Is there a way to improve the test case creation process?

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Hi,

A place I used to work at also used TestRail for test case creation. While working there I tried out a few things (some worked, some didn’t). I would encourage you to get the team together (including devs) and discuss the current process for developing these tests, generate ideas for improvements and give them a go. If these ideas work, stick with them. I’d also recommend doing this regularly, maybe once a month or so, as improvement something is a continuous process and team members may get new ideas as time goes on.

Sometimes the issue isn’t just with creating the test cases, but the whole process of developing and testing.

Here are some things we tried out:

  1. Remove unnessessary information by improving the templates
    In test rail, you can create and edit templates. If you are using a default template, then it might not be the right one for your team and encourage you to include information that isn’t needed. Generate your own template based on information you actually need to include. If other information is needed, then add new fields that contain this information. Creating a new template should be a team task, so get the team together and discuss the template and ways to improve it.
  2. Create a template for exploratory testing
    Test cases can be exploratory based. Some testing needs to be scripted (in my experience, managers like to see evidence of what was tested so scripted tests are useful for documentation) but some cases testing can be exploratory and evidence of what exploratory testing took place can be just as useful if the right information is included. I created a template for scripted tests and another for exploratory testing. The exploratory testing template included a section that briefly explains what we’re testing, what we’re trying to find out, test ideas, suggested time blocks, and a section for briefly logging what was tested and what we discovered.
  3. Shift Left - start test planning/admin sooner
    Think about how you are managing your time. When do you start test planning? Planning can begin as soon as the ticket has been approved, and before the developers have started working on it. If you start planning and admin as soon as possible, then you will complete the work a lot sooner and avoid the testing bottleneck. When development is complete, and the work is ready for testing, think about how much faster testing would be if all the planning and documentation is already done. All you have to do is run through the test cases, add notes about the results, and you’re done.
  4. Look at how you organise past tests, learn from them
    You say 90% of tests aren’t looked at again. I have found referring back to past tests, especially if I’m testing something in the same area or with similar steps, can be useful when writing new tests. If you create an archive of past tests, with the tests categorised or tagged with things like feature name, then these tests can be easier to find and that past knowledge can be reused on new tests.
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