What is a Test Plan?

Software testing is always driven by a test plan.Hence, all the activities that are performed in the entire project are combined together in the test plan document.

The Test plan acts like a source for designing, execution, reporting and tracking the project related activities.

We may wonder over a few questions which are related to the test plan document likewise

1. What needs to be tested,

2. how are we going to test ,

3. why we need to test,

4. when we need to start the testing and

5. Are there any risks involved?

So, the Test plan defines the scope,approach, resources, responsibilities, effort estimation and risks management of a software project.

Main Components of a Test Plan

1) Introduction

Brief introduction of the test strategies, process, workflow and methodologies used for the project

1.1) Scope

1.1.1) In Scope

Scope defines the features, functional or non-functional requirements of the software that will be tested.

1.1.2) Out of Scope

Out Of Scope defines the features, functional or non-functional requirements of the software that will NOT be tested

1.2) Quality Objective

In this mention of the overall objective that you plan to achieve with your testing

Some objectives of your testing project could be

• Ensure the Application Under Test conforms to functional and non-functional requirements.

• Ensure the AUT meets the quality specifications defined by the client.

• Bugs/issues are identified and fixed before go live.

1.3) Roles and Responsibilities

Detail description of the Roles and responsibilities of different team members like

• QA Analyst

• Test Manager

• Configuration Manager

• Developers

• Installation Team

2) Test Methodology

2.1) Overview

Mention the reason of adopting a particular test methodology for the project. The test methodology selected for the project could be

• WaterFall

• Iterative

• Agile, etc

2.2) Test Levels

Test Levels define the Types of Testing to be executed on the Application Under Test (AUT). The Testing Levels primarily depends on the scope of the project, time and budget constraints.

2.3) Bug Triage

The goal of the triage is to

• To define the type of resolution for each bug

• To prioritize bugs and determine a schedule for all "To Be Fixed Bugs'.

2.4) Test Completeness

Here you define the criterias that will deem your testing complete.

For instance, a few criteria to check Test Completeness would be

• 100% test coverage

• All Manual & Automated Test cases executed

• All open bugs are fixed or will be fixed in next release

3) Test Deliverables

Here mention all the Test Artifacts that will be delivered during different phases of the testing lifecycle.

• Test Plan

• Test Cases

• Requirements Traceability Matrix

• Bug Reports

• Customer sign off

4) Resource & Environment Needs

4.1) Testing Tools

Make a list of Tools like

• Requirements Tracking Tool

• Bug Tracking Tool

• Automation Tools

4.2) Test Environment

It mentions the minimum hardware requirements that will be used to test the Application.

Following software's are required in addition to client-specific software.

• Windows 8 and above

• Office 2013 and above

• MS Exchange, etc.

5) Risks/Assumptions

Identify the high-risk assumptions of the test plan. Specify contingency plans for each (for example, delay in delivery of test items might require increased night shift scheduling to meet the delivery date).

6) Approvals

Specify the names and titles of all persons who must approve this plan. Provide space for the signatures and dates.

About the Author 

Sanah , has 6 years of experience in the field of software quality. She has worked with various MNC’s in this short span of time and has been awarded with various awards. She is ISTQB certified and is currently residing in Arizona, USA. When she is not ensuring an application is release defect free she likes to cuddle up dogs at the puppies meet or catch up movies