Exploring a keyword driven testing framework : a case study at Scania IT

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate organizational quality assurance through the international testing standard ISO 29119. The focus will be on how an organization carries out testing processes and designs and implements test cases. Keyword driven testing is a test composition concept in ISO 29119 and suitable for automation. This thesis will answer how keyword driven testing can facilitate the development of maintainable test cases and support test automation in an agile organization. The methodology used was a qualitative case study including semi-structured interviews and focus groups with agile business units within Scania IT. Among the interview participants were developers, test engineers, scrum masters and a unit manager. The results describe testing practices carried out in several agile business units, maintainability issues with test automation and general ideas of how test automation should be approached. Common issues with test automation were test cases failing due to changed test inputs, inexperience with test automation frameworks and lack of resources due to project release cycle. This thesis concludes that keyword driven testing has the potential of solving several maintainability issues with test cases breaking. However, the practicality and effectiveness of said potential remain unanswered. Moreover, successfully developing an automated keyword driven testing framework requires integration with existing test automation tools and considering the agile organizational circumstances.