Importance of Testing Documentation in Software

Importance-of-Testing

Software Testing is a vital part of the standard development life cycle and nowadays, many large-scale businesses and big software giants like Microsoft, TCS, Oracle, Google, and more follow the concept of Testing Documentation to authenticate and document all their efforts and technology stack used before and during the testing process. Although this concept is a bit debatable for small-scale developments as crafting the testing documentation for these could be a costlier affair and big-time consumption with less technical knowledge and resources. Even some businesses do not consider documenting their testing processes as they hold an opinion that it is just a waste of time and efforts or these are not aware of its benefits at all. To clear out different doubts that arise in minds of the business people regarding the need for Testing Documentation and its benefits, we are going to have a thorough discussion over it in this blog.

What is Testing Documentation? Why is it important in Software or App testing?

Testing Documentation is the documental representation or resulting artifacts of different processes used for the product testing phase. It is a set of multiple documents containing vital testing related information like test strategy, test cycle, test metrics, test progress, test results, test summary, etc. All these set of documents helps the future testing team to measure the testing efforts, testing technologies, new requirements, and more other factors to conclude efficiently tested products. The team involved in the Testing Documentation process can refer to the IEEE829-98, the Standard for Software Test Documentation which holds all necessary information and details for creating standard documentation. The important terms or key concepts associated with Testing Documentation are defined below.
  • Test Plans –  It is the structured document distributed between the team and shared with partners that contain complete information about test strategy, schedule, resources, environment, plan, and limitations.
  • Test Strategy –  This document holds the complete outline of the testing process to be conducted helpful for developers, testers, external and internal stakeholders to check if the ongoing process is in alignment with it.
  • Test Data – It is the document containing information regarding the data to be input for the testing process which can be sample data like user profiles, stats, etc. similar to ones that will be used by the user with the product.
  • Test Scenarios – It contains real-time updates or information about all testing stages based on divided product functionality and interface modules.
  • Test Cases – Test cases are documents including the step-wise details, conditions, testing status, and existing inputs based on types of testing. These are used to compare current inputs with expected outcomes for better product functionality.
  • Traceability Matrix – It is documentation containing custom IDs for tracking testing progress and mapping Test Cases with expected outcomes.
  • Test Reports – These are external report documents based on the test results which may be associated with a complete project or certain product functionality.
  • Bugs Reports – As the name suggests, it is the documental information regarding detected bugs that are arranged according to their occurrence along with tangible solutions sometimes.
  • Test Summary – It is the final report containing entire test results to be handled by the client or stakeholder.
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Advantages of using Testing Documentation
Why any software development company requires Testing Documentation? What are its benefits? These questions are credible for those project Clients or Stakeholders who don’t have ounce information about its advanced benefits in product development and business profits. The following advantages with Testing Documentation can be a help for such inquisitive minds.
  • It acts as a reference for future projects helping testers perform analysis based on previous records and determine quick resolutions.
  • It delivers early-stage feedbacks and evaluation via testing plans and related documents to avoid possible mistakes in future stages.
  • It acts as a guide (with complete testing procedure information) to new testers and thus speeds up the employee onboarding process while eliminating any need for a personal mentor
  • With the pre-documented test plan, strategy, requirements, and goals for the project, it is quicker to get approval from the stakeholder about the project.
  • It strengthens internal coordination between teams whether developers, testers, or business owners with equal information sharing and knowledge about the process stage via different test documents.
  • Integrating Testing Documentation in the Software Development Life Cycle can also be proven as the best marketing strategy and sales strategy for a business.
  • It offers complete transparency between the project testing process and the client via clear representation of plan, execution, and reports.
  • It aids in delivering the right and quality product to the stakeholder with continual assessment of each testing stage and meeting all client requirements.
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Shortcomings with Testing Documentation
Along with multiple advantages of Testing Documentation, some drawbacks are also there which cannot be ignored like –
  • For low-budget companies, cost of test documentation may surpass the estimation.
  • Inexperienced or unskilled document writers can disturb the whole testing approach with incorrect or unrequited information.
  • It is sometimes quite challenging to keep regular tracks of modifications demanded by clients and updating testing documentation accordingly.
However, these shortcomings can be reversed by adopting useful tricks like selecting skilled and knowledgeable testers to write tests, writing Testing Documentation as per business scale and budget, seeking guidance from expert writers, etc.
Are you following the right testing approach for your products?

Testing Documentation is a productive section of the testing phase of software development. Its importance has been brought to notice by many software organizations. In addition to the effective documentation for the testing process, there is a dire need for the best testing practices, trending technologies, and a skillful QA/Testing team to deliver the best-expected output to the client.

We, as the professional software development company, extend our exclusive software services including advanced QA/Testing to all business sectors via certified and experienced teams, the best approach, and trending technology. If you have any project in mind for your business progress, directly contact us here.