How to effectively document / manage existing manual test cases?

Question

Recently, I came across a feature that had been tested before.

• This ticket was assigned to me on Jira, there was no mentioning of any previous testing on this ticket.
• After I discovered a few issues and reported them on Slack for discussion, only then someone mentioned that this feature had been tested before and testing log was available somewhere on Google Sheets.
• Almost all of the issues I discovered had been discovered and reported, e.g. some effort and time could have been saved.

Chronically, the issues are:

1. There is no mentioning of previous testing in the Jira ticket.
2. There is no easy way to search for any existing testing logs. E.g. people use whichever way they see fit to record test cases, Google Sheets is one of many options.
3. Previous Jira tickets about this feature was not linked to the Jira ticket I was working on, e.g. I was totally unaware of any previous testing effort.

I am thinking of bringing up this issue during our next retro, but the likely solution is possibly:

• Remind everyone that Jira tickets need to be linked, testing logs should be attached; this solution is still largely dependent on people's memory, which can be very unreliable.

What is the effective way to solve this issue? Is there any Jira features (or any other software features) we can use for assistance?

Answer 1

Testrail:

In my opinion, Testrail is the best damn online test case management system. It allows to write test cases, perform test runs, attach defect tickets.
However, the best feature lies in the history feature and stats allowing to see when a test passed and failed along with comments.

Answer 2

If you used JIRA, then TestRail is the best option for it, the integration with JIRA is great and easy to manage, it can handle a lot Case and make Regression much easier to track.

But I also suggest TestLodge, it integrated with ActiveCollab.

1. It can manage more than 2000 cases.
2. Put all requirement document or attachment in single place.
3. If you perform Regression Test, the Failed re-run will automatically create Ticket on ActiveCollab, with your additional step or additional information.
4. Every thing you need for Testing (add personal testing type field, reminder for failed/warning/not tested re-run, testing logs, testing report, etc)

For me, to effectively manage Task Management tool, you should start considering the integration from tools your team using right now and how well it handle numerous case, ability to track it individually, how good is it to handle Regression and so on.

Answer 3

Frankly, you can not fix a process issue with tools. Tools can help - but your team also needs to follow the process.

IMO, your idea of brining this issue at the next retrospective is a very good. I also suggest that you present some cases and the loss of effectiveness/time. Data always wins over skeptics.