What is Test strategy document and how to write it

The test strategy document is one of the most important document in software testing process. It's a guide that defines approach for testing a project, and also elaborately tells what has to be done for certain goals to be achieved and a common goal in delivering quality is reached. For writing an effective test strategy, every Quality Analyst needs to be involved and brainstorming during creating a test strategy document as initiating one’s thinking may help identifying missing requirements. If accurately created, the chance is very low for any important step to be missed out in the process.

What exactly is Test Strategy?

The question itself contains the answer that “How a team is going to test the particular software application?” This tells that the precise process that the team is going to follow in the testing process should be mentioned. In most places a standard template is followed but even without using one, test strategy can be written  that is simple yet effective.

But the question arises that what is the difference between test strategy and test plan? Both terms can often confuse testers. A test plan is a document that tells, what team has to achieve, on the other hand a test strategy is a plan designed to achieve that.

What is to be included in test strategy document?

Scope and Overview

We will discuss now what  to include in testing activities and phases that needs to be carried out, the project delivery timeline as stated in the test plan, as well as information on who the document is for.

The Test Approach

In this, the testing process, levels of testing to be carried out on the software application, and the roles and responsibilities of each team member are stated. It also describes all the test type defined in the test plan (unit testing, integration testing, system testing, regression testing, smoke testing, usability testing, performance testing, etc.) as well as consideration of why the particular testing type should be performed, who is going to perform this testing activity, what will be the responsibilities of the  each Quality Analyst, and details of any automation strategy and tools if used.

Test Environment

In this,the details about the test environment setup needs to be clearly described, and the total number of test environments required is also mentioned. For example, you need a development environment where the application will be tested before moving to the testing environment, or setting up a separate test environment for the functional test team and separate environment for User Acceptance Testing team. This part contains all details of the team members to be testing on each environment, software and hardware requirements for the environment(s), memory, Operating System, etc.

Testing Tools

In this the test management and automation tools required for test execution are described. In order to perform performance, load, and security testing, the organization needs to list all tools and approaches that are going to be used.

Risk Analysis

Careful consideration of all possible risks will be described in this section. A elaborate plan to alleviate those risks is provided to help reduce the possibility of failure at any point.

Review and Approval

When all the things have been described in detail, it’s time to review, then approve the test strategy document. A formal sign-off is required from all the main person involved in the project which will include project managers, business analysts, the development and QA teams, and others people according to the organization’s structure. A test strategy document can be changed at later stages whenever there a need to do so.

Conclusion

The test strategy document is an important document in the whole of the QA activities in the testing life cycle. A team member should refer to this document from time to time during the execution of the testing process and keep themselves aligned with it until the product is pushed into production. Most of the times the team does not follow a test strategy document as their focus is only on executing test, but it is often recommended that basic test strategy document is always helpful in successfully producing a quality product by reducing the risks.