Although software testing services offer many advantages, including test automation, improper implementation can lead to various problems. It's essential to outline your test automation suite’s architecture and develop a robust testing approach that delivers the highest possible output. This is where following test automation best practices and choosing the right software testing tools becomes crucial.

This article outlines several recommended practices you should follow when setting up your test automation suite and explains the rationale behind them.

1. Test Automation Best Practices to Consider The best test automation techniques involve selecting which tests to automate, using the appropriate software testing tool and test automation framework, and maintaining documentation for testing analysis. By adhering to these best practices and utilizing the right software testing tools, organizations can achieve improved testing results, reduce costs, increase productivity, and accelerate the delivery of high-quality software products.

Let’s examine these recommended practices in further detail.

1.1 Establish Your Goals
Setting goals is the first step in planning for automation testing. Determine the goals you have for your automated software testing by asking your QA team the following questions:

• Is your goal to reduce the time spent on manual testing during the software development process?
• Do you want to achieve more test coverage for all aspects and functions of your application?
• Are you aiming to use more effective testing techniques and software testing tools to enhance the overall quality of your software?

By defining your objectives, you can decide which types of tests to automate and in what order to execute them, using the appropriate software testing tools.

1.2 Select Which Test Cases Need Automation
One of the best practices in test automation is knowing which test cases to automate. Not all test cases require automation; some need human judgment for effective implementation. You need to identify the test cases that are ideal candidates for automation, utilizing software testing tools. These test cases typically have the following characteristics:

• Time-consuming and overwhelming when done manually
• Impossible to perform manually
• Focus on frequently used functionalities
• Run across multiple builds
• Are vulnerable to human errors
• Use large amounts of data or multiple datasets
• Run on various OS configurations, hardware, and platforms

1.3 Divide Tasks Based on Skill
Assign each test case and suite to individuals based on their technical proficiency. For instance, if a test requires the use of a proprietary software testing tool, team members with different skill levels may find it relatively easy to construct test scripts. However, if the team opts to use an open-source software testing tool, it becomes more complex. In this case, hiring a coder experienced with the specific tool’s requirements is essential for creating automated tests.

1.4 Use the Appropriate Testing Framework and Tool
Automation tools, including specific software testing tools, are essential for test automation. When choosing an automation tool, consider the characteristics that define the ideal software testing tool, such as selecting the appropriate software type based on the application types—web-based or mobile-based, for example.

Appium and Selenium IDE are two distinct software testing tools available for automation technologies. Consider factors such as program effectiveness, device compatibility, financial limitations, and compatibility with real devices during the selection process.

Some commercially available software testing tools simplify the testing of web and mobile apps. However, there are also many free and open-source software testing tools available. Your choice should be based on an analysis of the project requirements.

By understanding overall financial constraints and the characteristics of the testing program, software test automation testers can help software organizations select the most appropriate software testing tool.

1.5 Maintain Test Records for Analysis
Even though machines conduct test automation, human input can provide valuable insights. Tests often fail for various reasons, followed by swift resolution procedures. But how can you quickly find solutions to these issues?

This can be achieved by identifying the exact causes of test failure. Software testing tools can do this by capturing screenshots or video logs of the failed testing scenario. Alternatively, you can manually record testing videos or failure reports in text format.

This helps in quickly identifying problems and taking immediate action to address them, which improves understanding of the issue, speeds up the process, and prevents recurring mistakes. Using software testing tools for record-keeping enhances the accuracy of the analysis.

1.6 Establish an Automated System
Setting up your test environment with the right software testing tools is crucial to maximizing your test automation efforts. This stage involves implementing test execution, report generation, and data storage techniques.

A test environment includes the network, software, and hardware configurations needed to facilitate the execution of your tests. You must configure your test environment to mirror the production environment to identify any configuration-specific issues.

Here are some additional recommendations for configuring your testing environment:

• Ensure that network and hardware configurations are correctly set up to avoid false alerts from your testing.
• Assemble and generate your test data in a way that makes it accessible when tests are run. Remember to clean up the test data after the tests are completed.
• Consider masking production data to conceal sensitive information if you plan to use it.
• Once your test environment is configured, run a smoke test to confirm the build stability of the test environment.
• Dedicate time to maintenance if your testing is conducted on an on-premises system.

1.7 Divide Your Automated Testing Efforts
Instead of assigning all test automation tasks to one person, divide them based on each team member’s skill set and experience. For example, you might assign test script writing to those with suitable programming knowledge and expertise in using software testing tools, while others with experience in testing user processes could handle creating test cases and test data for the scripts. Sharing testing responsibilities promotes collaboration, increases productivity, and encourages collective test ownership.

You can adjust task distribution based on the resources your team uses. For instance, if your team employs low-code or codeless testing tools, you can delegate more test case creation to non-programmers, utilizing software testing tools to streamline the process.

Splitting test automation work reduces reliance on a single team member and enhances teamwork.

1.8 Use Quality Test Data
Data-driven tests are crucial for modern web and mobile applications. Since millions of users interact with these apps, it’s often necessary to evaluate and interpret real-time data streaming from multiple data points simultaneously. Manual testing methods, prone to errors, cannot handle complex processes effectively.

Data-driven test automation works by utilizing various data points. It organizes the important data into parameters, making it easier to track upcoming changes and prioritize data testing. Implementing an appropriate software testing tool for test data management is essential to keep complex test data separate from automation code.

Data-driven testing reduces the cost of introducing new tests and modifications by validating and testing them with just one file. It’s one of the best test automation practices for efficiently completing regression tests.

1.9 Create Automated Tests that Withstand UI Changes
The user interfaces of your application are crucial to end-to-end (E2E) test automation. These tests focus on identifying and interacting with web components on a page. In the early stages of development or as you enhance your program, your tests should be robust enough to handle changes to its user interfaces. If not, your tests will likely fail.

If you rely heavily on Document Object Model (DOM) selectors, your tests may break easily. You can resolve this by assigning unique selectors to your application’s web components, using software testing tools to manage these selectors. This also reduces the need to modify test code as the user interface changes.

Additionally, consider design patterns like the Page Object Model (POM) when creating your test automation framework. Properly implementing design patterns minimizes code duplication and updates when changes are made to the application. It also makes your codebase more extensible. Creating atomic and independent end-to-end testing is also crucial for obtaining reliable results.

1.10 Result, Analysis, and Reusability
Finally, at this stage, you should have a strategy for analyzing failed test cases and addressing identified issues. It often takes longer than expected to notify testers of a problem and get it resolved. By clearly defining the process, and utilizing appropriate software testing tools, teams can reduce disagreements and save time and money while improving the application.

Identify tests that are gradually failing. Use a timer in your test run to find tests that are slow or frequently fail. By identifying the bottleneck and reorganizing these tests’ activities, using software testing tools, you can maximize testing efficiency.

Compare test results to verified reports and documentation from earlier iterations to increase test coverage, leveraging software testing tools for detailed analysis.

For more advanced test reports and improved test maintenance, include smart test reporting capabilities, either built within the software testing tool or from a third party. For a sophisticated, serverless continuous testing solution, consider using Katalon TestOps. Katalon TestOps provides a centralized location for all your advanced, AI-backed test results and enables trigger execution with a scheduler, API, and continuous integration plugins for immediate feedback.

1. Conclusion Every program, regardless of its complexity, likely has a unique set of testing requirements, and no two development teams are the same.

If you want to deliver high-quality applications quickly, test automation is essential. It improves test accuracy, test coverage, and speed. However, to ensure you’re effectively utilizing test automation, it’s important to follow best practices, such as those mentioned above, and use the right software testing tools. Understanding which strategies and software testing tools work best for your organization is crucial.