A test plan refers to a detailed document that specifies the objective and estimations of the project. It includes a set of scopes, the approach required, and the strategy for testing. A test plan also has deadlines for project test planning and the required resources like test plan tools for the successful completion of the project and scheduling the intended tasks accordingly.
Test plans can be said to be a layout for running the test, that is required to guarantee the proper and smooth functioning of the test.
Types of Test Plans
- Master test plan
- Phase test plan
- Testing type-specific test plans
Why are Test Plans Necessary?
- Test plans to aid individuals outside the QA teams (business managers, developers, and customer-facing teams) in understanding the testing procedure of the app or website.
- It offers an obvious guide to QA engineers on how to conduct testing.
- It helps you understand precisely how an app or website’s objectives.
- It details the components like scope, and strategy for testing.
- These components make it convenient for management personals to review the project and re-use the information for other projects.
Information Required to Make Test Plans (Components of a Test Plan)
- An inclusive scope of testing
- A draft on how the test is to be run (test approach)
- The components, characteristics, and operations needed to be tested
- A comprehensive scheduling
- Resource allocation for testers and developers
- Test planning tools
- Test environment set-up
- Defect management
- Risk Management
- Exit Parameters
Now that we know what are the components of a test plan, let’s understand how they help while creating a test plan.
Steps to Create a Successful Test Plan
Product Analyses: Learning about the product is the first and foremost step of test planning, you should keep in mind who will be the user of the product, what is the main goal of the product, how the product will work, and what are the hardware and software specifications.
Designing Test Strategy: It entails a plan on what are the objectives of the product and how can you reach them. Test strategy designing also includes determining risk management, test logistics, overall cost, and the amount of effort required for testing.
Defining Project Objectives: This feature defines the aim anticipated result for test execution. It includes software features, performance standards, GUI and functionality that has to be tested. This will be a reference point for comparison of the test results.
These refer to the criteria or rules which determine the activities in testing a project. Test criteria are of two main types:
Suspension Criteria: It determines the benchmark for the ceasing of all the tests.
Exit criteria: It determines the benchmarks which represent when the project testing is successfully over.
Planning the Allocation of Resources: Resource allocation is a step in which you break down all the resources that will be needed for project completion. It determines the number and type of testing tools and equipment required.
Planning the Environment for Project Testing: Determining the environment for the project testing is crucial. Here the environment refers to hardware and software setup where QA teams will run their tests.
Determining Test Schedule and its Estimations: To schedule and estimate the test, you have to break down the project into smaller tasks, and then, allocate the time and effort required for each smaller task. For creating a schedule, be aware of the working day number, employee availability, daily resources availability and project deadline.
Establishing Test Deliverables: It refers to a list of tools, documents (on test plans, test design, emulators & stimulators, etc), and equipment that ought to be created, provided, and maintained that will support project testing.
Key Points to Remember
When you are making a test plan, be certain that your test plan is
- Concise
- Organized
- Flexible
- Understandable
- Accurate
Conclusion
Thank you for following us till the end, we hope that by now you have understood the in and out of test planning and its related areas. If you have any further queries or any suggestions to make, drop a comment below in the comment section and we will try to reach out as soon as possible.