Test Evidence Suite

Every day I keep on getting several requests for a Test Case Template. I’m surprised that many testers are still documenting test cases with Word docs or Excel files.

Most of them prefer excel spreadsheets because they can easily group test cases by test types and most importantly they can easily get test metrics with Excel formulas. But I’m sure that as the volume of your tests goes on increasing, you will find it extremely difficult to manage.

If you are not using any Test case management tool, then I would strongly recommend you to use an open-source tool to manage and execute your test cases. 

Test case formats may vary from one organization to another. However, using a standard test case format for writing test cases is one step closer to setting up a testing process for your project.

It also minimizes Ad-hoc testing that is done without proper test case documentation. But even if you use standard templates, you need to set up test cases writing, review & approve, test execution and most importantly test report preparation process, etc. by using manual methods.

Several documents and reports are being prepared as part of Testing. Some are Test Strategy doc, Test Plan doc, Risk management Plan, Configuration management plan, etc. Among these Test Summary Report is one such report which is prepared after the Testing is completed.

Many testers, particularly when working off detailed test instructions, have a tendency to minimize the information they record when testing. This can vary from noting what variables or values they start with and what they end with, to simply noting the test “passed.” The challenge comes when problems are found later, possibly after the software is in production. How do we remember what we did, and when? What records do we have to refer to? How do we, as testers, answer the question “How was this tested?”

How Was This Tested?

That is one question every tester will get asked at some point in his or her career. Sometimes it is asked in a manner of “Wow! That is fantastic!” But sometimes, it is asked in a manner of “Why did you not find this problem?”

Of course, the difference between a tester feeling complimented and a tester getting defensive comes down to the tone of voice. Asking, “How was this tested?” can lead to an informative discussion where everyone learns something, or it can set off a confrontation—particularly when the tester already feels frustrated that a bug was missed and got through to production.