test-strategy-planning

Test Strategy Planning

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Test Strategy Planning tasks - Working on create comprehensive test strategy documents following ieee 829 structure. plan test approach, scope, resources, and success criteria for software projects
• Planning or design - Need guidance on Test Strategy Planning approaches
• Best practices - Want to follow established patterns and standards

Overview

A test strategy defines the overall approach to testing a software system. It establishes the scope, objectives, resources, schedule, and success criteria for testing activities before development begins.

IEEE 829 Test Documentation Structure

Document	Purpose
Test Plan	Master document defining test approach
Test Design Specification	Refinement of test approach for features
Test Case Specification	Individual test case details
Test Procedure Specification	Step-by-step execution procedures
Test Item Transmittal Report	Test deliverables handoff
Test Log	Chronological record of test execution
Test Incident Report	Documentation of anomalies
Test Summary Report	Overall test results and metrics

Test Strategy Template

# Test Strategy: [Project Name]

## 1. Introduction

### 1.1 Purpose
[Why this test strategy exists and what it covers]

### 1.2 Scope
**In Scope:**
- [Feature/component 1]
- [Feature/component 2]

**Out of Scope:**
- [Feature/component X]
- [Third-party integrations (unless specified)]

### 1.3 References
- [Requirements document]
- [Architecture document]
- [Related standards]

## 2. Test Objectives

### 2.1 Business Objectives
- [Business goal 1 → Testing coverage]
- [Business goal 2 → Testing coverage]

### 2.2 Quality Objectives
| Quality Attribute | Target | Measurement |
|-------------------|--------|-------------|
| Functional Correctness | 100% critical paths | All acceptance tests pass |
| Performance | < 200ms p95 response | Load test results |
| Security | No critical vulnerabilities | Security scan results |
| Reliability | 99.9% uptime | Chaos testing results |

## 3. Test Approach

### 3.1 Test Levels

| Level | Scope | Responsibility | Tools |
|-------|-------|----------------|-------|
| Unit | Individual methods/classes | Developers | xUnit |
| Integration | Component interactions | Developers | xUnit + TestContainers |
| System | End-to-end workflows | QA | Playwright |
| Acceptance | Business requirements | QA + PO | SpecFlow |

### 3.2 Test Types

| Type | Coverage | Approach |
|------|----------|----------|
| Functional | All requirements | Requirement-based |
| Performance | Critical paths | Load/stress testing |
| Security | OWASP Top 10 | SAST + DAST + Pentest |
| Usability | Key user journeys | Heuristic evaluation |
| Accessibility | WCAG 2.2 AA | Automated + manual |

### 3.3 Risk-Based Prioritization

| Risk Area | Likelihood | Impact | Test Priority |
|-----------|------------|--------|---------------|
| [Payment processing] | Medium | High | P1 - Extensive |
| [User authentication] | Low | High | P1 - Extensive |
| [Reporting] | Low | Medium | P2 - Standard |
| [Admin settings] | Low | Low | P3 - Basic |

## 4. Test Environment

### 4.1 Environment Strategy

| Environment | Purpose | Data | Refresh Cycle |
|-------------|---------|------|---------------|
| Dev | Developer testing | Synthetic | On-demand |
| QA | Functional testing | Masked production | Weekly |
| Staging | Pre-prod validation | Production clone | Before release |
| Performance | Load testing | Scaled synthetic | Before release |

### 4.2 Infrastructure Requirements
- [Server specifications]
- [Network requirements]
- [Third-party service access]

## 5. Test Data

### 5.1 Data Strategy
- **Synthetic data**: Generated for unit/integration tests
- **Masked production data**: For realistic QA testing
- **Performance data**: Scaled to production volumes

### 5.2 Data Privacy
- [Anonymization requirements]
- [PII handling procedures]
- [Data retention policies]

## 6. Entry and Exit Criteria

### 6.1 Entry Criteria
- [ ] Requirements reviewed and approved
- [ ] Test environment available
- [ ] Test data prepared
- [ ] Test cases reviewed
- [ ] Build deployed to test environment

### 6.2 Exit Criteria
- [ ] All P1 test cases executed
- [ ] No critical defects open
- [ ] Code coverage ≥ 80%
- [ ] Performance targets met
- [ ] Security scan passed

## 7. Defect Management

### 7.1 Severity Levels

| Severity | Description | Resolution Time |
|----------|-------------|-----------------|
| Critical | System unusable | 4 hours |
| High | Major feature broken | 1 day |
| Medium | Feature degraded | 1 week |
| Low | Minor issue | Next release |

### 7.2 Defect Workflow
1. Tester logs defect with reproduction steps
2. Dev lead triages and assigns
3. Developer fixes and unit tests
4. Tester verifies fix
5. Defect closed or reopened

## 8. Test Deliverables

| Deliverable | Audience | Frequency |
|-------------|----------|-----------|
| Daily Test Status | Dev team | Daily |
| Test Summary Report | Management | Per sprint |
| Defect Metrics | All stakeholders | Weekly |
| Release Test Report | Release team | Per release |

## 9. Roles and Responsibilities

| Role | Responsibilities |
|------|------------------|
| Test Lead | Strategy, planning, reporting |
| QA Engineer | Test design, execution, defects |
| Developer | Unit tests, test support |
| Product Owner | Acceptance criteria, UAT |

## 10. Schedule

| Phase | Start | End | Milestone |
|-------|-------|-----|-----------|
| Test Planning | [Date] | [Date] | Strategy approved |
| Test Design | [Date] | [Date] | Test cases ready |
| Test Execution | [Date] | [Date] | All tests run |
| UAT | [Date] | [Date] | Sign-off |

## 11. Risks and Mitigations

| Risk | Probability | Impact | Mitigation |
|------|-------------|--------|------------|
| Environment unavailable | Medium | High | Backup environment ready |
| Resource shortage | Low | Medium | Cross-training |
| Requirement changes | High | Medium | Change control process |

Test Approach Patterns

Risk-Based Testing

Prioritize testing based on:

1. Business criticality: Revenue-impacting features first
2. Technical complexity: Complex components need more testing
3. Change frequency: Frequently changed areas need regression focus
4. Defect history: Bug-prone areas need more attention

Shift-Left Testing

Move testing earlier in the SDLC:

• Requirements testing (review for testability)
• Design testing (architecture review, threat modeling)
• Static analysis (before code review)
• Unit testing (during development)

Continuous Testing

Integrate testing into CI/CD:

• Pre-commit: Linting, unit tests
• PR: Integration tests, code coverage
• Merge: Full regression, security scan
• Deploy: Smoke tests, synthetic monitoring

Quality Metrics

Coverage Metrics

Metric	Target	Measurement
Requirement coverage	100%	Requirements traced to tests
Code coverage (line)	≥80%	Coverage tool output
Code coverage (branch)	≥70%	Coverage tool output
Risk coverage	100% P1 risks	Risk-test mapping

Execution Metrics

Metric	Target	Measurement
Test pass rate	≥95%	Pass / Total
Defect detection rate	≥90%	Pre-release / Total
Test automation rate	≥70%	Automated / Total
Defect leakage	<5%	Production defects / Total

.NET Example: Test Strategy Configuration

// Directory.Build.props - Shared test configuration
<Project>
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
    <CollectCoverage>true</CollectCoverage>
    <CoverletOutputFormat>cobertura</CoverletOutputFormat>
    <Threshold>80</Threshold>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Integration Points

Inputs from:

• Requirements documents → Test scope
• Architecture documents → Test levels
• Risk assessments → Test prioritization

Outputs to:

• test-pyramid-design skill → Pyramid ratios
• test-case-design skill → Test techniques
• CI/CD pipeline → Automation scope