What is Test Planning and How to Create Test Plan?

Test Planning:

  • Initially when we get the project it is responsibility for a test lead or senior tester to prepare the test plan for the project.
  • A test plan is the foundation of every testing effort.
  • A Test Plan refers to a detailed document that catalogs the test strategy, objectives, schedule, estimations, deadlines, and the resources required for completing that particular project. 
  • A good test plan clearly defines the testing scope and its boundaries. You can use requirements specifications document to identify what is included in the scope and what is excluded.
  • By creating a clear test plan all team members can follow, everyone can work together effectively.

The steps to prepare the test plan :-

  •      Criteria
  •      Prepare test plan 
  •      Get approval

1.  Criteria:-

  • To prepare test plan the test lead /senior tester should have the below details:
  • Development schedule 
  • Project release date
  • Services to be provided to customer 
  • Understand the project requirement
  • Understanding of the complexity of the project
  • Scop of testing
  • No. of resources required
  • Type of testing to be conducted 

2. Prepare Test Plan :

  • A Test Plan is a detailed document that describes the test strategy, objectives, schedule, estimation, deliverables, and resources required to perform testing for a software product.
  • The test plan serves as a blueprint to conduct software testing activities as a defined process, which is minutely monitored and controlled by the test manager.

Test Plan document has the below details :

  • Introduction
  • Features to be tested ( In scope)
  • Features not to be tested (Out of scope)
  • Pass/ Fail criteria
  • Entry and Exit criteria
  • Approach
  • Schedule 
  • Test factor
  • Recourses
  • Training plans
  • Configuration management
  • Test Deliverable
  • Test Environment
  • Risk and Mitigation Plan
  • Approval 
3. Prepare Test Plan : Once test plan is ready it should be approved from test manager

Lets talk about different sections on a test plan in detail:

Introduction :-  Specify the purpose / Requirement of the project.

Feature to be tested :- Specify the requirement which is need to be tested.

Feature not to be Tested :- Specify the requirement which is out of the scope of testing. We dose not need to test.

PASS / FAIL Criteria (Suspension Criteria):-  If the below criteria is satisfied we can suspend the build from testing:

  • The build is not deployed 
  • The sanity test is fail
  • The build is unstable 
  • Wrong build is given 

(Note: If the build is suspended the developer have to immediately resolve the issue and give the modified build)

Entry and Exit Criteria:-  Specify the condition to start and stop the testing . for every level of testing there is entry and exit criteria 

    For example :-

System testing Entry Criteria :-

  • Integration testing should be completed 
  • All the major defect found in the integration test should be fixed 
  • The test environment should be ready , Required access should be provided
  • The Development should be completed (All Coding part)

System testing Exit Criteria :-

  • All the functionalities are tested 
  • No new defect are found
  • No risk in the project 
  • All the defects are fixed 
  • The testing scheduled are completed 

Approach :-  Specify the process followed in the project like

 Planning   Design   Execution  Reporting

Schedules:-  Specify the testing . The testing scheduled are prepared based on development schedules. 

Resources :-  Specify the list of team, resources and there responsibilities like testing team, development team, project managers etc. 

Training plans :- Specify any training plan is required for the resources.

Configuration Management :-  Specify hoe to manage all the project related documents , codes, testing documents etc.so these documents are accessible to all the team members.

There are tools are available like : 

VSS  Visual source safe

CVS   Concurrent version system for configuration management.

The tool provide security, version control (Each time the documents are updated a new version is created )

Test Deliverables :-  Specify the list of documents to be submitted to the customer during testing or after testing Documents are like :

  • Test Plan
  • Test Case documents 
  • Test execution result
  • Defect report 
  • Review report
  • Test summary report etc.

Test Environment :-  Specify the Hard ware configuration details, the additional software required in the test environment to access the application and conduct the testing.

Risk And Mitigation Plan:- Specify the challenges in the project and the solution to resolve the challenges.

The different risks are : 

  • Required documents are not available 
  • Estimations are not correct
  • Delay in project deliverables
  • Lack of skilled resources 
  • Lack of team coordination's ETC.

Approval :- After preparation of the plan the project manager and customer have to review and approve the plan.

Note :- During the planning phase it is the responsibility of test lead to recruit the tester based on the skills required for the project .

Please refer the below video for more details on test plan:

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