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Happy Path Testing

Happy Path testing can lead to the best Test Cases

Happy Path defines the success of every QA test - the user should be able to run through the functionality without having to encounter any errors.

Wikipedia Quote
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_path

Defining the Happy Path

The QA Project lead should start out building out a test plan that defines the happy path. While the path may seem obvious - it does help identify risk area.

Only One Happy Path?

Some QA Experts will say that there's only one Happy Path in a project. I'll argue that many paths may exist, for example in eCommerce you may have a Happy Path for existing customers and one for new customer.

Real World Example

A good real-world example of a happy path is going to the grocery store and getting everything on your shopping list.

Can you think of ways that a Happy Path would not be accomplished?

Some things that could cause an unsuccessful Happy Path

  • Store isn't open
  • Department is closed (Deli or Bakery is closed)
  • Product isn't available
  • Product is hard to find or not reachable
  • Shopping is taking too long
  • Checkout can't accept Credit Card transactions

Figuring out all the possibilities that could prevent someone from having a Happy Path is a good way to build test cases.

When starting out testing a new product, QA brainstorm ways that could prevent users from successfully completing their tasks.

Release Day

On release day, all new products should have a successful Happy Path.

 

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