How to Write QA Documentation That Will Actually Work

Will Actually Work" width="1000" height="500" />

Imagine developing a complex software product without taking any action to protect against errors. Human error and unexpected code combinations can cause a wide range of defects. This is where quality assurance (QA) documentation comes in.

QA files are created in the direction of the bug handler to manage these defects confidentially. They serve us as a roadmap, ensuring a clean and efficient QA process and making it easier to have a clean conversation between the fixers and the testers.

But you might be wondering – why do we need QA documentation?

QA testing is essential in IT products today. Tight deadlines, unique skill sets within the organization, and the demand to develop products stress the need for a structured methodology. QA documentation guides testers through levels of clarity and overall coverage.

I've written this article to make your life a bit easier. So here it is, your ultimate guide on how to write software QA documentation that will work.

• Make a Test Plan and a Test Progress Report
• Create Test Cases
• Defect Reports
• Useful Tips for Defect Report Writing
• Submit a Defect Report
• Conclusion

Make a Test Plan and a Test Progress Report

Developing great software requires a thorough and documented approach to testing. Everything begins in the development phase with a complete checkout plan as a template for the entire QA process. It outlines the general requirements, defines the followed route, identifies the necessary assets, and sets a simple timeline for achieving the objectives.

Draw up a roadmap before you start

Before you start implementing your test plan, take some time to think about the big picture. Ask yourself:

What problem does this software solve? As soon as you understand the main purpose of the software, you'll be able to manage the checkout process and identify the features that are most important to your goals.

I promise that once you see that you can do this, you quickly prioritize your efforts. They are based primarily on the importance of the functionality and its impact on the user.

Create a plan

The test plan is the central part of the QA technique. The test plan should contain the following key elements:

• Imaginary test: Clearly identify the expected impact of the payment method. Will it confirm that core functionality is running smoothly, or will it alert you to capability gaps?
• Test method: Outline how the test will be performed. Will you do targeted testing, useless testing, or a mix of the two?
• Resource allocation: Identify the equipment and technology required to perform a complete control. What control framework will you use? Are specific hardware or software configurations required for proper control?
• Timetable and remaining dates: Establish a realistic timetable for the trial. Set clear deadlines to keep the project on track.

Understand the 'why' and 'how'

A well-developed roadmap will ensure that key issues are addressed throughout the improvement approach:

• Acceptance requirements: Clear fail/success criteria should be defined for all control cases. So, criteria allow the customer to understand that the product is high quality and ready for the end-user.
• Resource management: Identify the assets required for the testing. This includes preferred machines, copies of software in various forms, required expertise, and more.
• Team dynamics: Ensure that simple roles and tasks are defined within the test team. Who is responsible for particular test cases? Who documents bugs and who talks to developers?
• Time management: I advise setting realistic checkout times, taking into account project deadlines and the availability of useful help.

The test progress report is another part of the QA documentation, similar to the test plan, but with additional data on current progress. This document allows you and your development team to monitor project progress and identify any organizational issues.

A test plan and a progress report

Create Test Cases

Think of each test case as a detailed recipe for finding potential defects in the functionality of a software program. By following these "recipes" and evaluating the expected and actual results, defects can be accurately identified and addressed before preventive action is taken.

Each test case acts as an independent unit, outlining the steps required to evaluate a particular element of a software program.

Below is a breakdown of the key elements that make up a well-defined test case Here is my step-by-step guide for creating test cases:

• ID: This is an identifier field to help distinguish between test cases and track them easily.
• Priority: This indicates the severity of the test case based on the functionality of the program and its impact on the normal overall performance of the known software program application.
• Test Requirements: These are requirements for testing software successfully, this can include reference documents also.
• Software Module: This shows the feature under testing. It also refers to the software requirements specifications (SRS) document explaining the software feature in detail.
• Test Context: This details the test plan to clarify how the daily tests will be carried out. It also identifies the test data required for a successful case study and includes unique and important statistical information.
• Expected Output: This describes the expected output to be displayed if the test is successful.
• Actual output: This indicates the actual result in the event of failure and shows the developer the errors in the application module of the software program.
• Comment: This is an optional section where the tester can give a description of the observations or add additional records.

All QAs typically include the above elements, but can also be designed specifically for the task selected by the QA group. Also, each control case follows a lifecycle that defines the phases of creation, testing (pass, fail), completion, and so on.

In the next section, we’ll check out another important element of QA documentation: the defect report.

Test cases

Defect Reports

Defect reporting is an important element of QA documentation. Issue tracking is the detailed reporting of sudden problems that arise in a software product. Careful documentation of these issues lays the groundwork for a complex and bug-free final product.

Sounds simple, right? Yes, but only until you start documenting.

A defect report

The bug report consists of the following sections: Identifier, Summary, Description, Steps to Reproduce, Reproducibility, Severity, Priority, Environment, and Attachments.

• Identifier: Each software program problem is assigned a completely unique identifier that acts like a customized nameplate. This makes the QA documentation less complicated to navigate and allows verbal communication between the installer, tester, and project manager (PM).
• Summary: This is an opportunity to provide brief and informative answers to three basic questions: What was the problem? Where did the problem appear? Under what specific conditions did the problem appear?
• Explanation: Examine the failure log in more detail. Summarize the identified action (the result completed) and check it against the planned action (the predicted end result). Including a link to the app requirements of the software program can serve as a useful reference element.
• Reproduction method (STR): This phase should be considered as a step-by-step recipe for reproducing the defect. It should be strict and cover all the steps that caused the problem. Skipping critical steps can make it difficult for you to reproduce the problem and cause delays.
• Reproducibility: In this section, you clarify if the bug appears every time you follow the STR. You should use numbers to show approximate chances, for example, 7 times out of 10.
• Severity: Here you explain how much harm the bug may bring to the project. Essentially, this is a measure of the severity of the technical disruption that a bug will cause to the whole project. Remember that problems that are known to be minor can grow and cause you extreme problems throughout the software.
• Priority: Each error log assigns a problem priority that indicates its urgency. Common priorities are letters (A: highest priority, Z: highest priority), numbers (1: highest priority, 9: highest priority), or descriptive terms (high, medium, low).
• Environment: Specify the gadget or browser model in which the bug appeared. This will help you to put the problem in context and narrow down a valid cause.
• Attachments: If possible, enrich the documentation with screenshots, screen recordings, console log documents, and others. This will help to provide visual documentation of the error.

My structure provides detailed information, so you can empower developers to effectively diagnose, address, and eliminate any software bugs. In this way, leading to more user-friendly and robust products.

Now, in the next section, we'll see some useful tips you can use for defect report writing.

Useful Tips for Defect Report Writing

1. Write a sufficient summary. It does not matter if it is long or short. What matters is that it should be clear.
2. Have a look at the summary and the description. Do they look pretty much the same? You must have forgotten to outline the expected and actual results in the description and to add the link to the requirements.
3. Capture the issue with the help of a screenshot. It may save you and the development team a lot of time. Sometimes one glance at the picture is just enough to understand the situation.
4. Before reporting the issue, try to reproduce it at least 3 times to be sure that it exists.
5. Report the issue ASAP and notify your project manager or product owner if the issue is major.
6. Check for grammar mistakes in your QA documentation so you're not taken down by the grammar police.
7. However comical it sounds, make sure that the issue is not a feature – review the documentation again!
8. Do not miss any important information in your Steps to Reproduce.

Submit a Defect Report

The final and one of the most important elements of QA documentation is the defect report. You may understand it covers the entire lifecycle of a problem, from its initial discovery to its final closure.

Let's now examine the key areas of this process:

a defect report lifecycle

We'll go over the defect report lifestyle piece by piece:

Problem Reporting:

This adventure begins with the careful compilation and submission of a report on the entire program. This serves as a roadmap for developers and provides a clear assessment of the problem.

Triage and tasks:

The task manager or technical lead takes on the role of gatekeeper at this stage. They carefully compare the files. If the file contains enough elements to work with, it is assigned to the developer and repaired. However, if the file is missing essential elements, it may be rejected for further improvement.

Bug fixing:

The assigned developer takes the initiative and works diligently to eliminate the annoying bug.

Verification and completion:

Once the developer claims to have fixed the problem, it's your turn as QA. Carefully verify the fix by retesting the functionality in question. If everything works as it should, you are done.

The documentation has come to a happy end. Ideally, this will happen within a reasonable period of one to two weeks.

Reboot and keep going:

But it is not always that simple. If it is known that bugs are still being made in the validation system, there is no need to despair!

Re-open the bug documentation and send it to the developers for further attention. Sometimes the process of fixing bugs is repetitive and requires patience. But by being careful and effective, you can guarantee that all bug reports will eventually reach their final destination, resulting in a more polished and reliable software application product.

Conclusion

Quality Assurance is a process you simply cannot avoid. Each airplane prior to departure undergoes a technical check. If there is any issue, the aircraft is grounded until the problem is solved. The same goes for any software.

But QA documentation is not always "write and ignore". At some point in the software development lifecycle, QA documentation needs to be continually updated and improved as requirements change, new features are introduced, and feedback is received from deployment and production use.

There are also a growing number of styles that use synthetic intelligence and machine learning to partially automate the creation of QA documentation.

For example, natural language processing (NLP) is used to analyze requirements documents and generate draft control examples. Test bots can use NLP to interpret and routinely execute directed test cases. Predictive evaluation can also be used to identify the most dangerous areas of a software program that require more detailed control.

While these strategies are still new and not mature enough to replace human testers, they can help with growth and augment manual exploration, especially for large and complex builds. By making QA documentation a collaborative and ongoing hobby, your team can deliver better software faster and with fewer defects.

Do you need to improve the quality of your software?

My company KeenEthics provides solid development and quality assurance services. In case you need an estimate for a similar project, feel free to get in touch. If you have enjoyed the article, you should continue with How IT Outsourcing Saves Costs for Your Company and Avoiding Pitfalls in IT Outsourcing: Tips for Minimizing Risks.