How to Avoid Common Test Automation Failures

Many test automation initiatives will never succeed. Failure in many of these situations is brought on by things that can be easily fixed. Automation may help the testing process be optimized when it is implemented appropriately. However, having reasonable expectations is necessary for effective automation. Additionally, you must have the appropriate equipment ready in advance. The most frequent reasons for automation failures are covered below, along with suggestions for future prevention.

1. Strive for 100% test coverage

A common misconception about test automation is that it entails a fully automated method of testing. Even though automation offers major time-saving advantages, some manual input is still necessary. Examining features for instability and conducting exploratory testing are examples of this. Despite its benefits, automation cannot replace the sophisticated skill set of a seasoned tester.

Instead of leveraging automation to achieve 100% test coverage, you should concentrate on gradually substituting automated support for manual testing. Find the processes that can be automated the easiest. These flows require a lot of labor and are frequently somewhat repetitious. By automating these straightforward procedures, time and effort can be saved that can be used to test areas that demand manual input.

2. Insufficient Support for Collective Ownership

Although automation technologies may appear to be user-friendly, novice users face considerable technological difficulties. Even the best-designed systems require onboarding, which may be very taxing on the technical and support staff. In the end, you have to contend with diverting chief testers from their primary duties.

Typically, programming input is required for automation technologies. This frequently leads to divided teams made up of testers with less technical skills and persons who are more technically minded.

This discrepancy in expertise levels can cause automation to fail. If just a small number of testers truly own automation, then they alone are able to maintain cases and make use of results. You’ll also need to spend a lot of time training new testers if employees from this select group decide to leave your company. You might need to completely rewrite test cases in some circumstances.

You should work to create teams that share collective knowledge to prevent these problems. Utilizing universally accessible automation platforms is also crucial. Daily operations will be simple thanks to an intuitive interface, which will also speed up new tester onboarding.

3. Trying to test too many things in one case.

A test project can also fail if it tries to test too many different things in a single test case. If a test case fails, you’ll need to stop and manually review the data to figure out what went wrong.

Building test cases that are narrowly focused on a single test component is ideal. If a case doesn’t work out, it will be much simpler to figure out what went wrong. Avoid designing tests to check various aspects while utilizing automation technologies. Instead, concentrate on developing reusable components that can be used more broadly. 

4. Using the Incorrect Tools

This one should go without saying, but choosing the incorrect tools results in many automated tests failing. You must use due investigation when selecting an automation platform to make sure it meets the necessary technological standards.

Because platforms are selected with short-term objectives in mind, many projects end in failure. Although a platform may be appropriate for a current project, it must provide functionality and value over the long run. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where a new testing project’s requirements are incompatible with an established platform.

Consider what areas you might be testing in the future to ensure that the automation tools you choose will be valuable in the long run. This goes beyond highlighting specific applications and technologies. Instead, you want to base your test automation strategy on plausible scenarios and sound test cases. Having foreseen everything, choosing an automation platform that gives you complete flexibility in the future is much simpler.

5. Being rigid about the testing sequence

Both testing too many items in a single scenario and being too rigorous with your testing technique should be avoided. Test order shouldn’t matter when automating tests, according to best practices.

It is clear why this is the case. A single failure will force you to rerun the entire case if a test case is executing numerous individual tests in a predetermined order. Additionally, you will need to manually review the data after any failure to find any mistakes. This method is not only ineffective, but it also calls into doubt any other outcomes.

Say goodbye to automation mistakes

Despite the intimidating nature of overcoming automation failures, doing so requires little effort. Make sure you’re utilizing the appropriate tools to begin with. Accessible platforms with features that match your needs are essential. For continuity, it is also crucial that you encourage shared ownership of initiatives and community knowledge.

Additionally, you shouldn’t aim for complete coverage when testing. Automate monotonous chores instead to free up qualified employees for more strenuous manual duties. Finally, to improve efficiency, abandon inflexible testing orders and adopt parallel testing.

Conclusion 

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