Softawre Testing Presentation

chapter 8
what is software test plan ?
• Testing is a crucial phase in software development. Proper testing helps
identify the problem quite easily at an early stage. This eventually saves time
and resources by avoiding costly problems later on.
• But how do you plan testing to ensure a quality product? Usually, the test
plan serves as an outline for the whole course of testing. This also enables all
members of the team to have an overview of what needs to be tested, when
the testing should occur, and how test processes are carried out.
• A software test plan is a strategic document that defines how to ensure a
quality assurance for a software product. It covers all essential elements:
scope, objectives, timeline, resources, and tasks for the testing phase.
• It provides a detailed roadmap of which features will be tested, the
sequence for testing, and expected outcomes. This proactive approach
helps reveal issues early, saving time and reducing the costs of bugs later
in development. By setting expectations upfront, the test plan in software
testing minimizes risks and ensures the product meets high standards of
overall quality.
Key Components of Software Testing Plan
• A well-structured test plan is essential for software quality testing in
organizing and executing processes effectively. Below are the components of
a good test plan:
• Introduction: It provides an overview of the objectives, scope, and purpose
of the proposed test plan. This sets the stage for the document to help the
stakeholders understand why this is important and what is to be achieved by
the testing team.
• Scope of testing: It enumerates particular features, modules, subsystems,
and user interfaces to be tested. This also outlines what is out of the scope,
thus clearly stating what will and will not be covered.
• Test Approach: This describes strategies of testing, pinpointing whether
they can be manual or automated, and the reasons such methods could
be chosen. This helps stakeholders recognize why such an approach is
taken and how it links to the goals of the project.
• Types of Testing: Outlines the types of testing, such as functional,
integration, and usability testing. It ensures that the tests are suited to the
characteristics of the system under test and extends the depth of testing
on each feature according to its complexity and importance.
• Tools: This includes all the hardware and software components,
including networks and configurations, which are required to create
simulated real environmental conditions. This helps ensure that tests can
be run consistently and without many problems related to differences in
test environments. Details could include operating system and tool
information.
• Roles and Responsibilities: Allocates tasks among team members to
ensure that all people know what their task responsibilities are. Clear
responsibilities avoid confusion of any type, expedite the process, and
ensure there is a contact point for solutions.
• Test Schedule: It provides a timeline and major milestones of each phase of
testing. It will keep the team on track and track their progress until there is any
delay in due time.
• Risk Management: Identifies risks that may take place, stating solutions and
contingency plans. This will make sure testing can continue smoothly if some of
the identified risks occur, to a minimal level of disruption.
• Entry and Exit Criteria: These are the conditions that determine when testing
begins and/or ends. Entry criteria utilize prerequisites to determine the start of
testing, whereas exit criteria define quality thresholds that have to be met before
proceeding to the next phase.
• Test Deliverables: It documents the test results, defect logs, and summary
reports that come out of the test. User guides and insights for stakeholders-cum-
customers are also part of deliverables; in fact, proof of quality assurance and
valuable information for decision-making.
• By incorporating these components, a test plan software testing becomes a kind
of cookbook that ensures testing is orderly, efficient, and complete; thus, it will
truly assist in ensuring a quality software product.
Step-by-Step Guide to a Software Test Plan
1. Understand the Audience and Product
• Identify who will use the product. Try to understand their needs, preferences,
and technical abilities. This will make sure that your testing effort aligns with
user expectations and will serve your users better.
• Secondly, gather as much information as possible about the product needed:
features, specification, requirements. Discuss with stakeholders, developers,
and product owners to understand the application. This will enable the testers
to know how the users will use or interact with the software in order to
conduct effective testing.
2. Identify the Scope of Testing
• Clearly define what will be and will not be tested. In such a way, everyone
in the team will know the focal point. By clearly defining what is out of the
scope, you set the boundaries and eliminate a lot of unnecessary
confusion among team members.
3. Define Test Objectives
• State the major objectives of the testing; for instance, one of the big
objectives could be that the software performs the users’ needs without
major bugs. In this case, the objectives should be clearly identified to
keep testers on track and provide an indicator against which the success
of testing is measured.
4. Choose the Testing Type
• Select the most applicable form of testing for the project: unit, integration,
system, or user-acceptance testing. The approach should fit the particular
project methodology, such as continuous testing in agile projects and
structured cycles in waterfall models. Ensure that the selected approach
5. Identify Resources
• List and detail all necessary resources required for testing, including
testing tools, infrastructure, software, hardware, licenses, and
environments. Proper identification and allocation of these resources
ensure the testing process is well-supported and efficient.
6. Define Roles and Responsibilities
• Clearly define the roles of each team member and assign responsibilities
for the various tasks outlined in the test plan. This includes areas such as
automation, defect tracking, reporting, and execution. Assigning roles
ensures accountability and streamlines collaboration within the team.
7. Setup of Test Environment
• Set up an environment for testing that is as close to the real production
environment in terms of data hardware, software, and network settings. This
reduces drastically the chances of environmental problems while testing the
items and promotes easier deployment to production.
8. Risks Identification and Mitigation Strategies
• Document probable risks, such as resource delays or technical limitations of
any type; also, develop mitigation strategies. Specifically, if one feels that
resource availability is a problem, then do cross-training team members with
multipurpose roles. Proactive risk management protects against very hairy
execution with fewer disruptions.
9. Determine the Entry and Exit Criteria
• Clearly identify the unambiguous entry conditions, which initiate the testing,
and exit criteria,. Entry conditions ensure that what must be in place
preceding any test, while exit criteria ensure significant activities beforehand
to the end of testing. This will keep it all in order and ensure stakeholders’
expectations are met.
10. Test Deliverables
• Identify all test deliverables, such as test scripts, defect reports, and results
of tests. They should be well-documented and understood by any
stakeholder. Well-managed deliverables ensure that transparency into testing
progress and outcomes is close at hand, thus enabling collaboration.
11. Writing the Test Plan
• Combine all the defined components into a single test plan document that is
clear, concise, and readable. Include more graphics to enhance readability,
such as flowcharts, tables, and diagrams where necessary. This will make
the plan engaging and easier to read.
 Example of a Software Plan
• Software Test Plan: Weather Application
• Introduction
• The Weather Application provides current weather conditions, forecasts, and
warnings to its users in different locations. Users include tourists, commuters
or users who require accurate and updated weather information like farmers.
Location-based, hour-by-hour/day-by-day forecast functionality, and notice of
severe weather will also be available with the application.
• Scope of Testing
• The following components include the scope of testing for the Weather
Application:
• This ensures proper compatibility testing of the application to work on a
variety of devices, screen sizes, and browsers. Out-of-scope items will
include integrations with third-party weather data services and advanced
premium features such as historical weather data and ad-free access.
• Objectives and Goals of Testing
• The primary goals of testing are:Weather data is shown accurately and
updated in real time.
• Application is giving a consistent and smooth user experience on a variety
of devices and platforms.
• To verify that the weather alerts and notifications are timely and reliable.
• Validate the application handles heavy usage during extreme conditions,
especially in cases of high-traffic, adverse weather.
• Test Strategy and Approach
• Unit Testing: Each functional component, such as tracking location,
obtaining weather information, and performing a search, should be tested
separately to ensure that everything works according to the user’s expected
behavior.
• Integration Testing: This will be performed by integrating various modules
that include retrieving current weather data, alert systems, and location
services of the user to make sure the interaction and flow of data is accurate.
• System Testing: Tests will be performed to test the entire application,
starting from the search of a location to receiving the weather alerts.
• User Acceptance Testing: The selected number of users will test the app to
confirm its functioning with regard to user needs and requirements.
• Performance Testing: It looks into load testing and stress testing to ensure
that the application will perform properly under varying conditions, such as
sudden spikes in traffic.
 Resources and Team Roles

• Tools and Technologies: The tools to be used are Postman for API testing,
Appium for performance testing in mobile automation, JMeter for
performance testing, and BrowserStack for cross-browser compatibility
testing.
• Team Roles:
• QA Lead: Responsible for overseeing overall testing activities, planning,
and ensuring adherence to timelines. Reports progress and prepares
deliverable documentation.
• QA Engineers: Develop, maintain, and execute test cases for various
modules and features. They report and follow up on incidents.
• Automation Engineers: Design and execute automated scripts for functional
and regression testing.
• Performance Tester: Design and perform load and performance tests to
evaluate application stability under high usage scenarios.
 Test Environment Setup

• The test environment will closely replicate the production environment using
real devices, emulators, and simulators to test different operating systems
(iOS, Android), screen sizes, and network configurations. This setup ensures
that bugs or issues identified during testing are consistently reproducible and
can be effectively addressed.
• Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plans
• Weather Data Inconsistency: If the external weather API fails or provides
inconsistent data, mock data will be used to continue testing.
• Network Issues: Testing will be conducted over unstable networks to
identify performance bottlenecks and ensure fallback mechanisms effectively
handle network failures.
• High Traffic Load: During peak usage, such as natural disasters or extreme
weather events, the system may experience heavy traffic. To mitigate risks,
infrastructure scalability will be assessed through load testing.
• Deliverables and Documentation of Test
• The following test deliverables will be produced:
• Test Plan Document: Describes the testing approach, objectives, resources,
scope and schedule.
• Test Cases and Scripts: Detailed descriptions of individual tests to be
executed.
• Defect Reports: Records of defects or issues identified during testing,
categorized by severity and resolution status.
• Test Summary Report: High-level report summarizing testing activities,
coverage, and outcomes.
• UAT Sign-off Document: Formal acknowledgment that User Acceptance
Testing is complete and stakeholders approve the release.
Best Practices for Creating a Software Test Plan
• Here are some unique best practices for designing a
software test plan:
• Encourage Cross-Team Collaboration
• Involve teams beyond just testers and developers, including UX/UI
designers, business analysts, and customer support. Their diverse insights
can identify potential problems early. This results in a comprehensive test
plan that meets user needs and business objectives.
• Develop Reusable Test Assets
• Create reusable components like test cases, scripts, and automation
frameworks. This approach reduces redundancy, boosts efficiency, and
ensures consistency across testing projects. It also saves time when creating
test artifacts for future iterations.
• Simulate Real-Life Scenarios
• Design test cases that mimic actual user behaviors and edge cases. Include
conditions like fluctuating networks, varying device capabilities, or
unexpected user actions. Testing this way ensures the software performs
reliably in real-world situations.
• Align Testing with Business Objectives
• Ensure every testing activity directly supports the software’s business goals.
Understanding the business impact of each feature helps prioritize efforts on
critical areas, ensuring the product fulfills its purpose effectively.
• Review and Refine the Test Plan Regularly
• Testing needs evolve during development. Regularly update the test plan to
address changes in project requirements, feedback, and findings. This
ensures the test plan remains relevant and adequately covers new features
or adjustments.
• Establish a Feedback Loop
• Implement a structured process for gathering and integrating stakeholder
feedback at every testing stage. A feedback loop allows real-time
adjustments, preventing issues from escalating and maintaining the quality of
the testing process.
 Software Test Management Process

• Software Test Management Process is the structured approach used to plan,

control, and monitor all testing activities in the software development
lifecycle. It ensures that the software meets quality standards, is delivered on
time, and functions as expected. It involves not just the execution of tests but
also the organization, coordination, and improvement of the entire testing
effort.
• ✅ What It Means in Simple Terms:
• Think of software test management like being the project manager of testing
— it’s about:
• Planning what to test
• Assigning who does the testing
• Tracking how it’s going
• Making decisions based on the results
Key Stages of the Software Test Management Process

1. Test Planning
• What, how, and when will we test?
• Define objectives and scope
• Select the test strategy (manual, automated, tools)
• Identify resources (team, tools, environments)
• Estimate time and cost
• Set entry/exit criteria
2. Test Design
• What test cases do we need?
• Design detailed test cases based on requirements
• Prepare test data
• Map requirements to test cases (traceability)
• Review and finalize test designs
• 3. Test Environment Setup
• Where will we run the tests?
• Set up hardware, software, and network
• Configure test tools and databases
• Ensure it replicates the production environment as closely as possible
• 4. Test Execution
• Run the tests and report bugs
• Execute test cases
• Record results
• Log defects in the bug tracking system
• Re-test after bug fixes (regression testing)
5. Defect Tracking and Management
• Track and fix the problems
• Identify and log bugs with detailed information
• Prioritize bugs by severity and impact
• Work with developers for fixes
• Re-test and close bugs
6. Test Reporting and Metrics
• How well did we do?
• Generate reports: test coverage, defects found, status
• Analyze key metrics (pass/fail rate, defect density)
• Provide visibility to stakeholders
7. Test Closure
• Wrap up and learn
• Evaluate if objectives were met
• Archive test cases, data, and results
• Conduct a retrospective or lessons learned session
• Release final test summary report
 Conclusion
• Creating a software test plan makes sure your entire development process
leads to a product that works well and meets user needs. In this guide we
have looked at what is a test plan and step by step process to create it. A
good test plan helps you spot risks early, reduce bugs, and improve
teamwork. In the end, this means delivering software that runs smoothly and
gives users a great experience.
• Think of your test plan as a living document. As your project changes, your
test plan should adapt too. Regular updates based on feedback, new
requirements, or lessons learned keep your testing relevant and effective.
• By making your test plan flexible and focused on the user, you’re setting your
project up for success. Remember, testing isn’t something you do once and
forget about. It’s a continuous process of improvement. Stay open to change,
aim for quality, and make sure your software delivers real value to the people
who use it.