Test Strategy document update

quality-assurance/test-execution.md

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+# Test Execution
+
+A Test Execution Strategy defines how testing will be carried out—covering environments, prioritization, entry/exit criteria, responsibilities, tooling, reporting, and risk handling. It ensures consistency, predictability, and quality across all test cycles.
+Below is a comprehensive strategy for web, legacy, cloud‑migrated, or API-based systems.
+
+## 1. Objectives of Test Execution
+
+- Validate functional and non-functional requirements.
+- Ensure system stability across environments.
+- Detect defects early through automation and continuous integration.
+- Verify readiness for release.
+
+
+## 2. Test Execution Phases
+### 🔹 2.1 Preparation Phase
+
+- Review requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria.
+- Finalize test scenarios, test cases, automation scripts.
+- Document all the test cases in Azure DevOps Test Plans section with proper tagging (e.g. Smoke Tests, Regression Tests, etc.)
+- Prepare test data (static, dynamic, synthetic, masked).
+- Configure environments (Dev, QA, Staging, Pre-Prod).
+- Validate CI/CD pipelines for automated tests (e.g., GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps).
+
+
+### 🔹 2.2 Execution Phase
+This involves execution of manual, automated, API, and performance tests.
+  ### Automation First Approach
+  - Run automation smoke suite on each deployment.
+  - Run regression suite nightly / on pull requests.
+  - Use API + UI hybrid strategy (fast feedback + UI validation).
+
+  ### Manual Testing
+  -  Run Manual Tests using Azure DevOps Test Execution Tool
+  - Add results for each test case
+  - Add & Attach Test result screenshot for test steps that prove the testcase has passed to each testcase for clear traceability
+
+
+### 🔹 2.3 Defect Management
+- Log defects in Azure DevOps / Jira.
+- Prioritize based on severity + business impact.
+- Conduct daily triage with developers.
+- Track defect aging, reopen rate, resolution time.
+
+### 🔹 2.4 Exit Phase
+Release decisions based on:
+  - Completion of high/medium priority test cases.
+  - Acceptance criteria met.
+  - No critical/blocker defects.
+  - Performance thresholds met.
+  - Sign-off from QA + stakeholders.
+
+## 3. Test Prioritization Strategy
+### 🟢 High Priority
+  - Core business flows (e.g., login, payment, workflows).
+  - API endpoints used by multiple services.
+  - Newly developed or changed features.
+  - High-risk modules (legacy or customer complaints).
+
+### 🟡 Medium Priority
+  - Secondary workflows.
+  - Negative test scenarios.
+  - Permissions, roles, access control.
+
+### 🔵 Low Priority
+  - Edge-case validations.
+  - Optional UI behaviours (alignment, colors, minor visuals).
+
+