Automated testing is fundamental to ensuring software quality and helps improve time to market. The process lets QA team run tests repeatedly with least reliance on human resources. Further, software automation testing provides precise results. That being said, it is likely to incur mistakes that impact the results of automated testing process. We shall look into the ten most common limitations QA team commit in automated testing and the solutions that help avoid them.
Top 10 Pitfalls in Automated Software Testing and Their Remedies
Below discussed are ten most significant mistakes in automation testing and their respective solutions.
1. Absence of precise strategy
Sometimes enterprises start automated testing processes without having a proper strategy. For example, teams fail to consider long-term goals, infrastructural or resource support to implement automation testing. Such situations can impact the efforts put in and may result in delay in delivery and improper utilization of resources.
To fix this, the QA team has to create a solid automated testing strategy prior to the start of the testing process. As a first step, teams should focus on defining the objectives, choosing the most appropriate tools, assessing the tests to be automated and allocating enough resources. Also, match up the strategy with the software development lifecycle so that there is no instance of conflict between development and QA teams.
2. Inadequate test case design
Often writing complex, unnecessary test cases can make the maintenance of test suit difficult. Also, any flaws in test case design affect the results of automated testing and reduce the accuracy of the test findings.
To tackle this, the QA team has to adhere to the best practices and strategies in test case design. Make sure that the tests are easy to understand, reusable and modular. Also, prevent redundancy by developing shared functions, if there is an option. Additionally, focus on a test case design that offers hassle free updates along with debugging solutions.
3. Selecting wrong automation tools
Choosing the wrong automation tools impacts the reliability of automation testing efforts. The tools selected for testing should align with the project requirements. It should have the features that are needed to optimize the workflow. If QA team goes wrong in this area, it may result in compatibility problems.
To avoid this, a team should consider multiple tools before relying on one. Also assess the compatibility of the tools with your respective tech stack along with the community support and cost factor. Also, check its integration capabilities.
4. Automating Unessential Tests
QA teams may rely on automation for those tests that can be manually done. For example, UI-intensive tests and rarely modified tests are to be done manually. QA teams can avoid such pitfalls by choosing tests that consume a lot of time, which are repetitive and susceptible to human error.
It is advised to focus on regression tests, unit tests and smoke tests. Also, A team must make sure that they rely on automation for those tests which require regular updates.
5. Ignoring Script Maintenance
When the application evolves over time, the test scripts become outdated. Therefore, ignoring proper script maintenance is a serious flaw which can lead to failure in identifying bugs.
To fix this, your team must frequently update the instructions and code that automates the software functionality. It helps incorporate the changes in the application. It is better if the team can arrange post-release reviews to make necessary changes.
6. Inadequate test data management
Test automation needs consistent data and inadequate test data management affects test outcomes. This can be often due to inconsistent, unreliable data, corruption or unavailability. To resolve this, companies offering test automation services must strictly follow a solid data management strategy. Also, make use of data sets that can be reused for several test cases. Additionally, data integrity is important for proper test data management. To ensure data consistency, implement version control for test data.
7. Infrequent Testing
Insufficient test execution can affect identification of bugs. In other words, it increases the cost of resolving issues. Also, running tests prior to releases eclipse the benefits of automated testing. The remedy is to integrate automated testing into continuous integration. Further, it helps the automated tests to run with the code changes. Further, it helps identify bugs and issues rapidly. Ultimately it reduces the time consumed for debugging. As a result, it saves money as well.
8. Over-dependence on UI Testing
Often, most teams rely on automating UI tests intensively. The maintenance becomes much more difficult as it consumes a lot of time. UI elements change regularly, and it may result in broken tests and also lead to false negatives.
However, the team can fix this issue by focusing on unit tests as well as API testing. The advantage is that these tests have low failure rates. Top of all, it provides quick feedback.
9. Collaboration issues and lack of teamwork
Automation testing works only when developers and testers work in sync and a lack of communication between both teams can result in improper understanding of what is required including the scope of testing.
The only remedy is to encourage collaboration between development and testing teams. Go for DevOps so that testers can be involved in the early phase of the development process. If the focus is on proper collaboration and teamwork, it is ideal to use behavior-driven development (BDD) and test-driven development (TDD).
10. Neglecting performance
Sometimes QA team focuses only on functional automated testing and ignores the benefits of performance testing. Neglecting automated performance testing can lead to failure in identifying performance issues which ultimately impacts user experience.
End Note
Automating software testing brings several advantages if done in a proper way. Knowing the common mistakes in automation testing and their ideal solutions helps optimize the process conclusively. Understand these top ten automation testing pitfalls and follow the solid strategies to keep those flaws away to deliver first-rate products on time!
About the Author
Silpa Sasidharan is a content writer and social media copywriting expert working at ThinkPalm Technologies who aspires to create marketing texts for topics spanning from technology to automation and digital business solutions.