ou’re gearing up for a crucial software release, and the pressure is on. It’s easy to feel like your head is spinning with so much to think about, and moving forward in a clear way becomes obscured.

Yes, there’s definitely a place for sophisticated test plans that cover every edge case, integration point, and user scenario. But here’s the thing—you don’t need to sprint before you’ve learned to walk.

Sometimes, a straightforward approach can give you 80% of the results with 20% of the effort.

Let’s break down how to structure a test plan that’s effective, manageable, and gets you moving in the right direction.

But wait, what is testing?

At its core, testing is about gaining insights into the state of your product so you can make informed decisions.

It’s a little like a chef tasting a dish to see if it’s good enough before serving it to guests. Testing tells you whether your software is ready for release or if there are issues to fix before deploying.

The challenge is to develop a test plan that’s cost-effective and appropriate for where you are right now, keeping in mind that your needs will evolve as your product—and its complexity—grows.

What is a test plan?

In its most formal sense, a test plan can be an overarching document that outlines the entire QA effort—detailing who will conduct the testing, what the objectives are, the criteria for starting and stopping, how defects will be managed, and the timeline for everything.

But here’s the thing: Writing a traditional, standardized test plan can quickly become overwhelming. It’s easy to get caught up in perfectionism or lost in the rabbit hole of formatting and structure.

People often come into the process with preconceived notions of how comprehensive a test plan should be from the outset, or they might feel pressured to follow a process just for the sake of due process.

Instead of worrying about the entire structure and layout, the focus should be on creating a collection of test ideas or prompts—clear instructions that guide your testing—that are repeatable, measurable, and trackable.

The real value lies in getting something down on paper and trying it out so you can start refining the content. Don’t stress about making it 100% detailed from the start; after you run through a test once, you have far more perspective and then can start iterating and perfecting it.

Writing your first test plan

Writing your first test plan doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be as simple as jotting down a list of prompts. The key is just to have something written down—whether it’s on post-its, spreadsheets, wikis, or even a whiteboard—whatever works best for you.

But you might be wondering, what exactly should I write down?

• Start with a list of the main features and functionalities you need to test. This ensures you’ll remember to check at least something from each of the core aspects of your product.
• If you’re feeling stuck, try looking at your requirements documents, feature lists, user stories, or even the top slice of your backlog if you’re working in sprints.
• To make it easier, take those user stories, requirements docs, or whatever you’re working with, paste them into Excel or document, and start editing them into tests.
• Add other test ideas as they come to you.

Alternatively, you could create a mind map—start with a main concept, break it down into satellite topics, and then figure out each component that needs testing. This not only helps structure your thinking but also ensures that nothing important is overlooked.

Choosing a Where to Keep Your Test Plans: the Pros and Cons

When it comes to where you write your test plans, each option has its pros and cons. If you’re using post-its, pieces of paper, or a whiteboard, you might find it harder to share your work, especially if you’re working with a remote team.

On the other hand, spreadsheets or systems like Testpad are ideal because they’re intuitive and easily shareable—making them the easiest way to plan tests.

While there are specialized test case management tools out there, you don’t need to dive into those right away. These tools can be powerful, but they are often overly complicated to set up, requiring training and experience to use effectively.

Starting with something simple and accessible, allows you to focus on the content of your test plan rather than the complexity of new tools.

Don’t lock yourself in with word-for-word test plans

You don’t have to write out every test word for word.

That level of detail might be necessary if your testers are complete strangers to your product and methods every single time. But for most teams, their testers are only new to the system once and then will return to the same tests many tens of times.

So, don’t worry about telling testers how to test. The real value in your first test plan is simply listing what needs testing—think of the items in the plan as "test prompts" or "ideas of things to take a look at."

For example, consider the login functionality. You don’t need to spell out every step, like loading the login page or where to click. Instead, just remind testers to check that logging in works with the correct username and password, and that it should fail with an incorrect or blank password.

By keeping things concise, you allow testers to focus on the important parts of the process without getting bogged down in unnecessary details.

If something does get complicated, it’s better to reference the product documentation elsewhere—assuming you’ve already written that, right?

Then, iterate on your test plan over time

Writing test plans is about establishing a repeatable process (as opposed to having nothing written down and making it up every time you need to test).

Once your initial test plan is in place, the real work begins: iterating on it over time.

But why is iteration so crucial? It’s about improving that process gradually, to learn from experiences of previous releases; and to lower the bar for starting - knowing that you'll be improving it later.

With a solid process, you ensure that everyone is aligned on what needs to be tested and what will be tested. It helps you determine the resources required, gives structure and purpose to your testing efforts, and, most importantly, catches bugs before they reach your customers. It also forces you to think through potential risks and prepare for them.

How to iterate a Test Plan?

After running your tests, you have the foundation to iterate.

Take a step back and evaluate the results: How did testing go last time? As in, did any problems get discovered after testing that perhaps should have been found during testing? Was it reasonable that they were missed? Is there something more you can do next time to reduce the risk of a similar thing happening again?

But keep in mind—don’t let this process become overly complex. Just because you haven’t yet built out an automated test and CI system doesn’t mean you should delay writing a plan or getting started with manual testing.

The goal is to have something actionable in place and then improve it as you go.

Some ideas for iteration

As you continue to iterate on your test plan, consider incorporating these areas into your approach:

• Stress tests: Evaluate how your product performs under heavy loads.
• Different environments: Test across various browsers, platforms, devices, and conditions like network speeds or weather.
• Performance testing: Assess the speed and efficiency of your product.
• Automation: Save time by automating repetitive tests.
• Accessibility: Ensure your product is usable for people with disabilities.
• User experience and ease of use: Focus on the overall user journey and interface simplicity.
• Maintainability: Plan ahead for how easy it will be to update and manage the system over time.
• Security: Test for vulnerabilities to protect user data and prevent breaches.

It’s also important to assess the tools you’re using. Are they working well for your team? How easy is it to refactor your tests when needed? If you find yourself spending too much time formatting everything to look nice, ask yourself if that’s really worth it?

The same goes for how reusable your plans are from build to build or release to release. You want your test ideas to be so easy to write and add that no one hesitates when a new idea pops into their head.

And don’t forget, AI tools can be a powerful ally in your testing process. You can use something like ChatGPT to generate a list of test ideas for a product with specific features, and then ensure your plan covers all those bases. Always make sure to check over your AI results as AI can make mistakes, but in general AI can help you fill in gaps you might have missed and ensure your testing is as comprehensive as possible.

Conclusion

While having a higher-level strategy document can be useful, the real value lies in a straightforward checklist of things to remember—a list of test prompts that form a simple test plan.

The key is to be pragmatic about the level of detail you need from the start and to balance the time spent on planning with the actual testing. It doesn’t have to be complicated—just get something down and refine it as you go.

Remember, you can build your list by jotting down main features and functionalities, incorporating feedback from previous testing, and gradually adding more types of tests, such as stress, performance, and security.

Over time, you can iterate on your plan, moving items into the main plan, automating where it makes sense, and evolving your approach to ensure thorough, efficient testing. Don’t overthink it—just start simple, and improve as you learn.

Bias aside, we think Testpad is a great tool to help you simplify testing and we offer a free 30 day trial to see if we are the right fit for your testing needs.

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