.svg)
Test reporting is an important link between testing tasks and decision making in the agile world. Clear test reporting converts raw testing data into meaningful, actionable information. This allows leadership to steer the direction of the software. Whether it's done manually or using modern-day dashboards, test reporting is what makes testing efforts visible and valuable to everyone above and in between.
What Is Test Reporting?
Test reporting is the process of documenting and communicating the results of tests or test activities. This process involves the execution of tests, validating and documenting the results, and then presenting the final outcome to decision makers.
Effective test reporting doesn’t need to be a complicated dashboard; it can be a simple spreadsheet with all relevant details.
Importance of Test Reporting
Test reporting acts as a bridge between executives and the testing activities performed by teams. The goal of test reporting is to ensure that top-level leadership can understand the complex results. Without test reporting, leaders will lack visibility.
Apart from decision making, test reporting also helps to create accountability. Properly documented test results help teams to keep an eye on historic test results. Teams can use this data to track recurring issues and quality trends over time.
Types of Test Reports
Test reports are used for different use cases and come in various formats. They vary based on audience and purpose, which is dictated by the requirement. In this section, we’ll discuss some of the common types of test reports that you might need in your projects.
1. Test Summary Report
A test summary report is used to give a detailed overview of all testing activities during a certain period of time or a specific release. Some of the main sections it includes are the test objective, scope of the testing, stakeholders involved, timeline, success criteria, and metrics and results.
2. Defect Report
Defect reports are used to document specific issues during the test phase. This report usually contains detailed information about a specific bug, which includes an issue summary, steps to reproduce, severity, recommendations to fix, proof of concept (screenshot or recordings), and current status of the bug.
3. Test Progress Report
Test progress reports serve a different purpose. They track the progress of the testing activities against the planned schedule. These reports are used by product and project managers to track the overall progress of the testing activities, and they often include charts and infographics to help understand the progress easily.
4. Performance Test Report
A performance test report is mainly used when performance and load testing are performed on applications. This type of testing involves testing the system under different load circumstances to understand how the application behaves. A performance test report includes response time, throughput, and resource utilization (including CPU, memory, and disk).
5. Security Test Report
Security test reports focus on issues found as part of a vulnerability assessment or a penetration test. This report usually includes a title and description of the vulnerability, proof of concept, steps to reproduce, severity, CVSS, and recommendation steps. Since the report contains sensitive information, access to the report is usually restricted until the critical issues are fixed.
If you've written a great test report, your decision makers will have all the information they need to do their jobs.
Components of a Test Report
If you've written a great test report, your decision makers will have all the information they need to do their jobs. Although specific formats may differ depending on the company, most effective test reports often contain the following sections.
1. Summary
The summary section provides a concise summary/TL;DR of the testing activities and the outcomes. It explains what works and highlights the breakthrough insights and practical solutions that contribute to clarification. As senior management is only interested in this part, it must cover all the most important aspects of the analysis.
2. Introduction
The introduction section is the main entry point of the report. This usually contains the project name, description, associated requirements, testing scope, and target audience. This portion of the report helps the reader to understand what was tested and why.
3. Scope of the Report
The section defines what was tested as part of the activity and what systems and applications were out of scope. It also contains the characteristics, functions, and requirements that are the subject of the testing. Knowing the overall scope of test activity helps the stakeholders to interpret the results appropriately.
4. Schedule
The schedule section outlines the timeline of the testing activities. It contains specific start and end dates of the activities, the timeline of resource allocation, and if there was any deviation from the planned schedule (along with reasons for the deviation).
5. Success Criteria and Metrics
This part of the report explains how the success of the testing activities was evaluated, along with numerical data from the tests. It consists of the statistics for test case execution percentage (pass/fail/blocked), defect density, requirements, code coverage, or any other project-related KPIs.
6. Next Steps
This section provides recommendations and next steps, along with necessary actions according to the test results. The recommendation section contains steps to defect fixes, further testing, or process improvement. This section helps decision makers look forward, making the report actionable rather than simply rooted in the past.
Interpreting Test Report Results
Analyzing test report data involves more than just raw numbers to understand the quality of the application or the system. Pass rate and defect count are the metrics that help provide quantitative data, but they must be taken against some sort of backdrop, such as coverage, requirement criticality, and historical performance.
Good interpretation of the test report also involves assessing the implications of the business's technical details. For example, in a small feature, there could be a severe security issue that’s of higher priority and requires more resources compared to minor UI fixes. When reviewing test reports, it's important to ask what these results mean for your end users, release pipeline, and business goals. The business perspective helps to focus where any action is required and how to meaningfully communicate results to non-technical stakeholders.
Agile methodologies have changed the face of test reporting.
Test Reporting in Agile Methodologies
Agile methodologies have changed the face of test reporting. This includes a shift from old-school documents to interactive dashboards and continual feedback.
Sprint Testing Reports
As part of the sprint review, test reports are presented in order to show the total work done and the quality level of the product. These reports consist of user stories that were tested, the overall acceptance criteria, and the defects identified that actually affect the functionality. Unlike generic reports, sprint testing reports are presented as demos or short presentations that promote interaction rather than simple reporting.
Burndown Charts
Burndown charts visualize the testing progress as the sprint goes by. These graphs show the number of test cases that were tested, user stories completed, and bugs resolved plotted against time. The downward sloping line depicts the remaining work and helps forecast if all proposed tasks can be completed in the given sprint.
Retrospective Discussions
Insights from the testing constitute much of the sprint retrospective, where the team discusses what worked well and what didn’t. Rather than writing a formal report, software testers usually share observations about challenges, quality trends, and process inefficiencies. These conversations lead to actual improvements in testing practices for the coming sprint.
Defect Tracking
In the agile context, defect tracking goes from many documents to JIT (just in time) communications. Bugs are filed directly in task management tools such as Jira and Asana, with just enough information to reproduce but without excessive formality. Metrics shift from focusing on the number of defects being fixed to the speed of defect resolution and repeat rate of defects. Many teams use a physical board that reflects the current status of all defects, providing transparency.
5 Best Practices for Test Reporting
Building great test reports can make the difference between them being glanced over or viewed as providing quality insights on how to take action. Let’s discuss a few best practices that help to ensure that test reports drive improvements.
1. Keep Things Simple
Simplicity is the key in test reporting. Just focus on basic information and be clear about it instead of bombarding stakeholders with all sorts of explanations.
2. Consistent Reporting
Format, terminology, and delivery cadence consistency help to build comfort and trust with all reports. Use templates that remain the same across all projects and testing iterations.
3. Add Reliable Recommendations
Good test reports don’t just diagnose issues; they recommend actual and practical solutions. Provide specific and actionable recommendations based on testing results rather than vague suggestions.
4. Automate Whenever Possible
Automated reporting saves labor and lowers the chance of human error. Integrate the reporting tool with the CI/CD pipeline to automatically generate a test report at the end of every build/test cycle.
5. Focus On Priorities
Not all test results are worth getting worked up over. Sort the reports in terms of priorities and the use case based on the requirements of the stakeholders.
Common Challenges in Test Reporting
Although test reporting is straightforward in practice, there are many challenges that can hamper the effectiveness of the process. Here are some challenges you might encounter:
Too Much Information
The urge to be all inclusive about all testing can lead to bloated reports that no one reads attentively. This information overload results in decisions that are less rather than more informed, as the information might have been buried under excessive detail.
Different Reporting Patterns
The lack of consistency among teams regarding test reporting makes it difficult to understand and compare. The organization as a whole has no way of quantifying the product quality when each team has developed its own reporting format and terminology.
Slow Feedback Loop
The longer it takes to generate test reports, the less useful they become. Manual test compilation practices persist in many companies that delay delivery by days after testing is completed.
Lack of Visibility
Test reports often don’t bridge the gap between the technical and the non-technical stakeholders. Reports with technical jargon alienate business stakeholders, while dumbed down reports annoy developers due to lack of tech depth.
Final Words
Defining the right set of tests is a critical part of quality assurance, and good test reporting is key to transforming raw testing data into actionable insights. As dev cycles are accelerated, the ability to rapidly create and respond to test cases becomes increasingly important in maintaining software quality and business agility.
Through a commitment to standard reporting and clarity as well as actionability, orgs can guarantee that their testing is delivering true business value. If you are interested in simplifying test reporting, automated solutions like Autify offer an easier way to generate, manage, and share test cases and relevant results with stakeholders.
.svg){kind=small}
