Manual testing is a vital part of quality assurance, but it can also be time-consuming, error-prone, and tedious. How can you make your manual testing process more effective and efficient? Here are some tips to help you optimize your manual testing workflow and deliver high-quality software.
Before you start testing, you need to have a clear and comprehensive plan of what to test, how to test, and what to expect. A good test plan should include objectives, a strategy, cases, data, environment settings, and criteria. These elements will help you avoid missing or repeating tests, ensure consistency and accuracy, and save time and resources. The objectives should outline the goals and scope of the testing. The strategy should detail the techniques and tools used for testing. Test cases should specify the scenarios and steps followed for each feature or function. Test data should list the inputs and outputs used for testing. Test environment should define the hardware, software, and network settings needed for testing. And finally, test criteria should set out the metrics and standards used to measure and evaluate testing results.
Before starting the Manual testing, make sure you know the reason of testing. Ask why,where,what, when questions to yourself and team. Get clear answers then create test cases which is most suited to your answers. Will the designed tests provide enough confidence to results? What are the tools, environment constraints should be checked and eliminated. Create cases with clear mandate of expected definition and in general that should be used for variants.
Here are the key points to make the manual testing process more effective from my perspective ? Create a detailed level of test plan by calling out the scope, objective, resources and Schedule ? Create a set of test cases and scenarios based on the requirements and User Stories ? Prioritise the test cases and focus on high-risk and critical functionalities first. ? Make sure that data is up to date and relevant to the current testing phase ? Test the application beyond predefined test cases and even from the end-user’s perspective to ensure the application meets the criteria ? Last but not least please allocate sufficient time for thorough testing without rushing
You can make your manual testing process more effective by following these steps: 1.Prioritise test cases:Focus on testing the most critical and high-risk areas. 2.Create a clear test plan:Define the scope, objectives, and approach to ensure that all aspects of the application are thoroughly tested. 3.Test management tools:Utilise tools that can help you organise, track, and manage. 4.Automate repetitive tasks:Identify and automate routine and repetitive test cases. 5.Collaborate with development team:Work closely with the development team to understand the changes in the application and prioritise accordingly. 6.Document and communicate findings:Clearly document your test cases, results, and any issues found during testing.
Before start the manual Testing, You should understand the Fundamental of Manual Testing, why Manual Testing is required, environment of that project, Understand the requirements, Than start the Testing.
I would recommend the below process to make the manual testing effective. 1.Analysis Analyse what to test?How to test?Where to test and the expected results. 2.Planning and Design Design the test suite with reusable testcases based on the plan with clear set of deadlines and with process and approach information. 3.Execution Based on the priority and complexity,execute the test suite and update the actual results with pass/fail status. 4.Reporting Reporting the bugs with clear documentation and steps and updating the status based on re-testing. 5.Maintenance Creating a RTM helps in verifying the test coverage and maintaining the test reports in a repository.
Not all test cases are of the same importance or urgency. You need to prioritize your test cases depending on factors such as risk, complexity, frequency, and business value. The MoSCoW technique is a useful method for prioritizing test cases; it stands for Must, Should, Could, and Won't. Must are the essential and critical test cases for the software to function and meet the requirements, Should are the important and desirable test cases for a good user experience and performance, Could are the nice-to-have test cases to enhance functionality and usability, and Won't are the unnecessary or irrelevant test cases for the current release or iteration of the software. By prioritizing your test cases, you can focus on the most valuable and risky features, optimize your testing coverage and efficiency, and deliver faster results with better quality.
Prioritize test cases based on Criticality Priority-0 – Sanity test cases which checks basic functionality and are run for pre-system acceptance and when product goes thru major change. These test cases deliver a very high project value to both engineering dept and to customers. Priority-1 – Uses the basic and normal setup and these test cases deliver high project value to both engineering and to customers. Priority-2 – These test cases deliver moderate project value. Executed part of ST cycle and selected for regression testing on need basis.
While preparing Test cases we would need to assign severity and priority to them and as a part of our Test Strategy decide how will we go about executing these test cases
In manual testing, test case priority is typically categorized into different levels to help guide the testing process. Here are common types of test case priority: 1. High Priority:Critical functionalities or scenarios that must be tested first. 2. Medium Priority:Important functionalities that should be tested after high-priority items. 3. Low Priority: Less critical functionalities that can be tested after high and medium. 4. Regression Priority:Test cases related to existing functionalities to ensure that new changes do not negatively impact previously tested areas. 5. Smoke Priority:Basic tests that ensure the application is stable enough for more in-depth testing. 8. Usability Priority:Test cases focusing on the user interface
As you perform your manual testing, it is essential to document your test results in a clear and consistent manner. A good test documentation should include a unique identifier for each test case, the outcome of each test case (e.g. pass, fail, skip, or blocked), screenshots, logs, videos or other artifacts that support the test status, and any observations, issues, feedback or suggestions that you have during or after the testing process. Having a well-documented test result can help you track and report on your testing progress and quality, communicate effectively with stakeholders, and identify and resolve any defects that arise.
Documenting all Cycle test results is essential for further Analysis. We can derive the regression strategy based on the previous cycle results. We can derive the metrics like which modules are error prone and QA team need to concentrate on these modules in the future releases. Go/No-Go Decision can be made based on the test results for a specific release.
Manual testing can involve a lot of time-consuming and error-prone tasks, such as setting up the test environment, entering the test data, executing the test cases, and verifying the test results. To make your manual testing process more effective, you can automate some of these tasks using tools like Test data generators (e.g. Faker, Mockaroo, or GenRocket), Test execution tools (e.g. Selenium, Postman, or Katalon Studio), and Test verification tools (e.g. TestComplete, TestNG, or JUnit). By automating your repetitive tasks, you can save time and effort while also reducing errors and inconsistencies. This will ultimately increase your testing speed and reliability.
Introducing automation to handle repetitive and time-consuming tasks in the manual testing process significantly enhances efficiency. In my experience, automating routine test cases not only reduces the likelihood of human error but also allows QA professionals to focus on more complex and exploratory testing aspects. I once implemented automation for regression testing, streamlining the process and freeing up valuable time for the QA team. By automating repetitive tasks, you not only increase the speed of testing but also ensure consistent and reliable results, making the overall manual testing process more effective and robust.
Manual testing is not a one-time activity, but rather an ongoing process that requires regular review and improvement. Thus, you should evaluate your testing process and identify the areas that need to be improved, such as test design, execution, reporting, and feedback. To do this, you can use various methods and tools, like test metrics, reviews, and tools. These will help you assess and monitor your testing performance and quality, analyze and improve your practices and outcomes, and enhance and optimize your process. By reviewing and improving your testing process, you can ensure that it is aligned with project goals and expectations, thus delivering the highest possible software quality.
Review all the test cases based on the functionality and are not able to Automate. Apply the risk index with Probability and Impact criteria to minimize the test cases for execution by applying Risk based testing approaches. Minimize the test cases growth with All pair testing techniques to have 20% of Your test cases cover 80% of Functionality. Review regularly the test cases while starting the sprint and once the release is over.
Review is very important a) Customer review b) Peer review then based on rejected or missed defects our test case creation and documentation process should be always improved
Peer Review and feedback should be incorporated. Detailed review. Customer review. Tracking of all review process and their feedback incorporation is most important to improve the testing processes.
1. Streamline tasks - Break down the task into smaller, more manageable steps. Automate or simplify repetitive tasks whenever possible. 2. Establish clear guidelines - Create a written set of rules and processes that are easy to understand and follow. 3. Provide comprehensive training - Make sure all employees understand the process and are equipped with the right tools and knowledge to do their job. 4. Utilize technology - Leverage technology to reduce manual labor and improve efficiency. Examples include automation tools, cloud computing, and data analytics. 5. Review and adjust - Monitor the performance of the process and gather feedback from employees. Make changes as needed to optimize efficiency.