Why dig a hole with a shovel when you can use a backhoe?
Well, the same logic applies to your testing efforts. Automation QA can speed up your development cycle, make the testing portion significantly easier and more effective, and move you towards the holy grail of continuous testing.
Considering this, we’re going to take a look at examples of testing you can automate. But first, we’ll examine the upside of automation in a little more detail. This blog covers the benefits and types of automated software testing you need to know to optimize your QA processes.
Benefits of Automation QA
If you’re still not totally sold on automation, these benefits should sway you:
- Reduce errors. Automation dramatically reduces human errors and enables you to execute tasks more reliably.
- Increase productivity. You’ll get more done with the power of automation. Also, you can now run tests simultaneously.
- Do more with less. Stop letting the size of your team bottleneck operations. With automation, you can level up your organization’s capacity.
- Focus on innovation. Empower your staff to focus on innovative tasks that they enjoy; automation can handle routine work.
- Save money. With automation, you can spend less money on your testing rather than paying staff to manually do the job.
With benefits like these, you’ll want to deploy automation into your testing ASAP. However, what areas of testing can you actually automate?
Automation Testing: Are You Ready to Start
Evaluate your automation readiness with Are You Ready to Start? — a practical guide to avoiding common pitfalls, scaling smart, and making automation work for your team.
Types of Automated Testing You Can Implement
When choosing types of automated testing, look for repetitive tasks that don’t require complex input. Here are some examples:
Unit Testing
Performed by the developers, this type of test strategy allows the “shifting left” of the practice of quality in your team and catches issues at the source – right after the code is written. Creating a standard of unit testing in your dev team is the first line of defense against buggy code.
API Testing
One of the best forms of testing to automate is API testing. Testing application programming interfaces to see if they meet expectations around the flow of data is the kind of repetitive (low-enjoyment) work that you should consider automating.
Load Testing
Simulating multiple users accessing a platform is not the kind of engaging work your staff dreamt of doing when they were young. Deploy automation QA in your load testing and make it dramatically easier.
End-to-End Testing
With end-to-end tests covering straightforward functions, such as “can a user login and purchase a product,” it’s another good opportunity to deploy automation. Start with testing the most valuable business flows in the software first.
Deploy Automation to Make Your Testing Continuous
Having shown you the power of automation QA and a few great places to start, it can be tempting to deploy automation everywhere possible.
However, it’s best used when what you’re testing isn’t too complex. For example, you still need to rely on human input when testing intricate workflows during UI testing. Then, in other types of testing, you can take advantage of the compelling benefits automation brings, such as reduced errors and increased productivity.
If you’d like to chat with one of our team about how OnPath could help you with your testing, please reach out today.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is automation QA?
Automation QA refers to using software tools to automate the execution of tests, ensuring faster, more reliable, and repeatable results compared to manual testing.
Which types of testing can be automated?
Common types of automated testing include unit testing, API testing, load testing, and end-to-end testing.
How does automation reduce errors?
By removing human intervention in tasks, automation eliminates the risk of manual mistakes and provides more consistent results.
Can automation replace manual testing entirely?
No. Automation is ideal for predictable tasks, but complex workflows, UI testing, and user experience testing still require human input.
What are the benefits of automated testing for software teams?
Automation improves productivity, reduces errors, lowers costs, enables simultaneous test execution, and allows teams to focus on innovation.
How do I start implementing automated testing in my team?
Start by identifying tests that don’t require complex input, such as unit tests, API tests, or simple end-to-end flows, and gradually expand to more advanced scenarios.
