How to Write a Good Test Plan

When we are working in a traditional Waterfall development model, where requirements are not changed as part of the first phase (which is the requirement gathering phase) as per the client requirement, we follow a Test Plan, which is a crucial document for the testing as the name signifies. Consider this as an example for our understanding.

The main question here is, what is a Test Plan? What does it contain? Who prepares it? When should it be ready?

A Test Plan is a detailed document that describes the different planning activities for testing to be carried out in a software development project. The Test plan document details the scope, objective, testing approach, timeliness, assumptions, and risks, dependencies, resources, tools, environment requirements for the test event planned for a specific project.

The project scope describes the In-Scope and Out-of-Scope areas for testing. It also highlights the test approach for test validation for your specific project. Another area detailed in the test plan are the Pass/Fail Criteria. E.g. all critical, blockers and high defects should be closed.

Additionally, it should specify the testing Suspension/Redemption Criteria. E.g. smoke tests failed or build deployment issues.

Considerations include:

• Test deliverables
• Test data strategy
• Test reporting (daily or weekly)
• Test management activities
• Test tools to be used in testing (test management tool, defect management tool, mobile testing tool, API testing, DB testing tool, etc.)
• Environment requirements
• Any dependencies
• Non-functional testing
• Any tools for automation testing
• Assumptions and constraints, and the anticipated risks in testing
• Test timeliness (on a high level) which can be adjusted, if required

It also details who will be the reviewer and approver of your test plan, and different version number (if updated and reviewed more than once). Also, the appendix shows the abbreviations used in the document.

Usually the Test Manager prepares the Test Plan and gets it reviewed by the management team. Once it has been successfully reviewed, it is then shared with the whole team to follow. Sometimes, it has been observed that a senior member in the team or a lead tester can also prepare a Test Plan document. They have a designated template to create a Test Plan document and it should adhere to the company template policies.

Talk to us if you need help with your test plan, or check out courses such as our ISTQB Advanced Test Manager course. Or join our ISTQB Agile Tester course to find out how to apply testing best practice within an Agile environment.