How to Write A Test Report

A test report is a document describing an experiment of analysis in an organized manner, environmental or operational conditions, comparing the actual results with the expected ones. It enlightens and influences the stakeholder about the test outcomes. Let us remember the steps of software testing life cycle:

• Requirement analysis.
• Test plan preparation.
• Test analysis.
• Test case development.
• Environment setup.
• Test running.
• Defect reporting.
• Test cycle closure.

Ready test reports must contain data obtained from the previous phases.

Thus, test report can be defined as a document containing information on actions taken (test case execution, errors discovered during the test, testing time, etc.) and the deliverables (successful / unsuccessful test cases, a number of errors and failures, and so on).

Test status report plays a key role in the success of test projects. It allows us to evaluate the current status of the project and quality of the product. QA consulting companies provide testing and quality assurance solutions. They can test web, desktop and mobile apps.

Do we need to create test reports? Of course! In fact, there are at least three reasons why we should prepare test reports.

1.       You may make changes if necessary.
2.       Test report can be a final document that determines the product readiness for release.
3.       Quality and transparency are mandatory prerequisites for creating a test report. These are the key factors for building confidence and trust among customers.

For whom the report is written?

When creating a test report you need to clearly understand for whom it is intended. Taking into account the needs of the target audience, we need to define what this report should describe.

There are three main target audience types:

Technical users (test managers)

Deeper understanding of software testing process and the underlying cause of problems, development of problem-solving skills, test design, description of methods and technologies used are crucial for these specialists.  

Project leaders

They focus on deadlines, test run results without technical details and general statistics (numerical indicators and comparison results).

Business users (product users)

As a rule, these people are decision-makers in the testing process. They also assess the quality of testing.  The final result represented in yes / no format is especially important for them. There also must be visual representation of information (graphics, diagrams), expert’s opinion concerning the possibility to create the product in industrial environment.