How To Start Automation Testing From Scratch?

The term ‘automation’ does not merely mean the completion of tasks at a super-fast pace. This procedure involves a proper setup, a planned budget, efficient planning, and constant maintenance. The initial setup of automating parts of business gives reduced production when compared to manual work. But, one can understand the actual strength of automation once you complete the entire setup efficiently. Automation testing achieved through a range of procedures, including mobile automation, is one of the most preferred techniques.

An overview of automation testing

Despite the initial hurdles, several tech-first companies strive hard to automate their business. This is mainly because automation testing ensures rapid test results along with an increased volume of tests. Such practices reduce human error and also give the opportunity of running the test at any point in time without any specific office hours. This facility is highly attractive for streamlining any CTO process.

But, what is the need for automation testing?

The principal reason for automating the business despite such facilities involves money, as the tools required are quite expensive, and it becomes burdensome for smaller start-ups without a considerable budget. Most of the smaller companies do not possess the necessary resources for buying and maintaining new and updated software and cannot also employ efficient managerial staff for managing it.

The second most crucial factor in this respect is the time factor. The automation procedure is not as simple as downloading software and starting to use it. The process is furthermore complicated, even if it is mobile automation. Once the software is downloaded, the sample test cases need to be run to check the efficiency. The team members are also required to record the test cases for setting up.

Moreover, the automation tools also need constant maintenance and rerecording of test cases as soon as any update occurs. The entire procedure is quite lengthy and requires skilled efficiency. Without expert team members, automation can cause more trouble than solving problems.

Another critical factor is suitability. A survey of IBM shows the differences in the cost of automated testing when compared to manual testing.

The automated test case ensures better longevity without any need for any specific change. The test cases created from any generalized manual process are more comfortable with automating. The more complicated the task, the further difficult the automation procedure becomes. Moreover, automation is expensive than the manual execution of the job.

So, from the above analysis, it is clear that the implementation of automation is dependable on the suitability. It is a complicated procedure and involves risk at the initial stage. Therefore, while setting up the automation process, the circumstances need to be analyses well before execution.

What needs to be taken care of while launching any product?

While launching any new product or if the product is in its “validation” stage, the proper delivery of a perfect MVP is crucial along with a suitable market fit. Spending time, labor, and money at this stage for automation is not praiseworthy. Once the product gets a firm footing in the market, then one may think about resorting to automation tactics, considering all the aspects in the long run.

The size of the QA team is also a matter of concern for implementing automation. The skilled and resourceful QA team ensures better management of automation procedures. These aspects make smaller companies think twice before implementing such a massive technology.

Salient features and essential details of automation testing that needs to consider

As automation is a complicated and expensive process; therefore, careful, long-term planning is necessary to ensure which parts of the business require automation. This planning is essential for the prevention of unnecessary drainage of resources. If a testing procedure involves a massive amount of manual data input, then automation is an essential implementation there. Then the process becomes more time-efficient.

Too many cross-references in a testing process are prone to human error. Minimalizing such tendencies, automation is a safer option. It reduces the presence of bugs that may be undetectable by the human eye. Automation can be efficiently time-saving in repetitive tests. It saves an enormous amount of tedious manual labor in such away. Moreover, it is better to automate the tests that are more permanent.

When do you need to hire QA analyst?

An efficient QA strategy involves careful planning of adjusting the criteria into both manual and automated techniques. This makes it necessary to hire QA analyst. A more extensive toolkit for testing ensures better detection of bugs. Every step of testing cannot be automated, and also not every step requires automation. Therefore, an effective planning strategy provides better results.

Exploratory tests cannot be automated. These tests are run to explore potential bugs in a system. Such analyses require manual monitoring and innovative techniques to determine the portions needed to be tested, which makes it essential to hire quality assurance developer besides the need to hire a QA analyst. Easy navigation of the app is necessary in this case rather than a pre-determined strategy of the testers.

UX and UI tests cannot be automated as well. They test user experiences. It can be best conducted manually to ensure the real-life experience of the users. A tester will detect any user experience while navigating the particular application. Similarly, interface testing also requires manual expertise rather than technological interference. This test involves designing, typography, etc.

The primary requirement of automated testing requires a code suite for ensuring a continuous integration setup. This ensures and provides support to automate test run before they merge with the main element in the upstream. This sort of efficient infrastructure is essential to gain effective results for automation. The automated regression strategy is not the only path to success in today’s world. The efficient and careful blend of automation and manual labor provides the key to success.

Final Words

The entire automation testing discipline is not simple or effortless. While it involves a lot of technicalities along with efficient and skillful professionals are equally important in completing the task and starting automation testing from scratch. Along with that, one must keep the above details and procedures in mind, while also carefully organizing and planning the entire process necessarily. There is also a need to hire quality assurance developer who can perfectly organize the entire automation testing.

With successful planning and proper techniques, and appropriate execution, starting automation testing from scratch, and mobile automation, can turn out to be pretty seamless, and a pretty time-efficient process that can yield long-term results for an entity.