3 Common Automated Software Testing Mistakes — V-cubed Solutions

Our world is increasingly reliant on software and technology, which means that testing is becoming more vital in supporting overall business goals. Downtime costs money, frustrates users and adds stress for employees fixing the issue. It’s hard to forecast when engineers are busy putting out fires. Automated testing can relieve the burden, but only when implemented correctly. In fact, we’ve noticed 3 common mistakes among engineering teams:

Treating automated testing like record and rewind

Automation is an excellent strategy to round out your testing methods, but it isn’t the be-all-and-end-all. Human testers and engineers are still necessary for a complete solution. It’s recommended to use a combination of methods to review automated testing and examine the test output, regardless of logic to avoid testing the wrong items. Make a checklist, adjust the code to match the current system, and rerun them. Testing a variety of methods illuminates problems sooner and reduces the system’s overall risk.

Where have all the checkpoints gone?

It’s incredibly common for engineers to neglect validation when running test scripts.

Script customization involves data parameterization and includes adding checkpoints for validation. They’re very important to a website’s overall health because it’s crucial to know if a user’s login attempt was successful or not. Checkpoints contribute to the detection of page parameters and more, and engineers should strive to include them often, even when they aren’t visible.

Prioritizing short term solutions

The user may feel relief when the program works again, but the engineer is in for a bigger headache when their solutions are short-sighted. It can be tempting to MacGyver a quick fix, but they weaken the overall system. Examine each layer of the system, automate what’s repetitive and include the perspective of other shareholders to create a strategic solution that’s more inclusive of end users.

Have you made these software testing mistakes?

Find out how V-cubed can help your team avoid common testing mistakes and offer strategic advice