An Introduction to Software Testing Documentation

The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory – this Chinese proverb perfectly encapsulates the Software Testing Documentation process. Keeping a record of every bug found and change made during testing helps in keeping the stakeholders informed as and when required. 

During a Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), it is important to keep track of all the test cases, user scenarios, and detected bugs. Thus, having a clear log of the testing activities is the mark of successful Documentation in Software Testing. Want to know how you can keep track of the SDLC? Read this blog to understand the process of Software Testing Documentation in detail, alongside its goals, benefits and drawbacks. 

Table of Contents 

1) What is Software Testing Documentation? 

2) What are the types of Software Testing documents? 

3) What is the objective of a Software Testing Documentation? 

4) Benefits and drawbacks of Software Testing Documentation 

5) Conclusion 

What is Software Testing Documentation? 

Software Testing Documentation is the process of documenting the following: 

a) The techniques used for testing 

b) The bugs found 

c) Errors fixed 

d) The methods used to fix them 

e) The changes made to the code while removing the errors 

Test Documentation in Software Testing should ideally be done before performing the tests or while testing the software. It is usually observed that projects that have all the documents have a high level of maturity. 

Careful and meticulous Documentation in Software Testing can save an organisation an immense amount of time and money. Conducting Documentation Testing shows the importance of clients and processes to individuals and organisations. 

Moreover, producing a thorough document which notes all the relevant changes and provides information to Testers and Developers on all the errors and the methods used to fix them. The presence of proper documentation is one of the foremost criteria for giant brands like Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, Google, etc., to release the product for mass production. 

Newer and smaller companies usually argue about Test Documentation being an optional process as it adds additional costs to the development process without adding any real value during SDLC. However, Documentation Testing should precede, accompany, and finalise any testing being done as it reduces unforeseen issues in the future and also provides proper documentation for the users. 



 

What are the types of Software Testing documents? 

There are numerous test documents, and each of them meets a wide variety of standards. The most common type of Test Documentation contains approaches that will be taken to test a particular software system and will define different facets of the testing process. The different types of Test Documentation depend on the organisation, product, and customer. Here are the most common types of Test Documentation used in Software Testing: 


 

1) Test scenarios 

It is a document that defines the different permutations and combinations used in testing an application. It also defines the exact number of test cases dependent on each other for testing. Generally, test scenarios can be one-line statements that ensure end-to-end testing of all process flows. 

2) Test case 

These are in-depth documents containing step-by-step instructions to test an application. It comprises all the navigation steps, inputs and scenarios that an application needs to be tested for. 

Test cases are written to track the process while testing software. It usually includes Test case ID, product module, product version, revision history, purpose, assumptions, pre-conditions, steps, expected outcomes, actual outcomes and post-conditions. 

3) Test plan 

It is a document that contains every bit of information about the testing activities. Typically, the Quality Assurance Manager or Team Lead will be responsible for writing this document with comprehensive details on components, including the following: 

a) Objectives 

b) Scope 

c) Approach 

d) Test environments 

e) Test methodology 

f) Template 

g) Role and responsibility 

h) Effort estimation 

i) Entry and exit criteria 

j) Schedule 

k) Tools 

l) Defect tracking 

m) Test Deliverable 

n) Assumption 

o) Risk 

p) Mitigation plan or Contingency plan 

4) Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) 

The Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM) is a document which ensures that all the test cases have been covered. The RTM is usually in tabular form and must be created before the test execution process to verify that a test case for every specific requirement is included in testing. In the RTM, every entry has its custom ID, allowing team members and stakeholders to track the progress of any and all tasks individually. 

5) Test strategy 

The test strategy is a high-level document outlining the full approach to product testing and is used to verify the different levels of test to be executed for the product. The document also keeps track of the various techniques to be used for each module to be tested. Crucially, once the Project Manager approves of the test strategy, that document cannot be modified by the Testers or the Quality Assessment (QA) team unless there are exceptional circumstances. 

Test data 

It is the pre-existing data collected by Testers before the test is executed and is used during the implementation of a test case. The test data is stored in a spreadsheet format and entered manually while performing a particular test case. The test data is used to check for the expected results before testing and match it later with the actual testing outcomes to verify the scalability.   

Bug report 

The bug report is a document with a summary of all the bugs detected during the testing process. The bug report is of immense importance to both Developers and Test Engineers as it facilitates easy tracking of defects, reporting them and changing their statuses once the bugs are fixed successfully. Having a documented report of all the flaws in a software system avoids repetitive testing in the future.   

Test execution report 

The QA Test Leads prepare the test execution report once the testing execution process is done. The test contains information like the modules, the number of written test cases, executed, pass, fail, and their percentage. 

It also has a summary report defining the constancy of the product and separate spreadsheets for each respective module's results. It also contains the cost of defect detection, test suite efficiency, testing efficiency, etc. 

Learn about these document types and much more through our ISTQB Software Testing Foundation Course! 

What is the objective of a Software Testing Documentation? 

Software Testing Documentation for any software application is done with the following goals in mind: 



1) Making testing transparent - Documentation testing maintains a record of every aspect of testing and makes customers aware of work done and its results. 

2) Improving team communication - Having a single record of all the processes conducted during testing greatly reduces communication errors. Having a common reference document limits all the redundant calls made to obtain relevant information. 

3) Analysing and improving testing - When every test being conducted has been properly documented, it is easy to analyse their effectiveness and use cases for each software application.  

4) Meeting deadlines and budgets - Having proper documentation immensely reduces the risk of unexpected problems, and the cost of solving these issues also becomes much lower. A well-written and documented test helps discover, fix, and describe the bugs upfront and is cheaper for the organisation in every sense. 

5) Proving the seriousness of the approach – Proper Testing Documentation demonstrates how much value the team places on application security, stability, and speed. Inculcating best practices shows attention paid by the team to minute but significant aspects of the process.  

Benefits and drawbacks of Software Testing Documentation 

The benefits of Software Testing Documentation have been listed below: 

1) It provides clarity on the quality of methods and objectives of Software Testing. 

2) It maintains high levels of internal coordination when a software application is made available for customers to use. 

3) It ensures clarity about the stability of tasks and performance. 

4) It prevents the repetition of tasks, as every test conducted on the software has been documented. 

5) Thorough documentation helps avoid delays and provides early feedback during the planning cycle. 

6) It creates objective benchmarks and evidence to evaluate the performance of the testing and QA system. 

7) Every test value used during testing is available in the documents and, therefore, allows for easy verification in the future. 

However, the process of Software Testing Documentation comes with its own set of drawbacks, too. Some of these are: 

1) The entire process is a bit tedious and time-consuming as every modification requested by the customer must be parallelly reflected in the document. 

2) There are times when the cost of producing and maintaining the document exceeds the entire product cost. 

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Conclusion 

Testing is an essential part of Software Development, and keeping high-quality Software Testing Documentation provides a roadmap for future testing and helps meet quality assurance goals. Test documentation may vary from project to project. However, they are unchangeable in terms of quality, which gives the company, its employees, and customers many benefits. 

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