Salesforce Manual Testing and How it Complements Automated Testing

The Salesforce CRM platform is flexible and highly customizable, allowing users to modify their system to best satisfy their needs. While Salesforce testing can seem challenging, there are several ways to combine manual and automated testing to make the process easier. 

Frequently, testing teams may rush to automate everything they can. When getting started with test automation, aiming for 100% test coverage is a common mistake. Manual testing will always be important and some testing scenarios will always require manually executed test cases.

This article will discuss the main advantages of manual testing in various forms (such as exploratory testing). We’ll explain why manual testing in Salesforce is essential and how it differs from automated testing. Most importantly, we'll review why repetitive and time-consuming tests, such as regression testing, should be automated so employees can return to innovative and creative work.

What is Salesforce Manual Testing?

Salesforce manual testing is the process of testing your salesforce platform relying on human oversight and control. Manual testing is frequently less accurate than automated testing and can be time-consuming and prone to mistakes. This testing relies on a software tester's practical expertise and knowledge to confirm the functionality of your software.

When Manual Testing is Recommended

In general, you should use manual testing for exploratory, usability, and black box testing:

• Exploratory testing: Relies on human oversight and knowledge to guide the testing process. In this type of testing, a human tester can decide the best approach to test a software or application and does not create test cases in advance. 
• Usability testing: Relies on a human tester thinking like an end-user and validating the usability of an application.
• Black box testing: Requires a human tester to perform software testing without understanding the functionality of a software or application.

Manual testing may also be required in these additional areas:

• When human oversight and flexibility are needed
• When business processes are key and you want a real person to test them
• Tests that require execution on an unplanned ad-hoc basis
• For single-use test cases

What Should You Choose To Automate?

The use of an automated testing tool, which can execute test cases without requiring manual effort, is referred to as automated testing. All time-consuming and repetitive tests can be replaced with automated software testing, freeing employees to work on complex, high-priority tasks that require human supervision.

Copado Robotic Testing is just one example of an automated testing tool. With the help of this low-code testing tool, users with little to no coding experience can create and run tests automatically.

When Automated Testing is Recommended

In general, you should use automated testing for unit, functional, integration, and regression testing:

• Unit testing: Involves testing small coding segments to ensure that these program segments work well on their own. Because it is a time-consuming, repetitive process, you should automate this type of testing. 
• Functional testing: Validates that an application, website, or system works as expected. Automated testing will ensure you produce a bug-free product. 
• Integration testing: Ensures that an entire integrated system, or systems, have proper functionality. Ideally, automated testing will guarantee that your integrations are operational after changes occur in the system. 
• Regression testing: Performed to verify that an application continues to function appropriately after introducing code modifications. Automated regression testing saves time and resources. 

Automated testing may also be required in these additional areas:

• The test is repetitive or a test case employs the same coding and scripts each time testing is performed
• The requirements, the test, or the task are low risk, stable, and unlikely to change often
• The test is time consuming or automated testing will save time
• Test scenarios with a high risk of human error
• The test has significant downtime between steps

How Manual Testing Complements Automated Testing

So, how does manual testing complement automated testing and how do you choose what to automate and what to test manually? Both manual and automated testing have drawbacks. However, these types of software testing frequently complement and function well with one another. 

Manual testing offers the human oversight, flexibility, and control necessary to ensure software quality when automated testing is not recommended. The benefits of automation are proportional to how many times a given test can be repeated. Tests that are only performed a couple of times a year won’t bring you a positive ROI. 

Automated testing can help increase test coverage while reducing the human error associated with manual testing, especially when repetitive testing processes become an obstacle to completing sufficient testing levels. The first candidates for test automation are tests that you will run frequently and may require a significant amount of data to perform the same action. Or, the most use functionality that introduces high-risk conditions and tests that take a lot of time and effort when manual testing. 

Ultimately, it will be up to your QA team to decide when and where to use Salesforce manual and automated testing. Your QA teams can reduce costs, increase productivity, and enhance software quality by using the best approach for testing. 

The Benefits of Copado Robotic Testing

For QA teams overburdened with time-consuming, error-prone, and repetitive work, automated testing offers several advantages. Automated testing tools make it possible to protect software quality, improve security, and free up human resources for important tasks, like manual exploratory testing.

Copado Robotic Testing is a Salesforce AI-powered test automation tool enabling your testing teams to speed up their software delivery cycles and provide better products. Its self-healing capabilities eliminate broken tests and the need for manual maintenance, freeing your workforce to concentrate on the in-depth and innovative work required to succeed in the current market.

Let Copado Be Your Salesforce Automated Testing Solution!

While it might seem possible to automate all testing processes, it’s not recommended. There will always be testing scenarios that require human oversight and intervention. In certain cases, it may be preferable to use manual testing over automation during select project phases.

Salesforce’s highly-customizable platform can make it difficult to expand test coverage using traditional QA methods. As a result, untested code can lead to low-quality releases and costly repairs. Ultimately, it will be up to your QA team to decide when to use manual testing and the right automated testing tools to be most effective.