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Test Plan Template

By 
Slite
A test plan describes the testing required to ensure your product meets the requirements for implementation. Slite's test plan template helps everyone stay in the loop, not just the testing team.
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What is the test plan template?

Test plans are used in the software and engineering industry. It is a detailed project document describing test strategies, objectives, schedules, estimations, and deliverables, as well as resources required for testing. The test plan is an important blueprint for all testing activities and a vital part of the development and implementation process. A test plan template gives you a framework that you can fill in with the necessary information for testing at every stage of development.

Examples of successful implementation of test plan templates

Test plans are not optional for projects that involve testing. Your plan doesn't have to be complicated, but it must be thorough. We've provided some successful test plan examples below.

Comprehensive test plan
Comprehensive test plan

Simple test plan template

How to write a software test plan using Slite's template

Test plans are technical documents that can be tedious to write, especially for non-tech people. A test plan outline makes the job much easier, especially for a person with little knowledge of how to write a software test plan. Slite's test plan template can slash about 50% of the time you'd spend writing from scratch and makes it easy for the writer to collaborate with the entire development team.

Modify

Our test procedure template is easy to modify to suit your project's needs. You can use our template as a base framework and subtract from or add to it as required.

Collaborate

Our project test plan template includes our live collaborative editor. Everybody on your team can share their information and experiences and provide input with our simple but powerful editing tools.

Comment

With Slite, your team can offer comments on anything they find in your test plan templates. Staying in the loop, providing feedback, and offering suggestions is easy when your team uses Slite.

Share

Slite lets you set access permissions, so you can make sure your sample test plan is only shared with the right people and decide who can edit the document and who only needs viewing access.

Search

Slite lets you search for document titles, specific contributors, or keywords. You can search through published public documents, within your private channels, or even through documents and messages in the trash.

Version Control

Slite's test plan template offers robust version control features that let you track changes, create new versions, and search through new and old versions of your test plan for information.

Integrate

Your master test plan will likely involve different teams sharing information and code on various platforms. Slite is integrated with many other collaborative tools, including Google Docs, Github, Asana, Okta, and many more.

Key Elements of a Test Plan Template

From lengthy documents to a one-page test plan, templates can cover many different formats depending on the industry and niche. You should always be direct with your points and cover all bases for quality assurance

Key elements of a test plan template include the following:

Test Plan Overview

The overview introduces the project, product or feature being tested. Our test plan template includes the name, date created, and team members involved in development and review. You can also add a brief description of the project's attributes.

Test Objectives

The test plan format must include your objectives, the goals of the testing process, and the scope of work. You should outline the metrics the team aims to satisfy with the testing process and provide a brief overview of the product to be tested.

Test Approach

The test plan outlines the testing strategy and techniques used and the different levels and stages of testing (unit testing, step testing, developmental, etc). It also provides entry and exit criteria for each stage, as well as quality assurance procedures.

Test Conditions

The test plan template should outline the parameters under which each test is considered satisfactorily performed. The conditions can be technical or environmental and are based on the provision of resources. A clear listing of test conditions is especially crucial.

Expected Results

Your test procedure template must tabulate the target results from each stage of testing, and provide an outline of any parameters that can be used to evaluate whether or not the expected results are achieved.

Actual results

A test documentation template should tabulate the actual results from each stage of testing. It should outline the real-time parameters that were used for testing and highlight the difference between the expected and actual results.

Schedule & timeline

Your project test plan template tabulates the test timeline for each test case, including the start date, end date, and optional duration if necessary. You can also add a field for soft and final deadlines.

Testing environment

Our test plan templates let you outline the testing environments, including the hardware and software requirements and operating systems. You can also provide information on setup and configuration procedures, security, access requirements, and authentication, if any.

Test progress report

The test progress report in our test plan document template is a massive table with many columns. It tabulates each test case and the executing team member, as well as the status, expected result, actual result, and expected date of completion.

Risk & issues

In this section, you outline possible risks with the testing process. This is where you highlight current issues with the product, such as deviations from intended or original design plans, and recommended mitigation strategies.

Sign-off & approval

The test protocol template includes a space for supervising officers and reviewers to approve the test plan and to leave comments.

How to Modify a Test Plan Template for Your Needs

A test plan for a software template might not be suited precisely to fit your industry or niche, or fit the product roadmap for your project. If you need to switch your template up a bit, here are some suggestions on how to modify the test plan.

Based on objectives or constraints

If you are involved in a massive project, feel free to add more fields to your test plan templates to outline testing plan objectives, as well as any limitations or restrictions that must be accounted for. This can be used to modify the range of your plan and to allocate resources intelligently.

Based on project size, complexity and duration of the project

The size of the project largely dictates how changes to an engineering test plan template can be made. Project complexity and completion timelines also matter, and may require changes in the template to make room for necessary data or to organize various testing tasks and subtasks into a coherent format.

Based on roles and responsibilities of the testing team

If you need to define a testing team member's obligations and deadlines in detail, you may need to add more columns. You may also need to add new sections if the testing process is particularly complex and involves more than a few employees.

Who should use this test plan template?

An application test plan template can be used by any project stakeholders, preferably people with intricate knowledge of the project who will be writing a test plan. Here are some people who would find Slite's test plan template useful:

Quality Assurance (QA) teams

A QA test plan template helps QA teams create tests that ensure your product meets the needs of your target audience and lets them compile hard data showing how it holds up under various conditions that users might encounter in the field.

Project managers

The test plan outline keeps project managers in the loop concerning upcoming tests, explains why these tests are important, and lets them respond to unexpected events and issues that arise during testing. Test plans allow them to allocate resources to problems immediately and can provide data as to potential causes.

Product development teams

A project test plan template gives product development teams testing deadlines that help them prioritize their work. Using test plan reports, they can debug and troubleshoot any issues that arise and get an idea of how their product functions in different operating environments.

Consultants

Consultants can use test plan templates to keep lines of communication open with QA and development teams. They can also provide input from their field of expertise regarding useful tests and testing environments and adapt their expectations concerning the final product in accordance with testing results.

Why is a test plan important?

The unit test plan template provides a useful roadmap for quality assurance purposes. It provides guidance and can be changed as the project develops and new situations arise.Here are some reasons why test plans are important:

Ensures the implementation of all functional requirements

Following a test document template ensures that no essential features are botched or unstable at the time of product launch. By examining and responding to test results, you can see that all design specifications are fully met, patch any bugs that may be shaken out during testing, and make sure you are bringing the best possible product to market.

Central reference for all development teams

Test plan and product requirements document templates are a very effective tool for keeping all relevant teams on the same page. Design, coding, development, and other teams sometimes find themselves working at cross-purposes, unsure of what the other teams are doing. A test plan prevents misinterpretations of instructions and prevents redundancies as teams know what's already been done.

Helps keep track of the team's progress

When your application test plan template is regularly updated, everyone involved in the project knows what is going on. You can see goals that have been achieved and setbacks that need to be addressed in real time. This helps everybody keep tabs on the big picture and on their personal responsibilities.

Highlights improvement opportunities in the product

The test plan format provides ongoing information about test results, which lets teams address issues and make the necessary corrections. Testing uncovers defects in the software while the work is in progress and lets you avoid embarrassing release disasters and complicated hot-fixes. It also gives you a chance to modify expectations and remove impractical features before you go to market.

Slite's test plan template is all the energy you need

Slite's test plan templates can improve communications between QA, development, and other teams. It can help you organize data from different tests and teams into a coherent format that all your stakeholders can follow. You can use our templates as-is or customize them to suit your needs. And Slite's collaboration features make it easy to get feedback and respond to questions from team members, testers, and other interested parties.

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