A Practical Guide for QA Engineers - What Tests Should Be Automated

QA Automation Engineers and SDETs constantly face requests to automate various tests. Deciding which tests to automate is a core daily task, and being able to prioritize the right tests helps to deliver quick results to other teams and demonstrates sound decision making.

𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲

🔁 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆

Tests that run frequently, like regression and sanity tests, are ideal automation candidates. Daily smoke tests that check basic functionality should be automated to provide quick feedback on application stability.

🔥 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀

Critical functionalities like authentication, security, data integrity, and financial transactions should be automated. These features must work flawlessly under all circumstances.

🔒 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀

Features that rarely change require minimal test maintenance, making them valuable long term automation investments. Main user scenarios that have remained stable across several releases are perfect candidates.

⏰ 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀

Multi step tests or large test suites with hundreds of cases consume significant manual effort. Scenarios requiring repeated user interactions (like multiple login/logout cycles) are tedious and error prone when done manually but execute in seconds when automated.

🍒 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁

Tests that can be automated easily and quickly offer immediate returns. Basic login/logout functionality can be automated fast and shows immediate value by reducing manual testing time.

📊 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴

Tests involving multiple datasets or input combinations benefit significantly from automation. Form validation with various input combinations ensures all edge cases are handled efficiently.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀

Balance the effort required to automate against the time it will save. Prioritize automation where long term benefits justify the initial investment.

Automating complex but frequently executed tests saves significant time. However, a manual test that takes 10 minutes and runs once a month isn't worth 40 hours of automation effort.

𝐏.𝐒. 🚩 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝟑-𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 “𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐐𝐀 → 𝐒𝐃𝐄𝐓” 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢-𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐝-𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐃𝐄𝐓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬.

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