
16 July 2024 Leave a comment QA
As a Quality Assurance (QA) professional, you may find it challenging to convince your stakeholders, particularly those who may not have a technical background, of the benefits of automated testing. This is a common issue, especially when the immediate benefits of manual testing seem more apparent. Here, we provide a structured approach to help you demonstrate the value of automated testing effectively.
1. Measure and Compare
The most persuasive way to demonstrate the value of automated testing is through measurable data. Follow these steps:
- Pick a Test Area: Select a specific area of your application to focus on.
- Manual Testing Time: Measure how long it takes to test this area manually.
- Automated Testing Time: Measure the time required to test the same area using automation, including the time spent on maintaining the automated tests.
- Compare: Present the comparison to your stakeholders. Highlight the time saved and the potential for faster regression testing.
2. Highlight Long-Term Benefits
While automated testing may initially take longer to set up, its long-term benefits are significant:
- Regression Testing: Automated tests can be run repeatedly, ensuring that new changes do not break existing functionality.
- Time Efficiency: Automated tests can run overnight or during downtime, allowing for continuous testing without human intervention.
- Consistency: Automated tests eliminate human error, providing consistent and reliable results.
- Focus on Exploratory Testing: Automation frees up time for QA professionals to focus on exploratory testing, which can uncover more complex and less obvious issues.
3. Address Concerns About Maintenance
Stakeholders may worry about the time and resources required to maintain automated tests. Address these concerns by:
- Prioritizing Key Areas: Focus on automating the most critical and frequently tested areas.
- Incremental Automation: Start with a small percentage of tests and gradually increase automation coverage as resources allow.
- Developer Involvement: Encourage developers to write unit tests and integrate them into their workflow, reducing the burden on QA.
4. Practical Examples
Provide concrete examples to illustrate the benefits of automated testing. For instance, if you have 15 applications to test, manually testing each one can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Automated tests can run across multiple applications simultaneously, ensuring thorough coverage and faster feedback.
5. Educational Resources
Share educational resources with your stakeholders to help them understand the importance of automated testing. Recommend watching episodes of Clean Code or reading about the Test Pyramid to get insights into how automated tests can enhance code quality and project efficiency.
Conclusion
Convincing stakeholders of the value of automated testing requires a combination of measurable data, highlighting long-term benefits, addressing maintenance concerns, and providing practical examples. By demonstrating how automated testing can save time, reduce costs, and improve overall product quality, you can make a compelling case for its adoption.
At Repeato, we understand the challenges of setting up and maintaining automated tests. Our no-code test automation tool for iOS and Android simplifies the process, allowing you to create, run, and maintain automated tests quickly and efficiently. With features based on computer vision and AI, Repeato helps you achieve reliable and consistent test results, freeing up your time to focus on more critical testing tasks.