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Manual Testing: Strategies and Practices to Ensure Software Quality

Manual Testing: Strategies and Practices to Ensure Software Quality

Manual Testing: Strategies and Practices to Ensure Software Quality

Manual testing plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality of software, allowing detection of defects, validation of usability and identification of problems not foreseen in automated tests. In this article, we’ll explore a series of tips to help first-time manual testers or people who would like to break into this role to improve their practices and maximize the effectiveness of their testing.

1. The user’s experience

When it comes to testing, it is essential to put yourself in the shoes of the user the software was designed for, leveraging the target audience’s experience during testing activities. This approach not only facilitates the detection of defects, but also makes it possible to provide valuable feedback on the usability and performance of the software. The user’s perspective plays a crucial role in this process, allowing the evaluation of the ease of navigation, intuitiveness, and response of the software to the actions performed.

2. Understand programming logic

While it is not necessary to have programming knowledge in a specific language, understanding the programming logic employed in development is extremely valuable when performing tests. This understanding allows for the anticipation of possible defects during testing activities and, when a defect is identified, helps in understanding the reasons why it occurred and where it occurred. By becoming familiar with the principles of programming logic, it is possible to analyze the software flow, identify critical points, identify possible failures, and perform more accurate and comprehensive tests. In addition, understanding the programming logic facilitates effective communication with the development team, allowing you to report defects in a clear and concise manner, provide relevant information about the context of the error and collaborate more effectively in solving the problems encountered.

3. Communication is key

Establishing effective communication with the product team is extremely important to understand the business rules in their entirety. This interaction allows you to gain an in-depth understanding of user needs and expectations, ensuring that manual testing is properly targeted. By collaborating closely with the development team, it becomes essential to explain the defects found during testing. In addition, if developers have doubts, it is essential to be available to provide clarification and additional details, in order to facilitate the understanding and resolution of the identified problems. This collaboration between the test team and the development team contributes to a more integrated and efficient dynamic, where continuous feedback and the exchange of information promote a cycle of constant software improvement.

4. Develop testing strategies

Testing covers a wide variety of types, including testing for functionality, usability, user interface (UI), performance, and more. It is essential to develop different strategies for each type of test, with the aim of optimizing the efficiency of processes and avoiding unnecessary repetition of steps. The focus should be on creating more fluid tests, in which as many elements as possible are validated. The more validations that are performed in fewer steps, the more efficient the test suite will be. This approach allows for a more comprehensive coverage of the software’s functionalities and characteristics, increasing the reliability and quality of the tests. By devising adequate strategies for each type of test, it is possible to identify the critical flows of the system, prioritize the most sensitive areas and ensure that the main functionalities are thoroughly verified.

5. Focus on detail

A skilled tester must be attentive to detail in all aspects of the job, not just the moments of test execution. It is critical to provide detailed descriptions and steps when reporting defects, ensuring that developers can understand and fix them efficiently. Likewise, it is essential to write test cases clearly and precisely, allowing other testers to execute them without ambiguities or doubts. In addition, when carrying out the tests themselves, it is necessary to pay attention to all the small details. This meticulous attention helps to identify unexpected behavior, subtle failures or exceptional situations that may arise during interaction with the software. Thus, a diligent tester is constantly focused on improving the records, keeping the test cases clear and being attentive to all relevant details during the tests, ensuring an efficient testing process and a better final delivery of the software.

6. Be organized

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Keeping test cases always well-organized offers several advantages, facilitating reuse in future test suites and improving maintainability of regression tests. In addition, by keeping defects properly recorded and organized, you can monitor the status of each one, ensuring that they are handled properly. This approach also simplifies reopening defects if they reoccur in the future. This contributes to the efficiency of the testing process, speeds up the identification of critical areas and improves the traceability of the tests carried out. Therefore, keeping test cases and defects organized is a fundamental practice to optimize the testing process, ensuring better reuse, traceability, and problem resolution, resulting in more reliable and quality software.

7. Analyze the results

Upon completion of the tests, it is essential to carry out a thorough analysis of the results obtained. This critical step allows assessing whether all tests performed achieved adequate coverage and met the established requirements. In addition, it is important to carefully analyze all defects identified during testing. By examining test results, you can identify patterns, trends, and software weaknesses in terms of functionality, performance, or usability. This allows corrective and preventive actions to be taken, improving the quality of the final product. In addition, this analysis provides valuable information to improve future testing strategies, ensuring a more efficient and comprehensive approach.


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