What are the most common mistakes when conducting regression testing?

Planning is as essential, but it also needs to be clarified. One of the mistakes people make is that they do not have reliable references. This is very important in the planning. This means that we need to do regression testing with a comparable reference. Another aspect that needs organisation is synchronizing with the product experts/managers, so that you agree on the rules, and expectances.

Planning is the key for achieving end-goal. Same goes with Regression testing. Before initiating testing, one need to define "Why" and "What" carefully. Once these 2 are defines, then the whole testing need to be planned. At times we get carried away with Agile and avoid planning; Agile is not about "no plan". Rather it is planning in the initial phase and calibrating it to the dynamic changes. Regression Testing plan need to be aligned with Business goals, solution design and scope of the solution.

The best way to have a targeted regression bed, planning is the first step which should include all the required steps and process and results. This plan should be created before the regression testing begins based on the requirements.

When doing regression testing, people often make mistakes like not testing enough scenarios, relying too much on automated tests, forgetting to update test cases, ignoring changes in the testing environment, and not checking non-functional aspects thoroughly. It's also common to overlook critical scenarios, skip testing integrations, and forget to document test results, which can all impact the reliability of regression testing.

I have five points from planning of product realization on regression testing. 1. Early Identification of Regression Points -code changes, integrations, dependencies 2. Test Case Selections and Optimize testing efforts through smart prioritization. 3. Automated Regression Testing- Speed, consistency, and repeatability matter. 4. Version Control and Baseline: Maintain stability and track changes. 5. Traceability Matrix : Link requirements, design, code, and test cases cohesively.

Test selection for a regression suite involves carefully selecting the most relevant and effective test cases by applying following methodologies Focus on critical functionalities: Analyze the software application to identify its core functionalities and determine which test cases are essential for verifying these critical features. Target Error-Prone Modules: Identify modules of the application that have a history of regressions or are known to be error-prone Analyze Change Impact: Prioritize regression testing of areas that have been directly affected by changes or may be indirectly impacted due to dependencies. Coverage vs Efficiency: Strike a balance between comprehensive test coverage and efficient test execution.

Test selection is the next most important aspect (after Planning). It has direct impact on the outcomes and succesful performance of the solution. Focus should be on scope of solutions, design features and alignment with business users behaviour. Test selection is aimed to identify gaps in the solution that are critical to performance as well as user experience.

Selecting the wrong test cases can lead to incomplete coverage and missed regressions. Carefully review the code changes and identify the specific test cases that are relevant to the modified functionality. Utilize test case management tools to organize and track test cases effectively.

Mistake: Choosing irrelevant or inadequate test cases for regression testing. Impact: Ineffective testing that doesn't cover critical areas, leading to undetected defects in the application. Solution: Carefully select test cases based on the impact of changes, ensuring coverage of essential functionalities and areas prone to defects.

Automation is like salt, too much will create issues and not having in right amount will result in tastless outcome. One need to right size usage of test automation, so as to achieve efficiency and at the same time manual oversight and inputs.

Regression testing is one of the most important and key aspect of any testing activity. We cannot launch a new feature without making sure the existing functionality is working fine as part of backward compatibility. Extensive automation coverage is the only way to achieve this.Automation should be written in a way that it should cover all end to end, integration scenarios, detailed assertions and use cases along with proper reporting to analyze and report defects. Also, automation should be updated with every release and for every production issue corresponding test case should be added in automation suite after proper RCA.

I've learned that the proper use of automation in regression testing demands a nuanced understanding of its benefits and limitations. Strategic, selective automation, coupled with adherence to best practices, is key to leveraging automation as a valuable asset rather than a potential source of unreliability or inefficiency.

My suggestion for Automated Regression testing is to incorporate those cases with real value to our flows and customers. I've seen several regression suites with millions of test scripts not adding value; sometimes, it is just a number to mark. We need to have a proper strategy for our automated regression suite.

Can not agree more. Automation is definitely a valuable technique for regression testing, as it can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the testing process. By automating repetitive or complex test cases, testers can save time, effort, and cost, and focus on more creative or exploratory testing tasks. Automation can also improve the consistency and accuracy of the test execution and reporting, as it eliminates human errors. Automation can also increase the test coverage and frequency, as it can run more tests in less time and in different environments.

Reporting is performed to keep the stakeholders appraised of the progress and status of the solution performance. Too less reporting or too much reporting both are deterimantel to overall objective. Right reporting will enable the stakeholders with much needed info that helps them to take decisions, at the same time it enables both development and testing team to work together for better good.

I found out that 1.Reporting helps find those sneaky bugs that might have crept in during the update. 2. Proper reporting ensures that the app's existing features still work correctly. 3. Reporting helps identify risks. If the app now crashes when you choose "extra olives," that's a risk to user satisfaction. Reporting allows the developers to fix it before hangry customers start complaining.

Mistake: Neglecting to create detailed and clear regression testing reports. Impact: Stakeholders may lack visibility into the testing process and the status of regression testing, hindering informed decision-making. Solution: Generate comprehensive reports that include test coverage, pass/fail status, defect details, and any other relevant information for stakeholders.

Effective communication and collaboration among developers, testers, and stakeholders are critical for successful regression testing. Clear communication ensures that everyone is aligned on the testing objectives and that any issues are identified and addressed promptly.

The most common mistake people make is when the results are not read with a cautious mind. sometimes the data that is not there is more valuable than the one that is there. Survivorship Bias

Three things I found helpful about feedback. Is that it hep to 1. mitigating Risks to Existing Functionality: When we modify software—whether it's fixing bugs or introducing new features. By actively seeking feedback from developers, users, or customers, we can swiftly catch unintended side effects. 2. Boosting Confidence in New Releases: Positive feedback during regression testing bolsters our assurance that changes won't trigger unexpected issues. Conversely, ignoring feedback and releasing a flawed version erodes trust and tarnishes our reputation. 3. Enhancing User Satisfaction: Software exists to serve users. By actively seeking and acting upon feedback, we elevate the user experience.

Mistake: Ignoring feedback from regression testing and not incorporating lessons learned. Impact: Missed opportunities for process improvement and continued issues with regression testing effectiveness. Solution: Encourage feedback from testers, developers, and other stakeholders. Use the feedback to refine test cases, improve automation scripts, and enhance overall regression testing processes.

In addition to the regression testing mistakes that have been highlighted by QA SMEs, you could also overcome poor test data management, neglecting usability testing, ignoring performance testing, failing to test integrations and underestimating impact of changes. This will ensure that software quality remains high and user satisfaction is maintained throughout the development lifecycle.

The biggest drawback of any regression testing, is that too many things need to be tested, at the last mile, and with as stringent budget as possible. For regression testing to be effective, there needs to be a lot of review sessions and discussions with the business users, to make sure the scenarios used in the regression are as close to a real user's behavior as possible.. Regression testing is not the same as a "quality check" and is not a tick mark activity. Delivering portions of code ahead of time, will make the regression process stronger, since the initial iterations will ease out the shake down errors faster

One of the most common mistakes is poor prioritisation and loosing customer perspective, one effective tool to mitigate this mistake is AESE matrix, to prioritise components or system areas that are more critical to the customers and business and avoid the one that falls into the too complex low value, keeping customer at the core of this prioritisation is critical for a successful regression planning

The effectiveness of regression testing also depends on the comprehensiveness of the testing scenarios being executed. Failure to consider all potential scenarios or missing any such can lead to undetected defects, potentially compromising the overall performance and user experience of the product. To guarantee thorough regression testing testers must adopt an approach carefully considering all possible scenarios and their expected outputs. Additionally and more importantly, testers either alone or with the help of DEV team should leverage automated testing tools to efficiently execute a wide range of scenarios. By executing all possible scenarios, regression testing helps the software stay reliable and working in a way it should.