Prioritizing Test Cases: Best Practice for QA Teams

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How to Prioritize Test Cases

Prioritizing test cases in QA Manual Testing is necessary to ensure that the most important ones are carried out as soon as possible, especially when time and resources are limited.

Setting test case priorities helps identify problems early on, which increases testing process efficiency and guarantees that critical components are examined first.

Criteria and Methods for Effective Prioritization

  • Risk-Based Prioritization:

Criteria: This focuses on test cases that include major risk areas of the software. These areas are very vulnerable to failure or have a high impact.

Method: Find and analyze the risks based on parameters such as complexity, criticality, and past issue history. Prioritize test cases that have these risks.

  • Business Impact:

Criteria: Prioritize the test cases on the grounds of the business impact of the functionalities they cover. Functionalities that are important to business operations or customer satisfaction can be tested first.

Method: Work with stakeholders to get an idea of the business priorities and map test cases with these priorities. Use this mapping to create the prioritization process.

  • Frequency of Use:

Criteria: Test cases that cover the functionalities used very often by users should be prioritized on a higher level.

Method: Analyze user’s usage pattern data to find the most common features and prioritize test cases.

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  • Recent Changes:

Criteria: This prioritizes test cases, that cover the recently done changes or newly added features. Those areas are very likely to have issues.

Method: Need to maintain a change log for this, and according to it, we can find and prioritize test cases covering recent changes.

  • Defect Density:

Criteria: This focus on areas of the application that had a high number of issues in the past

Method: Analyze past defect data to identify high-defect areas and prioritize test cases that cover these areas.

  • Customer Requirements:

Criteria: Prioritizes test cases based on the customer requirements and feedback. Features that are important to customers should be tested thoroughly.

Method: Collect customer feedback and use it to do the prioritization of test cases.

  • Regulatory Compliance:

Criteria: The test case makes sure compliance with industry standards and requirements is prioritized.

Method: Find the regulatory requirements and map requirements with test cases. Prioritize test cases that are important for compliance.

  • Test Case Dependencies:

Criteria: Need to consider dependencies between test cases. Some test cases need to be executed before others to get the correct flow executed.

Method: Find and note the dependencies and use them to align the test cases accordingly.

Steps to Prioritize Test Cases:

  • Obtain Requirements and Feedback from Stakeholders: 

Gather needs from stakeholders such as product owners and business analysts. Recognize the importance and business impact of various features. Understand the business impact and severity of different functionalities.

  • Analyze Risks:

Identify high-risk areas of the application. Assess the potential impact and likelihood of defects in these areas.

  • Evaluate Test Case Criteria:

Determine criteria for prioritization, such as risk, business impact, frequency of use, recent changes, defect density, and customer requirements.

  • Categorize Test Cases:

Group test cases based on the identified criteria. Create categories such as high, medium, and low priority.

  • Assign Priority Levels:

After the classification, assign the test case a priority level. Use a standard priority scale i.e, P1 for high priority, P2 for medium level, and P3 for low priority.

  • Review Dependencies:

Identify dependencies between test cases. Ensure that dependent test cases are executed in the correct order.

  • Consider Resource and Time Constraints:

Evaluate the availability of testing resources and time constraints. Adjust priorities based on these constraints to ensure critical tests are executed first.

  • Create a Prioritization Matrix:

Develop a matrix that maps test cases to their priority levels. Use this matrix to guide the execution order of test cases.

  • Automate Where Possible:

Identify test cases suitable for automation. Prioritize automated tests for regression and repetitive tasks to save time and resources.

  • Plan and Schedule Testing:

Develop a testing schedule based on the prioritization matrix. Allocate resources and time slots for executing high-priority test cases first.

  • Execute High-Priority Test Cases:

Start with the execution of high-priority test cases. Ensure thorough testing of critical functionalities.

  • Monitor and Adjust:

Continuously monitor the testing process. Adjust priorities as needed based on new information, changes in requirements, or feedback from testing.

  • Document and Communicate:

Document the prioritization process and criteria used. Communicate the prioritization strategy and any changes to the testing team and stakeholders.

  • Review and Improve:

After the testing cycle, review the effectiveness of the prioritization process. Gather feedback and identify areas for improvement in future cycles.

Advantages of Test Case Prioritization:

1. Early Detection of Major Issues: Prioritizing test cases means you can focus on the important features first; this results in finding major issues early in the first testing cycle itself.

2. Efficient Use of Resources: To increase efficiency, make sure that the testing team invests their time and resources in the crucial test cases first. 

3. Better Test Coverage: As a result of prioritizing, the software's most important and high-risk modules are covered first, ensuring that they are thoroughly tested.

4. Faster Feedback: High-priority test cases are executed first; hence very quick feedback and updates are given to developers and partners about the important parts of the application.

5. Risk Mitigation: Focusing on high-risk areas, test prioritization will lead to mitigating potential risks at early stages in the development phase.

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Disadvantages of Test Case Prioritization:

1. Overlooking Low-Priority Modules: There is a risk that low-priority test cases can be overlooked or not executed at all in the first place. Potentially it can lead to missing defects in less important modules and features.

2. Difficulties in Prioritization: Understanding and classification of priority of test cases can be a complicated and time-consuming process, specifically for bigger projects with hundreds of test cases.

3. Dependency on Correct Prioritization: The efficiency of test priority majorly relies on the accuracy of the prioritization process. Inaccurate prioritization can lead to major issues being missed.

4. Possible Potential Bias: Test cases may be prioritized according to a tester's experience and presumptions, which may not necessarily match the true risk or importance. 

5. Issues with Resource Utilization: Incorrect prioritization management can result in not enough focus on the other modules and a more than required amount of attention given to high-priority modules.

Conclusion

Sorted test-case prioritization is important to maximize the accuracy and efficiency of the QA manual testing process. 

By considering parameters like risk, business impact, frequency of use, recent changes, defect density, customer requirements, regulatory compliance, and test case dependencies, the team can make sure that the critical tests are executed first with high priority. This way, it can help find defects early, improve software quality, and ensure that the critical functionalities are tested as they should be. Utilizing manual Testing Services effectively can significantly enhance the prioritization process, ensuring that QA manual testing and manual software testing are thorough and efficient.

About Author

Hardik MochiHardik Mochi started his testing journey in October 2015 as a Junior Software Tester, and now he is an Associate Team Lead at PixelQA. With a focus on testing mobile apps, Windows applications, and web portals in the RX and CG domains, Hardik developed strong software testing skills. Progressing to Senior Tester over 5.5 years, he transitioned to XDuce India PVT LTD, specializing in ETL testing and acquiring SQL expertise, complemented by earning the AZ-900 certification. He is eager to delve into automation while maintaining interests in electronic hardware, current affairs, and geopolitics, aiming to advance as an automation professional in the future.