How to Begin Automation in Testing From Scratch

Serena Gray
6 min readDec 8, 2020

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When do you think about the term automation what springs to mind?

For many, the term automation frees up pictures of jobs being completed at a lightning-fast speed. However, automation, as we know, isn’t that easy. It needs a budget, preparation, setup, and maintenance. This will leave many companies hesitating to automate elements of their enterprise, wondering if it can take more time and effort than just completing jobs manually.

In QA, automation testing can mean quicker test results along with a greater volume of tests. Besides, it can lessen the danger of human error and mean that you can decide to conduct a test at any hour of the day, even when you aren’t at the workplace.

So, exactly what is the best way to start automation in testing?

What has the potential to hold back you, and how do you create the first steps into integrating automation into your strategy?

In Global App Testing we have worked with companies of all sizes to streamline and improve their QA plans. Here Is What we’ve heard about automation:

Why do we hesitate to automate?
As Stated at the Start of this article, there are several reasons why you might hesitate to make the move towards testing:

Money
Automation tools can be expensive, particularly for a smaller startup without a huge budget. Some businesses simply lack the funds to purchase new applications and hire more staff to handle it.

Time
Each CTO knows that automation isn’t as simple as downloading applications and watching it move. You have to have time inside your team to write test cases and place them up. Automation tools require pruning and maintenance of test instances when upgrades occur. This can result in a lot of time spent writing code, and if your team is strapped for time, this may produce more pressure than it solves.

The test case is relatively easy to automate, meaning that it can be generated from a generalized manual procedure; the more complicated the task, the harder it is to automate.

The relative cost of automating is lower compared to that of executing this test manually.

Not every testing job, thus, is suited to automation, and deciding on what needs automating is an integral step in the process. In some cases, it may not make sense at all to automate your testing at this current moment in time.

If your product is relatively fresh, or in the validation’ phase, your team’s most important focus is to produce an MVP and detect a product-market match. Spending time and funding writing automation tests for something which could change in a month just isn’t efficient at this stage. Automation, so, shouldn’t be discounted entirely but put on the backpack to get when your merchandise is more secure in its foundations.

Size of QA group

If your staff is comparatively modest and preoccupied with a large amount of testing, you might be reluctant to employ a QA plan that the team cannot undertake. Not every company has the funds to expand with new hires, which means that your team size could become an issue. CTO’s frequently report that resource allocation is a top concern for them and QA is no exclusion (hyperlink ).

While these hesitations are usually valid, you will find ways that you may troubleshoot the blockers and begin your automation procedure.

The Way to start with automation in testing
Decide what needs automating
Not every part of your testing arrangement has to be automatic. So, it’s important to take some time to establish where in your release cycle automation will be the ideal choice.

Sit down with your QA group and go through each part of your testing process. Where do tests look insistent? Where does your team believe that they could hasten the process?

If a particular test requires a huge amount of manual data input, then it might be a rather safe bet for automation. Adding unlimited data entries into a manual test is very inefficient, so automation is probably a more time-efficient option.

How true are your testing results?

If you are constantly having to cross-reference your test results to check for inconsistencies, human error could be interfering with your testing procedure. Automation can reduce the likelihood of this occurring and run tens of thousands of test cases to detect bugs that could be missed by the human eye.

How frequently do you repeat the evaluation?
If you’ve been repeating the same test time and time, automation can help save you a great deal of tedious manual work. The time spent writing a test situation will probably be shorter than needing to run manually repetitive and tedious testing. This will open up more time in your group’s program to start new jobs or focus on new capabilities.

Does the evaluation have longevity?

If your test is likely to be the same in 6 months, and what you are testing isn’t predicted to change, automation will be a time plus cost-saving exercise. Locate the evaluations in your strategy which are inflexible and unchanging, and set about penalizing them.

Do you need the validation of a predetermined thought?
If you understand what you want to test exactly, and points 1- 4 apply, automation testing would be a fantastic option. Automation either confirms or simplifies wracking test cases, and pre-determined ideas, so if you understand what it is exactly you’re wanting to test automation in testing is excellent for reducing the margin of human error and delivering high-quality results.

Decide what doesn’t need automating.

A nicely rounded QA plan employs a blend of manual and automated testing.

Fine-tuning your analysis means deciding that tests are far better suited to which different testing strategies. If your testing tool kit is wide-reaching, then you will find a broader testing policy, and catch more bugs.

With that in mind, deciding what doesn’t require automating is a key step in beginning to incorporate automaton testing. Not every technique of testing can be automatic: some need human imagination to be performed successfully.

The next methods Can’t be automated:

Exploratory Tests
Exploratory tests are tests that research an app to attempt to detect potential bugs. All these must be run manually by human testers since they need creative innovation to choose what portion of the app would like to be analyzed. Testers won’t follow a pre-determined route but have the freedom to decide how they navigate the program.

This is best conducted by guide testers, as you want to check the way the real-life user will interact with your goods. Any user experience issues will be picked up by a tester simply experiencing what is it like to browse your program.
User Interface testing, similarly, is about testing things like layout components, and typography. These require testing by the human eye.

Begin with the automation Procedure
Once you have decided which parts of your testing process will be automated, and remain manual, you’ll have the foundation for beginning to implement your automation testing strategy.

We talked to tech industry professionals about how they start the automation procedure, to supply you with some top tips about getting started.

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Serena Gray
Serena Gray

Written by Serena Gray

I work as a Senior Testing Specialist at TestingXperts. I am a testing professional accustomed to working in a complex, project-based environment.

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