This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Pradip Baskota
Introduction
Welcome to my QA project series! As a passionate QA Lead, I’ve embarked on a journey to demonstrate the full spectrum of quality assurance practices—right from requirements analysis and test planning, through manual and automated testing, to reporting, risk management, and open-source community engagement. This series is not just a technical walkthrough, but a real-world showcase of how a QA Lead approaches, structures, and delivers quality in software projects.
What Are We Doing in This Series?
This series is a hands-on, transparent look at how to:
- Create, review, and manage all key test artifacts (test plans, strategies, cases, data, reports, and more)
- Design and execute both manual and automated tests for a real-world demo application (ParaBank)
- Implement best practices in traceability, risk management, and communication
- Open source the entire framework and documentation for the benefit of the QA community
- Leverage Java and Selenium for test automation—with a special note: Selenium with Java is a new tool for me, and I will be documenting my learning process, challenges, and discoveries as I go. This adds an extra layer of authenticity and relatability for anyone else learning new tools on the job.
My Experience and Motivation
In my 5-year career as a QA Lead, I have:
- Worked extensively with Python and Selenium for UI testing
- Used Python for API testing
- Employed Docker for containerization of test environments
- Utilized Allure for test reporting
- Integrated automated tests into CI pipelines
- Designed and implemented test automation frameworks from scratch
Now, I want to bring together everything I have learned and demonstrate how to approach a new tool—Java with Selenium—from the ground up. My goal is to show how a strong QA mindset, technical skills, and best practices can transfer across tools and languages. I’ll be sharing not only the technical steps, but also the thought process, decision-making, and lessons learned along the way. This series will also serve as a guide for anyone starting from scratch, showing how to build a robust QA process and framework regardless of the technology stack.
The goal is to provide a practical, end-to-end reference for QA professionals, aspiring leads, and anyone interested in structured, professional software testing.
How Are We Doing It?
- Step-by-step documentation: Every phase, artifact, and decision will be documented and explained, with templates and real examples.
- Real application: We’ll use the ParaBank demo site to ground our work in realistic scenarios.
- Balanced approach: Both manual and automation testing will be covered, showing how they complement each other.
- Open source mindset: All templates, code, and reports will be shared in a public repository for learning and collaboration.
- Continuous reflection: Each phase will include lessons learned, challenges faced, and improvements made.
- Learning in public: As I learn Selenium and deepen my Java automation skills, I’ll share not just the successes, but also the hurdles, resources, and tips that help me along the way.
Things to Keep in Mind
- Quality is a process, not a checkbox. It’s about building confidence in the product through repeatable, transparent practices.
- Communication is key. Clear documentation, regular status updates, and stakeholder engagement are as important as the tests themselves.
- Traceability ensures coverage. Mapping requirements to test cases and defects helps prevent gaps and supports impact analysis.
- Adaptability matters. Requirements change, environments shift, and new risks emerge—being flexible and proactive is essential.
- Learning never stops. Every project, even a hobby one, is an opportunity to refine skills and share knowledge.
Managing Risks
Risk management is woven into every phase of this project:
- Early identification: Risks are logged and reviewed from the outset, not just when issues arise.
- Mitigation planning: For each risk, we define clear mitigation strategies—whether it’s ambiguous requirements, environment instability, or tight timelines.
- Transparent reporting: Risks and their statuses are communicated in status reports and closure summaries.
- Lessons learned: After each phase, we reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve risk management going forward.
Increasing the Chance of Project Success
- Thorough planning: Investing time in requirements analysis, test planning, and environment setup pays off throughout the project.
- Prioritization: Focusing on business-critical flows and high-impact areas ensures that the most important risks are addressed first.
- Automation where it counts: Automating regression and smoke tests accelerates feedback and reduces manual effort.
- Collaboration: Engaging with stakeholders, developers, and the QA community brings diverse perspectives and uncovers blind spots.
- Documentation: Well-maintained artifacts make onboarding, maintenance, and audits easier for everyone.
What Do We Expect from This Journey?
- A living reference: By the end, we’ll have a complete, open-source set of QA artifacts, templates, and automation code that anyone can use or adapt.
- Community value: Sharing not just the successes, but also the challenges and lessons learned, will help others avoid common pitfalls.
- Personal growth: This project is a chance to deepen my own expertise, experiment with new tools and techniques, and give back to the QA field.
- Inspiration: I hope this series inspires others to approach QA with curiosity, rigor, and a spirit of continuous improvement.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a seasoned QA professional or just starting out, I invite you to follow along, contribute, and share your own experiences. Quality is a journey, and together we can raise the bar for what great testing looks like.
Stay tuned for the next post, where we’ll dive into the first set of test artifacts and how to create them from scratch!
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Pradip Baskota