Best Practices to Write and Manage Test Cases in Jira

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6 Best Practices for Writing and Managing Test Cases in Jira

What is a test case? Well, we know that a test case is the most fundamental building block of the software testing process. It is defined as a set of conditions or variables under which QA teams determine if a software application or any specific functionality of the application is working as it was meant to. The very first step in the software testing process is writing test cases and this is also the most important and crucial step. Nonetheless, writing test cases can take up a lot of time but if written well, they can add a lot of value to the testing process.

And what’s more, writing test cases in just the beginning and it’s even more important to manage and organize the test cases well. Well-organized test cases are easy to refer to and also makes timely updating easier. In this article, we shall look into a few best practices for writing and managing test cases in Jira.

An Introduction to Jira

Jira is a platform by Atlassian that Is the most popular bug tracking and project management tool across the globe today. It is used by QA teams to track bugs, issues, new feature requests and also manage tasks as well as collaborate with other teams. What makes Jira so popular is the customization it offers which supports a wide variety of use cases. It is a highly effective platform to help teams come together and work effectively on a single project.

Writing Test Cases in Jira

Let's begin with the basic steps to write test cases in Jira, through the QARA Enterprise test management platform (developed by The Digital Group) with external Jira integration, which are as follows:

• Go to the interface of the platform
• Click on the Create Test Cases option
• Enter the Title of the test case and other details as required
• Open the newly created test case
• Add test steps in the section, as shown in the screenshot below.

Once you are familiar with the basic steps to write a test case, here are some best practices for writing a test case that you can follow.

Managing Test Cases in Jira

Interestingly, Jira is also used as test management tool even though it was never designed for the function in the first place. However, for effective test case management using Jira, the QA team is required to configure Jira using add-ons or external integrations with dedicated test management tools. While the use of add-ons can bring the test management capability of a dedicated test management tool to the interface of Jira, external integrations with a test management tool allows users to access Jira projects within the test management tool.

Best Practices for Writing and Managing Test Cases in Jira

Here are some best practices to help you use the platform to write and manage test cases in a better way.

a] Configure Your Jira Workflow

This will require some time-consuming configurations of the Jira interface and what you need to do is configure the workflow such that the workflow does not mark itself as ‘Done’ before you’re actually done with the process.

b] Choose to Create a ‘Test Case’ Issue Type

This is another small trick to make it easier for you to create a test case in Jira. Define the issue type as ‘Test Case’ and ensure it is kept open. However, it can still make it difficult to rerun or reuse test cases as Jira issues are meant to be marked as ‘Done’.

c] Use a Jira User Story as a Test Case

The last trick is to take a User Story in Jira and tweak in order to use it as a test case. However, the challenges are the same as that you’d expect when creating the ‘test cases’ issue type.

d] Decide on a Naming Convention for Your Test Cases

As your projects grow in size, or you use Jira for multiple projects, the number of test cases increase and this can get really confusing if you don’t follow a naming convention for naming the test cases. Following a particular naming convention makes it easy for anyone from the team to find test cases with ease.

e] Describe the Steps in Detail

When you describe the steps to be followed in detail, what you have is a test case well-written. Also, it is good practice to mention the expected results in detail so that it becomes easier for you or your team to find the relevant test cases in case you want to reuse them for a given scenario.

f] Ensure Traceability of Test Steps

Traceability refers to tracing the test case right from the start till it goes live. It ensures everyone in the team is well aware of the different steps that have been completed and the results of the same. You should ideally ensure traceability between test cases, test runs, test plans and even bugs and defects.

The Final Word

There are several benefits that Jira offers, including an intuitive interface and time-tracking capability. This makes QA teams use the platform for test management as well. Following the best practices mentioned above will make it easier for the teams to make the most out of Jira.

[Ivan Seligmann]

Hello Amit,

Thanks for the article, in first place.

I'have a QQ for you.

Would you recommend (and why, please) to use a separate project for testing, or is it better to have everything together with the main dev project?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Iván G. Séligmann