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Ensuring high levels of software testing efficiency, testing documentation shares the objectives, processes and expected results of software testing. This document sheds light on the multiple benefits of testing documentation, including a special mention of some examples of testing documentation. As a bonus, this article also shares the best practices for testing documentation!
What is Testing Documentation?
Software testing is an everyday affair in the lives of product designers, testers and software engineers. Testing documentation refers to creating documents related to software testing. Such documents are produced when software products are developed and maintained. Technical writers write these documents using the best practices for testing documentation to record plans and progress of different phases of software testing.
When it comes to testing process optimisation, test documentation helps teams create a comprehensive plan for software designing, test implementation and record keeping.
When you maintain a testing document, you can write down the details of all your software testing plans, including the product owners and the team members. It helps you create the testing environment so that other teams or employees can reuse the information and use it as a reference for future cases.
If we look into the different examples of testing documentation, we can observe that these detailed reports share more insights about the testing processes. They also play an important role in keeping all the stakeholders updated about the testing progress. Documentation also enables testers to analyse the efficiency of the testing procedures which helps them to further optimise the testing practices.
Several testing documentation platforms help users create documents related to the various testing phases. If you are looking for such a platform, use Docsie as your trusted software partner and create documents in an easy, fun way!
Benefits of testing documentation
The importance of test documentation lies in the number of advantages that it comes with. The examples of testing documentation showcase the pros of the entire documentation process. With documentation platforms like Docsie, you can create test documents effectively. Here is a snapshot of the chief benefits of test documentation:
Improves user experience and provides detailed and accurate information on the product.
Enhances collaboration and encourages all team members to work towards a common, shared goal.
Provides a systematic approach to testing and acts as a resource material for software beginners.
Helps to create a bug-free product within a stipulated time.
Assists the QA team to gain knowledge about the required configuration for testing.
Types of Testing Documentation
In today's world where we use software products for almost everything, creating quality assurance documentation is highly important. With proper documentation partners like Docsie, software companies can keep their stakeholders updated regarding the progress of their projects and help the end users understand the suitability of the product concerned. To fully understand the benefits of testing documentation, let us look into some real-world testing examples.
Test strategy:
A high-level document, describes the testing technique, the tested module and multiple components, including test processes, test objectives, documentation formats, customer communications strategy, etc.
Test plan:
Generally prepared by the manager or test lead, this planning document has multiple components such as scope, risks, approaches, resources, defect tracking, assumption, etc.
Test case documentation:
A descriptive document outlines the testing steps and includes detailed information regarding the preferred outcome and the actual test results.
Test scenario:
This provides insights into the different test scenarios of the application. It does not include the navigation steps or the input data but helps engineers understand the application's gradual flow.
Test data:
Technical writers generally create this document before test execution begins. Prepared in Excel manually, this document records data that is used when testing cases are implemented.
Bug report:
This records the defects in the software system and also provides solutions for how to debug the product. It is the go-to content for all sorts of issues - open, solved or work in progress.
Test policy:
Every software company follows certain principles and methods as its testing guidelines. This document sheds light on those and how they align with the overall testing goals of the company.
Test summary:
This provides detailed knowledge about the activities and the final test results. From test execution to the final deployment - it records information on all the testing phases.
What are the best practices for Testing Documentation?
Merely drafting the content is not enough. Your end users should understand your documentation and have some key takeaways from the process. By following the best practices for testing documentation, you can create a customer-facing document and enhance the overall user experience.
Areas
Importance
Regularly updated
Whatever is not regularly updated is bound to lose its relevance and importance. Software products are dynamic. Keeping in line with that, make changes to your testing documentation so that it reflects the most recent alterations in the testing phases.
Version control
Adhere to a system that helps you monitor the changes made to your documentation. Implement the version control feature to understand who has edited your documentation and when.
Use a single source
Create and store your documentation in a single place so that your team members can easily access and use it. Use a single knowledge base as the source of truth to remove unnecessary time spent searching for the right information.
Protect sensitive information
This is perhaps one of the most important software development best practices that include keeping your documentation private and allowing only a bunch of people to access and make changes to it. Ensure high levels of security and take extra care so that no unwanted teams or members can access valuable information about your product.
Train team members
Provide complete training to your team members so that everyone understands the content and usage of your documentation process. Team up with the QA department and involve them in the documentation creation project.
Maintain a style guide
Create and stick to a style guide to ensure tone consistency in the documentation process. When you follow a standardised set of guidelines, you can set the tone and frame a coherent tone for the entire length of your documents.
Have standardised templates
Use content templates to present your documentation professionally. From adding visuals to including examples and exercises, have a set format so that all your documents look consistent in their structure and format.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is testing documentation?
It is a piece of content that helps software testers, product designers and engineers note down all the processes and systems that happen during the software testing and development procedure. This documentation involves artefacts that assist the software testing team in planning the team's strategy, evaluating testing efforts and monitoring project requirements.
2. What are the top benefits of testing documentation?
It removes ambiguities and provides clarity in the testing activities.
It offers a streamlined, systematic approach to the testing procedure and acts as a resource for training freshers in the testing process.
It breaks down the entire testing procedure and showcases each aspect of the software's journey from development to the final execution.
3. How to follow the best practices for testing documentation?
Start with having a clear objective and use a standardised format for documentation purposes. Be concise in your approach, add the pros and cons of the test scenarios and prioritise test cases. Make sure to keep your content up to date by reviewing it time and again. Implement version control and promote collaboration by all stakeholders.
4. What is the documentation impact on software quality?
Well-documented requirements provide clarity, reduce ambiguity and help engineers understand the existing codebase. It facilitates team collaboration and ensures knowledge transfer with successful user understanding.
5. What information is usually conveyed in the examples of testing documentation?
Document testing generally includes business goals and KPIs, the technical environment of the testing, system characteristics and details of the business model.
Final Thoughts
According to Global Markets Insights, the current value of the software testing market size amounts to $45 billion. And this amount is likely to grow gradually from 2023 to 2032 at an impressive rate of 5%. As the world of technology continues to evolve, more software projects are being developed, leading to more software testing. Now that you have these testing documentation guidelines with you, you can better draft your documentation content, follow the best practices for testing documentation and unleash the benefits of testing documentation.