List the Activities Performed by a Software Tester

Introduction

Software testing is an essential process in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). It ensures the final product meets user expectations and is free of critical defects. As companies prioritize quality, the demand for skilled software testers continues to grow. If you aspire to become a proficient QA software tester, understanding the key activities involved in this role is crucial. Courses for software testers, such as those offered by H2K Infosys, provide in-depth training to prepare individuals for this dynamic career. The number of testing groups hired depends on testing work load. Test manager is hired if there are many testing groups. The testers in the testing group can refer to entry level testers, automation testers, senior testers, performance testers etc. In this blog we list down the the activities performed by the software tester in the testing group.

Why is Software Testing Important?

Prevents Costly Errors: The cost of fixing bugs post-release is significantly higher than addressing them during development.Enhances User Experience: Bug-free software ensures customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.Ensures Compliance: Software must adhere to industry standards and regulations, especially in critical fields like finance and healthcare.

Whether you’re a beginner exploring software tester courses online or a professional aiming to upskill, understanding these activities is key to excelling in the field.

Understanding Requirements and Specifications

The first activity a tester performs is understanding what needs to be tested. This involves:

• Reviewing Business Requirements Documents (BRD) and Functional Requirements Specifications (FRS)
• Clarifying requirements with stakeholders, developers, or business analysts
• Identifying testable and non-testable requirements
• Understanding acceptance criteria and system expectations

This foundational step ensures that the tester is aligned with the goals of the software and knows what success looks like.

2. Test Planning

Once the requirements are clear, the tester participates in or creates the Test Plan, a comprehensive document that outlines:

• Scope of testing
• Types of testing (functional, performance, security, etc.)
• Testing tools and environments
• Resource allocation (testers, timelines)
• Entry and exit criteria
• Risks and mitigation strategies

Test planning provides structure and direction, ensuring the testing process is organized and traceable.

3. Designing Test Scenarios and Test Cases

Based on the requirements and test plan, testers begin designing detailed test scenarios and test cases, which are:

• Step-by-step instructions for how to test a specific feature or functionality
• Designed for different test types: positive, negative, boundary, exploratory, and regression
• Often linked to user stories, modules, or requirement IDs

A good test case includes inputs, expected results, preconditions, and postconditions. These help ensure repeatability and traceability in the testing process.

4. Preparing Test Data

Before executing test cases, testers must prepare test data—the set of inputs and system conditions required for testing. This includes:

• Dummy data (names, IDs, transactions)
• Edge cases (null values, extreme numbers)
• Real-world scenarios (valid/invalid user credentials)

In some projects, testers use automated scripts or data generators to create large volumes of test data, especially for performance or stress testing.

5. Setting Up the Test Environment

A controlled environment is necessary to execute tests consistently. Testers are often involved in:

• Setting up development, staging, or QA environments
• Installing required software, tools, and databases
• Ensuring connectivity and configuration settings
• Performing smoke testing to validate environment readiness

Without a stable and isolated environment, test results could be unreliable or misleading.

6. Executing Test Cases

This is the core task of any software tester—running the tests. Activities include:

• Following the designed test cases step by step
• Logging actual results and comparing them with expected results
• Identifying pass/fail conditions
• Using manual or automated testing tools (e.g., Selenium, JUnit, Postman)

Execution may involve different types of testing:

• Functional testing: Verifying each feature works
• Regression testing: Checking that recent changes haven’t broken existing functionality
• Exploratory testing: Freestyle testing based on experience and intuition
• UI/UX testing: Ensuring the interface is user-friendly and consistent

7. Logging and Reporting Defects

When something goes wrong, it’s up to the tester to log defects clearly so that developers can reproduce and fix them. A good bug report includes:

• Summary of the issue
• Steps to reproduce
• Screenshots or videos
• Severity and priority
• Environment details
• Expected vs. actual results

Testers use bug tracking tools like JIRA, Bugzilla, or Azure DevOps to log and monitor defect statuses.

8. Collaborating with Developers

A key part of the tester’s job is communicating with developers to ensure bugs are understood and resolved. This may involve:

• Attending scrum meetings, bug triage meetings, or review sessions
• Reproducing bugs during live discussions
• Suggesting alternative test cases or scenarios
• Clarifying the scope of issues

Testers are often the first line of feedback to developers, making collaboration essential.

9. Retesting and Regression Testing

Once developers fix a bug, testers perform retesting to ensure the fix works. They also conduct regression testing to ensure no other functionalities have broken due to the fix.

Automated testing is particularly helpful in regression testing, enabling faster validation across multiple modules.

10. Performing Specialized Testing Types

Apart from basic functional testing, testers may also conduct or assist with:

• Performance Testing: Checking load, stress, and scalability
• Security Testing: Ensuring the application is secure from threats
• Compatibility Testing: Running tests across different browsers, OS, and devices
• Integration Testing: Verifying data flow between integrated modules
• Accessibility Testing: Ensuring the app is usable by people with disabilities

These specialized tests often require tools and scripting knowledge, expanding the tester’s skill set.

11. Test Automation

Many testers today use or develop test automation scripts using tools like:

• Selenium WebDriver (UI testing)
• TestNG or JUnit (unit testing)
• Postman or SoapUI (API testing)
• Jenkins (CI/CD automation)

Automation saves time and effort in repetitive testing like regression, smoke, and sanity tests. Testers involved in automation are often called SDETs (Software Development Engineer in Test).

12. Documentation and Reporting

Documentation is vital for traceability, audit, and future reference. Testers are responsible for:

• Updating test case documents and traceability matrices
• Preparing test summary reports
• Reporting daily status in scrum or team meetings
• Maintaining test logs, screenshots, and bug reports

Test documentation is often a deliverable required during client audits or sign-off processes.

13. UAT Support (User Acceptance Testing)

In later stages of the project, testers may assist business users during User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Their activities include:

• Preparing UAT test cases
• Providing walkthroughs or training to business users
• Supporting issue logging and triaging during UAT
• Clarifying functional flows or business logic

While UAT is driven by end-users, QA often provides the backbone support to ensure smooth execution.

14. Post-Deployment Validation (Production Testing)

Even after the software is deployed to production, testers may need to:

• Conduct smoke or sanity testing in the live environment
• Validate deployment success (e.g., features, integrations, UI rendering)
• Monitor error logs or performance metrics
• Coordinate with DevOps for rollback or hotfixes if needed

This stage ensures that real users are not impacted by missed issues or deployment failures.

15. Continuous Improvement and Feedback

A mature QA team is not only reactive but proactive. Testers are expected to:

• Analyze metrics like defect leakage, test coverage, and cycle time
• Identify process bottlenecks or repetitive pain points
• Suggest automation opportunities
• Share retrospective feedback in agile meetings

This culture of continuous improvement leads to higher quality releases and better team efficiency.

Software testing steps:

The six steps of the software testing are: 

• test requirement gathering
• plan and analysis
• design
• implementation & execution
• defect reporting & tracking
• test closure

The software tester has a role to play in all the steps of software testing. The roles of the different testers are listed below:

Role of Manual tester: 

Manual testing is a process of testing the functions and features of an application by an end-user whether to verify whether it is working or not. The tester manually conducts test on the software by following various tests to check whether it is working or not. The activities done are: Requirement analysis, referring to test plans, writing test scenarios, identifying test data requirements, Test execution, defect reporting, defect logging and summarising the release with the project.

Role of an Automation tester:

Automation Tester: The roles and responsibilities of an Automation tester includes designing, documentation for automated procedures which includes test plans, test procedures and test cases. They use automation tools and testing frameworks like selenium tool or cypress and Serenity. the automation testers require analytical skills and problem solving skills.

Role of Test Leader:

Test Lead: A test leader is responsible for defining the test activities to the testing team, test planning activities, to check whether the team has necessary resources for testing activities, to check whether the testing is going on properly in all the software development phases.

Role of Entry level software tester:

Entry level software tester: The responsibilities of any software tester include creation of test designs, test processes, test cases and test data, carry out testing as per the defined procedures, participate in testing procedures and prepare defect reports related to testing activities.

Role of Senior testers:

Senior tester activities include supervision of software testers, review of software requirements, preparation of review of test plans, execution of tests, reporting of defects, preparation of test reports. These can effectively solve most complex tasks related to both technical and organising test activities, prioritises plan and delegates tasks. They have to create and design the automation test, arranging software and hardware software requirements, tracking new requirements for the project, monitor test environment set up and review process. 

Flexible Learning Options

H2K Infosys offers:

• Software tester courses online, enabling learners to upskill from anywhere.Flexible schedules to suit working professionals.

Conclusion

Software testing is a dynamic and rewarding field with immense growth potential. By mastering the core activities outlined above, you can build a successful career as a QA software tester. Enrolling in H2K Infosys courses for software testers provides the hands-on training and expert guidance you need to thrive in this competitive industry. Take the first step towards your dream career today!

Question:

1. List five roles of software testers.