A hypothetical circumstance or situation described as a story is called a scenario. During testing, you will look at how the program responds to this hypothetical event and how well it does. 

In this blog, I will tell you all about test scenarios that you will require for your website or app. If you are into web development or availing web development services for your website or application, this would be a useful blog for you to understand what test scenario is and how to create it. 

What is a Test Scenario?

Any functionality that may be tested is referred to as a test scenario. It is sometimes referred to as the test condition or test possibility. Scenario tests that are credible, motivating, simple to evaluate, and complex are optimal.

Testing a website or app before launch is very crucial to determine it's working. Test Scenarios are created to guarantee that a website's or app's complete functionality works as planned.

Gathering input from clients, stakeholders, and developers is the best way to generate accurate test scenarios. This ensures that all potential user scenarios are covered and that all business flows of the product in issue are thoroughly tested.

Test Scenarios are required to validate the overall system's performance from the users' perspective. When building them, testers must put themselves in consumers' shoes to understand what real-world scenarios the program will have to manage after it is released.

Creating a Test Scenario

Step 1: Examine the Requirement Document relating to the System Under Test(SUT), including the Business Requirement Specification (BRS), Software Requirement Specification (SRS), and Functional Requirement Specification (FRS).

Step 2: Isolate each requirement and determine which potential user behaviors should be evaluated. Determine the technological challenges that the need poses. Remember to evaluate the program through the eyes of a hacker to examine and outline various system abuse situations.

Step 3: Create a list of test cases that include all of the software's features. Make sure these scenarios include every user and business flow that occurs during the website or app's operation.

Step 4: Create a Traceability Matrix after listing the test scenarios to verify that each requirement is assigned to a specific test scenario.

Types of Test Scenarios

There are two types of test scenarios:

  • Positive testing
  • Negative testing

1. Positive Testing

Positive testing can be performed on the system by providing valid date input. It checks whether an application behaves as expected with the positive input. 

For example: 

  • A text box can accept only numbers. Enter the values of any number 0 to any 9999999999 will be acceptable by the system, and any other value apart from this should not be acceptable.
  • To do positive testing, set the valid input value from 0 to 999 and check the system is accepting the value.
positive testing
  • You can see in the above image that there is no error showing while entering the number digit in the input field. 

2. Negative Testing

You can perform negative testing on the system by providing invalid data as input. By doing so, you can check whether an application behaves as expected in the system with the negative input.

For example:

  • Negative testing can be performed by entering the alphabet and special characters from a to z or !@#$%. 
  • The system input field should not accept the values, or else it should show an error message in invalid date input. 
negative testing

Now you can see that I am entering the alphabet in the number input field, and it is showing an error message that it will only accept numbers. 

Example of a Test Scenario

Let's check the login page test scenario.

Test Scenario Log In Module

Test scenario of a login image

In the above image, you can see the login page. 

Let us put the following in this scenario:

  • Check system behavior while entering a valid email ID and password.
  • After entering your email and password, click the signup button to check the error message.
Test scenario of a login module 1
  • Now enter the wrong email id and password to check the error message.
Test scenario login module 2
  • Check if the buttons are working while logging in and signing up.
  • Check sign with Google. 
  • Now, enter your email id and password and click the checkbox ‘Remember me.' And then check if it is working by seeing if the system remembers you when you log out and try to login again.

Test scenario Sign Up module

Test scenario Sign Up module

Check out the above image of the signup module. 

Do the following in this scenario:

  • Check with fill all fields and click to sign up without clicking ‘I am not a robot.'
  • Empty one required field and click to sign up. Check if the system shows the message box left blank to fill.
  • Click the password ‘Hide and Show' icon and check it is working.
  • Try to sign up without accepting the ‘Terms and Conditions.'
  • Check if the ‘Sign in' button is working when you click on redirect to the sign-in page.
  • Check if the terms and conditions page links are working.
  • Check if the email field is not accepted without the @domain name and .com
  • After filling everything in, check if you get a verification code on your entered email account to verify and login into the system.

Best Practices to Follow while creating Test Scenarios 

A few best practices that you have to follow when you create test scenarios are:

  • For the purpose of simplicity, just one test scenario should be created for each requirement or user narrative.
  • If a single test scenario is required to meet several needs, be sure that each requirement has been thoroughly tested in isolation before using the scenario as a whole. It is simple to overlook some functionalities if you don't pay attention.
  • If it turns out that the number of test scenarios is either too big or too expensive to conduct, prioritize them based on the preferences of the customers who will be tested.

Wrapping Up

Test Scenarios are used to test many aspects of software applications. It contributes to the comprehensive coverage of the testing process. They would encompass everything that must be tested before the product is released to the public because test scenarios must be authorized by business analysts, developers, and future consumers.

Test scenarios allow you to predict how much testing work will be necessary and to plan out your testing strategy. A proposal for the customer might also be included in this document. Furthermore, it facilitates the identification of the essential end-to-end user flows, which in turn aids in prioritizing testing principles and efforts.

In this blog, I have given you an overview of what test scenarios are, the two types of test scenarios, how to create a test scenario and the best practices you should follow while creating a test scenario. I also gave you examples of test scenario creation. 

Web development and app development are something that you would want experts or knowledgeable people in this field to handle. If you are looking to create an app or website or need any other web development services, feel free to contact us!

                                                                                                                              Editor: Amrutha

Frequently Asked Questions

To create a test scenario:

  • Identify the objective or goal of the test.
  • Define the scope and boundaries of the test.
  • Specify the conditions and prerequisites for the test.
  • Describe the sequence of steps to perform the test.
  • Outline the expected outcomes and results.
  • Consider variations and edge cases for comprehensive testing.
  • Document the test scenario for reference and execution.

A test scenario is an in-depth description of a specific test case. An example of a test scenario could be for an e-commerce website:

Test Scenario: Adding a Product to the Shopping Cart

Objective: To verify that users can successfully add a product to their shopping cart.

Preconditions:

  • The user is logged in.
  • The website is functioning correctly.

Test Steps:

  • Navigate to the product catalogue.
  • Select a product by clicking on its name or image.
  • Verify that the product details page loads correctly.
  • Click the “Add to Cart” button.
  • Verify that the product is added to the cart.
  • Review the cart to ensure the product is displayed with the correct details.
  • Verify the cart's total price is updated accordingly.

Expected Outcome: The selected product is added to the cart, and its details are displayed correctly. The cart's total price reflects the addition of the product.

Two examples of test scenarios are:

  • User Registration Scenario:
    • Objective: To verify that users can successfully register on a website.
    • Test Steps: Navigate to the registration page, fill in the required information, submit the form, and receive a confirmation email.
    • Expected Outcome: A user account is created, and a confirmation email is sent.
  • Login Authentication Scenario:
    • Objective: To verify that the login authentication process works correctly.
    • Test Steps: Enter a valid username and password, and submit the login form.
    • Expected Outcome: Successful login, granting access to the user's account dashboard.

A test scenario is a broader description of a specific functionality or feature to be tested. It outlines the objective, conditions, and steps for testing.
A test case, on the other hand, is a detailed set of instructions and conditions for testing a specific aspect of a scenario. It provides precise steps to follow and expected outcomes to determine if the functionality works as intended. Test cases are more granular, and multiple test cases can be taken from a single test scenario.

Ajay Kumar is an expert in web testing. He writes about automated and manual testing, designing test cases, tracking bugs, and performance testing. His clear and helpful content makes testing easier to understand and helps improve software quality. Ajay’s dedication to his work makes his writing valuable for everyone.