automated-regression-testing/" target="_blank">ideal alternative</a> for Selenium with all the flexibility that enterprise teams need.



 <li>TOSCA</li>



With automatic object recognition and test case maintenance, <a href="https://www.tricentis.com/products/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">TOSCA </a>is a popular&nbsp; automated testing tool.&nbsp;It maximises reusability and increases maintainability with model-based test automation.



 <li>Katalon</li>



With a Selenium-based engine, <a href="https://www.katalon.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="With a Selenium-based engine, Katalon is designed to create and reuse automated test scripts for UI without coding. It is free to use. It also has the option to automate complex scenarios using JAVA or Groovy. (opens in a new tab)">Katalon</a> is designed to create and reuse automated test scripts for UI without coding. It is free to use. It also has the option to automate complex scenarios using JAVA or Groovy.



 <li>TestComplete</li>



Tests can be recorded, scripted or manually created with keyword driven operations and used for automated playback and error logging.While Selenium can only execute tests in a browser (and mobile apps using Appium), <a href="https://smartbear.com/product/testcomplete/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">TestComplete </a>supports Windows applications.



With the support of custom extensions and plugins, TestComplete functions can be extended as per need.



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1593" height="388" data-id="6004" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Testsigmas-unique-combo.png" alt="Testsigma's unique combo" class="wp-image-6004"/><figcaption>Sign Up for a free Trial!</figcaption></figure>
</figure>



<h2 id="benefits-of-using-above-tools">Benefits of using above tools:</h2>



<ol class="list_style_disc plr15" style="padding-left:0 !important"><li>Dedicated technical support</li>



If you face a problem you will always have support available who will give you a timeline to solve any issue you face. They will also help you figure out the issue in case are stuck. Thus you won’t be left alone in the wild looking for solutions when you need immediate help. 



<li>Easier Test Case Creation</li>



These automated testing tools do not demand scripting/programming skills.&nbsp;Katalon and TestComplete use a record and playback approach for test case creation while TOSCA automatically recognises the objects in the application and then test cases are created using the Model based approach. Testsigma on the other hand lets you write automated tests just using plain English! 



<li>Automatic Test Case maintenance</li>



Testsigma, TOSCA, TestComplete have an AI-powered core that enables automatic maintenance of test cases whenever some changes in the website cause the test cases to fail. 



<li>Easier to set up</li>



Testsigma is a cloud-based automated testing tool that hosts all automated tests on the cloud so you don’t need to spend any time or money on initial setup. There is also support for local executions(Hybrid) on your local devices. In comparison, Testsigma is quite easy to get started. 



<li>Low Learning Curve</li>



The special focus of all the above testing tools is the ease to learn them. Thus a lot of time and money that is spent on learning new tools can be saved if any of these automated testing tools are used. It would be quite easy for beginners into automation to get accustomed with these automated testing tools. 



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="3001" height="834" data-id="4519" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Testsigma3.jpeg" alt="Scriptless Test Automation Tool_Testsigma" class="wp-image-4519"/></figure>
</figure>



Selenium is still a mainstream automated testing tool since its inception but now the times are changing and when there are new technologies like AI and ML being employed, teams should explore them to actually know what they have to offer.



Since development workflows are now more complex than they have ever been, and will probably grow yet more complex over time. Selenium is poised to remain relevant for modern application testing. Depending on the requirements, we should be more open to exploring more automated testing tools and choose the relevant one that properly fit our testing requirements.



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code><a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/business" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Business vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a></code></pre>

Why Do Selenium Tests Fail? : Top Reasons

Software KPIs or Key Performance Indicators in the software testing industry are some measurable values computed to gauge the efficiency and effectiveness of the software testing process as a whole.&nbsp;



Though it may seem natural to use software testing KPIs to gauge efficiency, there is a divide between the people of the testing community on using KPIs in the Software Testing industry. Some say that Software Testing KPIs can&#8217;t help achieve a much-needed balance between time, cost, and quality, while others swear by their effectiveness.



Organizations have different products, so the development methodology and the testing processes are different too.



So what a QA individual or manager needs is to: 1. Understand the process 2. Review the KPIs that can be measured 3. Figure out the KPIs for quality that should be measured for maximum effectiveness according to your project.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_are_the_KPIs_in_Software_Testing">1 What are the KPIs in Software Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#When_are_the_Software_Testing_KPIs_beneficial">2 When are the Software Testing KPIs beneficial?</a></li><li><a href="#When_is_the_Software_Testing_KPIs_not_useful">3 When is the Software Testing KPIs not useful?</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">4 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#How_Do_you_Measure_QA_Success">4.1 How Do you Measure QA Success?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_Software_Testing_Key_Performance_IndicatorsKPIs">4.2 What is Software Testing Key Performance Indicators(KPIs)?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_the_Difference_Between_Software_Testing_Metrics_and_KPIs">4.3 What is the Difference Between Software Testing Metrics and KPIs?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_KPI_for_the_QA_Department">4.4 What is KPI for the QA Department?</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Suggested_Reading">5 Suggested Reading</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-are-the-kpis-in-software-testing">What are the KPIs in Software Testing?</h2>



There is no hard and fast rule to measure all these KPIs and you can also come up with KPIs that are not mentioned in the list. The most common KPIs that are measured in the software testing industry:



<p id="active-defectsall-the-defects-that-are-yet-to-close-are-called-active-defects-it-could-have-new-defects-that-are-open-or-that-are-fixed-but-not-verified-the-testing-manager-needs-to-decide-on-a-threshold-value-beyond-which-immediate-action-will-have-to-be-taken-about-how-to-proceed-to-lower-the-number-of-functional-defects-the-general-rule-is-that-the-lower-the-number-of-functional-defects-the-better-the-product-quality-at-a-point-in-time"><li>Active Defects </li>All the defects that are yet to close are called Active Defects. It could have new defects that are open or that are fixed but not verified. The testing manager needs to decide on a threshold value beyond which immediate action will have to be taken about how to proceed to lower the number of functional defects. The general rule is that the lower the number of functional defects, the better the product quality at a point in time.



<li>Authored Tests </li>This KPI measures the number of test cases designed during a defined time interval. This also helps measure the test cases against requirements, and the designed test cases can be further evaluated for inclusion in the regression or ad hoc test suite.



<li>Automated Tests</li>



This KPI measures the percentage of test cases automated against the total number of test cases. Usually, a higher percentage means a better probability of catching any breaks during automation runs. The threshold for the percentage of automation should be decided according to the type of product and cost of automation.



<li>Covered Requirements</li>



This KPI is used to measure the mapping of test cases to requirements. A test manager is required to ensure that all the requirements have corresponding test cases, and action should be taken on any requirements that could not be mapped to any test case and vice versa. The goal is to keep the mapping of requirements to test cases to 100%.



<li>Code Coverage</li>



This KPI is used by testers to ascertain the percentage of code they cover with their automated tests.



<li>Defects Fixed Per Day</li>



This is used to measure the effectiveness of the development but is subjective as some bugs could be more challenging to fix than others. This could be used to predict the amount of work for the testing team.



<li>Passed Requirements</li>



This KPI becomes valid when the release of a product is being planned. If any requirement has yet to pass testing, the release should be delayed.



<li>Passed Tests</li>



To understand the effectiveness of the test case design process, the number of defects reported via designed test cases is measured, where test cases passed means the design is practical and vice versa.



<li>Rejected Defects</li>



This KPI measures the percentage of rejected defects compared to the total defects reported. If the percentage is higher than the set threshold value, the underlying issue must be identified and acted upon. This could mean more training for software testers or better requirement documentation.



<li>Reviewed Requirements</li>



This KPI is to make sure that any requirement that the testing and development team is working on has been reviewed by the subject matter expert and is good to go. Reviewed requirements could lead to accurate development and testing, proving costly in the long run.



<li>Severe Defects</li>



This KPI aims to keep the number of severe defects in an application at a time under a limit if there are more severe defects, then immediate action is needed. But before using this, the testing team needs to be properly trained to identify severe defects correctly.



<li>Test Instances Executed</li>



This KPI is to measure the velocity of test execution at any point in time to make sure that the testing cycle is on track for the release.



<li>Tests Executed</li>



This KPI measures the total number of test cases executed on a build, including manual and automated, at any given time. This is also a Velocity KPI. Read here about <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/velocity-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Velocity Testing</a>.



<li>Time Schedule and Constraint</li>



This KPI is used to measure the average time of test execution. This helps provide testing time estimates during release planning or the development and testing plans to the project managers.



<li>Defects Closure Rate</li>



This KPI measures testers&#8217; efficiency in verifying and closing the fixed defects; this also helps to estimate the release cycle better.







<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="863" height="616" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/software-test-KPI-12.jpg" alt="software testing kpis" class="wp-image-22133"/></figure>



<h2 id="when-are-the-software-testing-kpis-beneficial">When are the Software Testing KPIs beneficial?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="733" height="485" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/software-test-KPI-11-1.jpg" alt="Software Testing KPIs beneficial" class="wp-image-22137"/></figure>



<ul><li>You have been working on the same software testing process for a while.&nbsp;</li></ul>



When you have implemented a testing process successfully and have executed it a few times, it is the right time to measure the KPIs to know the areas where your testing process needs improvement.



<ul><li>You have an extensive testing team.</li></ul>



Having a big testing team also means that there will be an extensive distribution of testing tasks. So to make sure that the tasks are distributed effectively and are conducted efficiently, measuring some testing KPIs will prove beneficial and will also help to keep everyone on track.



<ul><li>You are thinking of introducing new processes for testing.</li></ul>



If you are revamping your testing process, it will be helpful to have some KPIs measured to the original process. It will help you decide what goals to achieve with the new testing processes.



For an organization looking to measure KPIs, it is essential to understand the existing testing process and then measure the KPIs that will bring out the necessary improvements. Knowing what value addition you are looking for is essential because these KPIs, if not used properly, could easily lead you in the wrong direction.



<h2 id="when-is-the-software-testing-kpis-not-useful">When is the Software Testing KPIs not useful?</h2>



Although measuring the effectiveness of a process is essential to know if you are doing it right, measuring the testing process via quality KPIs will not make sense in a scenario where:



<ol><li>If your product has just started with Testing:If you are going to launch your product for the first time and testing has just started, there won&#8217;t be much to measure. This time will be crucial to put a testing process in place rather than measuring the effectiveness of the testing process.</li><li>If you are not planning to have a long testing cycle:If you are making a product that would not be changing for a long time after the launch and testing will be a one-time process, measurement of the effectiveness of the process would not be beneficial as you won&#8217;t have any new testing cycles to improve upon.</li><li>If you are on a restricted budget:Just like doing any activity, measuring testing KPIs also takes time and effort and, consequently, costs. So rather than measuring the KPIs, applying a cost-effective testing process should be the primary focus when the budget for testing is restricted.</li></ol>



By ensuring the above, you are also <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/optimize-your-testing-efforts-for-continuous-delivery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">optimizing Testing for Continuous Delivery</a>.



If you have an organization planning to move to test automation but are worried about the learning curve and time constraints during implementing it, look out for tools that enable you to automate test cases in as much time as creating them manually will take. This will help improve multiple KPIs for quality, such as Automated Tests, Covered Requirements, Passed Requirements, Passed Tests, etc.<a href="https://testsigma.com/">Testsigma</a> is one such tool that is quickly recognized for its ease of use and the negligible learning curve!



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<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="733" height="485" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/software-test-KPI-10.jpg" alt="When are the Software Testing KPIs not useful" class="wp-image-22139"/></figure>



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<a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a> is one such tool that is quickly getting recognized for the ease of use and the negligible learning curve!



<h2 id="frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="frequently-asked-questions">How Do you Measure QA Success?</h3>



QA success can be measured using KPIs, which will help to get an idea about the test performance. Some key points which are mentioned in KPIs are given below.



<ul><li>Numbers of functional defects in the software.</li><li>Number of tests written in a time frame.</li><li>Numbers of automated cases present in testing.&nbsp;</li><li>How much code is covered in the test cases?</li><li>How many defects are being fixed per day?</li></ul>



<h3 id="what-is-software-testing-key-performance-indicators-kpis">What is Software Testing Key Performance Indicators(KPIs)?</h3>



Key performance indicators(KPIs) in software testing are the calculated data that help to measure the performance and effectiveness of testing. It gives an idea if the software testing is progressing in the right direction and whether it will be done on time.



<h3 id="what-is-the-difference-between-software-testing-metrics-and-kpis">What is the Difference Between Software Testing Metrics and KPIs?</h3>



Software testing metrics are the data used to track and monitor the various operations performed by the testers. Whereas organizations and testers use key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine testing effectiveness and the time and cost required to complete the testing.



<h3 id="h-what-is-kpi-for-the-qa-department">What is KPI for the QA Department?</h3>



KPI for QA is calculated by : The number of tests in a specific time period = Number of tests run/Total time.



Following initial testing, these periods should reduce and eventually settle at a basic level. QA teams can improve these figures by investigating which tests can be executed concurrently or automatically.



<h2 id="suggested-reading">Suggested Reading</h2>



<customlinks>
<ts-link-item>
<ts-linktext-value>Positive and Negative Testing Scenarios</ts-linktext-value>
<ts-linkurl-value>https://testsigma.com/blog/negative-testing/</ts-linkurl-value>
</ts-link-item>
<ts-link-item>
<ts-linktext-value>Software Testing Errors</ts-linktext-value>
<ts-linkurl-value>https://testsigma.com/blog/software-testing-errors-to-look-out-for-with-examples/</ts-linkurl-value>
</ts-link-item>
<ts-link-item>
<ts-linktext-value>Software Testing Trends</ts-linktext-value>
<ts-linkurl-value>https://testsigma.com/blog/software-testing-trends/</ts-linkurl-value>
</ts-link-item>
<ts-link-item>
<ts-linktext-value>Software Testing Interview Questions</ts-linktext-value>
<ts-linkurl-value>https://testsigma.com/blog/software-testing-interview-questions/</ts-linkurl-value>
</ts-link-item>
<ts-link-item>
<ts-linktext-value>Rapid software testing</ts-linktext-value>
<ts-linkurl-value>https://testsigma.com/blog/rapid-software-testing/</ts-linkurl-value>
</ts-link-item>
<ts-link-item>
<ts-linktext-value>Types of review in software testing</ts-linktext-value>
<ts-linkurl-value>https://testsigma.com/blog/types-of-review-in-software-testing/</ts-linkurl-value>
</ts-link-item>
</customlinks>

What are the KPIs of Software Testing and QA

What are the KPIs of Software Testing and QA Metrics?

<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Software_Automation_Testing_Challenges">1 Software Automation Testing Challenges</a></li><li><a href="#Lack_of_Effective_Team_Communication_and_Orchestration">2 Lack of Effective Team Communication and Orchestration</a></li><li><a href="#Not_Having_the_Right_Tool_for_Automation_Testing">3 Not Having the Right Tool for Automation Testing?</a></li><li><a href="#Finding_the_Right_Talent_with_Test_Automation_Knowledge_and_Expertise">4 Finding the Right Talent with Test Automation Knowledge and Expertise</a></li><li><a href="#Outdated_Test_Cases_and_Dilapidated_Framework">5 Outdated Test Cases and Dilapidated Framework</a></li><li><a href="#Upfront_and_Recurring_Costs">6 Upfront and Recurring Costs</a></li><li><a href="#Knowing_the_Right_Testing_Approach_to_Use">7 Knowing the Right Testing Approach to Use</a></li><li><a href="#Getting_Through_All_That_Test_Data">8 Getting Through All That Test Data</a></li></ul></div>
<h2>Software Automation Testing Challenges</h2>



Automation Testing is a byproduct of the need for efficient testing and innovation. Through automation testing, businesses can speed up the software testing process while expanding the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Automation Testing is a byproduct of the need for efficient testing and innovation. Through Automation Testing, businesses can speed up the software testing process while expanding the test coverage. (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-create-best-test-case-design-get-maximum-test-coverage/" target="_blank">test coverage</a>.



However, automation testing is not just a walk in the park where one can say “Okay, let’s automate and get this done quick!”. It doesn’t work that way. Here’s a list of challenges you need to anticipate before engaging in software test automation. 



<h2>Lack of Effective Team Communication and Orchestration</h2>



Team collaboration is regarded as one of the most common challenges, yet critical aspect in a project-driven organization, let alone in automation testing. Everyone has to do their fair share of the workload in employing software&nbsp;automation testing. Without teamwork, testing would most likely fail.



Another deal-breaker is the lack of effective communication. By communication, we mean clear and concise feedback information that can be used to make informed decisions. The team can come up with a well-thought and carefully planned test automation plan. Effective communication breaks the barrier of having a disoriented and disorganized testing team. It practically keeps everyone in the loop. 



For automation testing to work, teamwork and communication are essential to <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/top-ways-communicate-software-testing-insights-better/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="share software testing insights (opens in a new tab)">share software testing insights</a> better.



It is important to be transparent on what is happening, what are the roadblocks the team is facing, and how the team will approach and handle them. Keeping them informed will raise another question from them as to how they, as a management team can support you. 



<h2>Not Having the Right Tool for Automation Testing?</h2>



With just one search and a click away, one can have access to a plethora of testing suites and&nbsp;automation testing tools the market has to offer. From freeware and open-source tools like Selenium and Robotium to popular scriptless automation testing tools like <a href="https://testsigma.com/">Testsigma</a>.



It is not that you need to rely on a test automation tool for sure. You need to evaluate if a tool can help automate a scenario faster. However, even in such cases, many teams are reluctant to abandon existing testing scripts and continue to bear the struggles of traditional testing in today&#8217;s Agile world.



If ever you find yourself in such a situation, consider researching the tool you are eyeing to automate your test cases. Additionally, try to perform due diligence of the developer and provider. Opt for demos. Spend productive activity evaluating the tool.



Here&#8217;s an article that discusses 10 points to help you <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="choose the right test automation tool (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/10-points-to-help-you-choose-the-right-test-automation-tool/" target="_blank">choose the right test automation tool</a>.



<h2>Finding the Right Talent with Test Automation Knowledge and Expertise</h2>



Hiring or getting someone who is an expert in software test automation is probably the first thing you have on the list especially if you are eyeing on speeding up the testing phase and reducing the product’s go-to-market time.



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/is-manual-testing-becoming-a-bottleneck-in-continuous-delivery/">Manual testing</a> involves manually executing test cases, test scripts, and test scenarios. On the other hand, test automation requires testers to know programming and coding to design, build, and maintain the test automation framework.



You have to remember that test automation specialists are the bread and butter of the test automation process. Their knowledge and expertise in what they do keep the ball rolling and without it, software test automation may seem difficult to achieve. 



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<h2>Outdated Test Cases and Dilapidated Framework</h2>



Software test automation is there to make the lives of the QA team much easier by automating tedious and repetitive testing scenarios. Sounds good, isn’t it? Well, all that can change if the testing team is not diligently updating the test cases.



Test cases are not something that you can do one time and that’s it – well, that’s not just it!



In a test automation environment, the reality is that test cases are constantly updated.



Every time there are changes in the requirements, browser, operating system, automation libraries, and the likes. Having outdated test cases and frameworks significantly reduce the effectiveness of your software testing automation. Besides that, what is the point in undertaking test automation if the result is practically the same as going into manual testing? Test automation that falls out of place pretty much beats the purpose.



<h2>Upfront and Recurring Costs</h2>



Setting up the platform for test automation suite incur upfront costs, whether you are using a paid service or not. Regardless of whether the platform you are using is paid or not, you still need to consider the cost involved in training the users who will be using the platforms and those who will maintain it.



Then we have these recurring costs for hosting the platform, maintaining it.



These are one of the things that should not be overlooked when you are to engage with software test automation. Employ reusable code, proper naming conventions and methods.



The user interface of the application may change between builds. A tool like Testsigma creates automated tests that are resistant to these UI changes. 



<h2>Knowing the Right Testing Approach to Use</h2>



Software automation does not only require you to have your team roster full of test automation specialists, or maybe just by having the best and right tool to conduct your test automation. All that would be meaningless if the group has not yet decided on what testing approach to use.



Determining what approach to use is understanding why software test automation is needed, where does automation testing fit, and what is needed for testing and the business to succeed. Identifying the approach is crucial to the success of testing. Jumping right into the battlefield without a careful thought plan is nothing but blind testing.



With a plan of an approach geared to the test automation team, testing life cycles will be laid out along with their corresponding goals and achievable results. It also aligns everyone on the same page in terms of designing and implementing test scenarios and test cases. Additionally, it lets everyone know when the window hour is to update and maintain test scripts and frameworks. 



<h2>Getting Through All That Test Data</h2>



The rapid growth of test data is inevitable when software testing automation is facilitated at an enterprise level. These data are needed to be carefully reviewed and analyzed by the test team. In no time, the test team may find themselves in the middle of test data jungle made out of test results and log files. That is good news because those data contain information which is valuable and critical in the success of test automation. Well here&#8217;s the bad news – finding that valuable information can be difficult at times given that you are sitting in a library of data that keeps on growing while the testing is an ongoing process. 



But Hey! If you are still struggling with all these challenges, <a href="https://testsigma.com/">Testsigma</a>&nbsp;would be an ideal tool to help you move ahead! Easy to learn, adopt, and maintain!



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Factors that slow down Automation Testing_Testsigma

Factors That Slow Down  Automation Testing: Test Automation Challenges

Software development is more systematic today. Organizations are seeking measures to test the effectiveness and completeness of the software. Test coverage is the most valuable of them all. Test Coverage is a technique that measures the amount of automation testing that is performed by a set of tests (or test suites). It helps monitor the quality of automation testing and assists the testers in creating tests that cover all the untested missing areas.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#What_is_Test_Coverage">1 What is Test Coverage?</a></li><li><a href="#How_do_you_Ensure_Test_Coverage_to_Achieve_Maximum">2 How do you Ensure Test Coverage to Achieve Maximum?</a></li><li><a href="#Frequently_Asked_Questions">3 Frequently Asked Questions</a><ul><li><a href="#How_do_you_ensure_better_code_coverage">3.1 How do you ensure better code coverage?</a></li><li><a href="#How_can_I_improve_my_test_coverage_code">3.2 How can I improve my test coverage code?</a></li><li><a href="#What_is_a_test_coverage_plan">3.3 What is a test coverage plan?</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="what-is-test-coverage">What is Test Coverage?</h2>



Test coverage is the measurement of testing performed by a set of tests. It quantifies the areas in which a collection of test cases has been tested. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test coverage</a> includes collecting information to determine which program parts are executed using a test suite to determine which conditional statements have been taken branches. Basically, it is a way of ensuring that you are testing your code and determining how much area of the code a certain set of test plans covers.



Read here about <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-automation-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Automation Coverage</a>



Why is Test Coverage Important?



<ul><li>It gives information about the covered and uncovered area of automation testing.</li><li>Test coverage helps to make a decision about the quality of the product.</li><li>It tells the QA tester which all test cases have been executed and which are not.</li><li>Helps to create additional test cases to increase coverage.</li><li>Identify meaningless test cases which have no role in increasing the coverage.</li><li>Identify a quantitative measure of test coverage to ensure quality checks.</li><li>Helps to meet the exit criteria.</li><li>Helps to keep time, scope, and cost under control.</li><li>Prevents defects at an early stage of the project lifecycle.</li><li>Help easily find gaps in requirements and test cases at the unit and code level.</li><li>Allows to count features and measure them against several tests.</li></ul>



Benefits of Test Coverage



Test coverage is useful in implementing numerous testing approaches and plans. Here are some of the ways test coverage is beneficial:



<ul><li>It helps determine which parts of the code have been changed/modified.</li><li>It ensures checking the right areas of the code and highlights issues in those particular areas.</li><li>Test coverage improves the overall quality of the application as it covers a maximum amount of code.</li><li>This process helps in identifying and preventing defects early in the SDLC lifecycle.</li><li>It is easy to uncover gaps in requirements, test cases, and problems at the unit and code levels using <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-coverage-techniques/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test coverage techniques</a>.</li><li>It assists in identifying untested pathways in your application that enhance its usability.</li><li>You can manage testing time, cost, and scope if you properly design and use the test coverage process.</li><li>If you use testing tools, you can easily scale your test coverage.</li></ul>



You can do both functional and non-functional activities. Still, in most cases, the coverage calculations are as per the functional requirements only, as the most important objective of an application is to follow the specification requirements.



Test coverage helps in defining certain parts of the software to cover them with tests. Although it’s a great measuring strategy, even with 100% test coverage, you can’t be certain that your application is 100% bug-free. The ideal amount of test coverage should be based on the automation testing requirements and risk analysis.



<h2 id="how-do-you-ensure-test-coverage-to-achieve-maximum">How do you Ensure Test Coverage to Achieve Maximum?</h2>



<ul><li>Capture all the project related requirements at an early stage</li><li>Identify the critical requirements more accurately by having all the information on the differences between the current release of a product/app and the previous one to maximize positive coverage</li><li>Capture the critical <a href="https://testsigma.com/guides/what-is-test-case/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test cases</a> as early as possible</li><li>Prioritize the requirements and focus on areas which are of high importance</li><li>Adapt to test automation and use <a href="https://testsigma.com/test-management" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test management tools</a></li><li>Take an estimation effort in the execution of the test cases</li><li>Make your best resources work on the critical tasks and let new testers explore more from a fresh perspective</li><li>Include the developers as well in the process of writing <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">automation tests</a></li><li>QAs&nbsp; and BAs should perform the prioritization of the backlog tasks</li><li>Always maintain a checklist for all the tasks and activities</li><li>Interact more with your Dev team to get application behaviour insights</li><li>Keep track of your build cycles and bug fixes</li><li>Implement the continuous integration so that you can focus on better stability at the later stages as it’s done through the continuous integration for regularly integrating code changes into a shared code repository. Each commit triggers a build during which tests are run that help to identify if anything was broken by the changes.</li></ul>



Read here- <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-coverage-metrics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Coverage Metrics</a>



<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" width="1397" height="382" data-id="5292" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Test-Coverage_Testsigma.png" alt="Test Coverage_Testsigma" class="wp-image-5292" /></figure>
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By understanding automation testing coverage and considering these techniques and with automation as a part of the <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-automation-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">automation testing strategy</a>, and applying long term coverage criteria, testers can maximize and optimize their test coverage over time. We need to focus on those test coverage criteria that best suit our needs. <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Testsigma</a> offers comprehensive solutions that can help automate all the complex automation testing activities. Start using it today to fast track your automation testing at the speed of Agile.



<h2 id="frequently-asked-questions">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>



<h3 id="how-do-you-ensure-better-code-coverage">How do you ensure better code coverage?</h3>



You can ensure code coverage by following its techniques and calculating how many lines of code your tests cover. Writing more test cases, using testing tools to run the tests, and removing redundancies are some of the ways to ensure good code coverage. Read here &#8211; <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/code-coverage-vs-test-coverage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">code coverage vs test coverage</a>



<h3 id="how-can-i-improve-my-test-coverage-code">How can I improve my test coverage code?</h3>



You can improve your test coverage code by following the test coverage techniques and implementing tools that support such methods. Even writing and executing sophisticated test cases with the ability scale to cover more code for testing can improve your test coverage code.



<h3 id="what-is-a-test-coverage-plan">What is a test coverage plan?</h3>



Test coverage plan refers to the overall test plan that shows the areas being covered for testing. It helps monitor the quality of testing using just the test plan.