How to Build a Test Automation Strategy in 2025: Best Practices and More
Testing automation is by no means a new trend: for as long as software testing has existed, QA engineers have been looking for ways to optimize and improve the process. The topic of automation testing has been likely discussed by most, if not all, software companies in the world.
But there is one thing, besides a highly experienced team, an automation testing project can hardly do without, and it’s an automated testing strategy. Join us as we discuss the benefits of having an automation testing strategy, steps for creating one, top frameworks to consider, and how to know if your strategy is working.
Key Takeaways
- All types of projects can use automation to streamline testing and make it more efficient, and a well-thought-out strategy directly impacts the success of an AQA project.
- An automation strategy based on the company’s needs should include information on the scope of testing to be performed, the framework and tools, the timeframe and milestones, the team composition and roles, and potential risks.
- The absence of a test automation strategy can lead to the testing project getting delayed, the results being less convincing, and the project’s resources getting wasted.
- Having a strategy in place helps focus on what’s really important, choose the right tools for the job, increase the ROI of testing, keep the use of resources lean, and meet project goals easily.
- Popular frameworks for automation testing strategies include behavior-driven, data-driven, modular-driven, and hybrid frameworks.
- Best practices of strategy creation include matching the tools to the team’s skillset, having clear project goals, avoiding the initial desire to automate everything, and anticipating possible risks.
- To find out whether the strategy is working, the team needs to compare the before and after of several important metrics, including the number of test cases created, the number of bugs located, the time to complete a certain common task, such as integration testing, release frequency, user satisfaction, and ROI.
Why You Should Automate Your Tests: Key Benefits and Best Use Cases
Automation testing has become an essential part of modern software development, offering clear advantages for most types of projects. Here’s why companies choose to automate their tests and which projects benefit the most:
- Less suitable for tests that rely on human judgment. Automation may not be the best fit for usability testing, visual UI assessments, or projects with constantly shifting requirements that make automation maintenance costly.
- Boost test coverage without increasing manual workload. Automation testing allows teams to run a large number of tests across different devices, browsers, and environments, ensuring broader test coverage with the same or fewer QA resources.
- Improve testing efficiency and speed. Automated tests execute much faster than manual ones, enabling teams to validate code changes quickly and shorten release cycles.
- Enhance product quality through frequent and reliable testing. Automation testing helps detect bugs earlier and more consistently, contributing to a more stable and high-quality product.
- Optimize resource allocation. By automating repetitive and time-consuming test cases, QA teams can focus manual efforts on exploratory testing and user experience validation.
- Scale easily as the project grows. Automation testing ensures that new features don’t break existing functionality by maintaining a consistent regression testing suite.
- Best suited for projects with complex, repetitive, or large-scale testing needs. Applications with frequent updates, multi-platform requirements, or heavy reliance on data processing see the most benefit from automation testing.
- Less suitable for tests that rely on human judgment. Automation may not be the best fit for usability testing, visual UI assessments, or projects with constantly shifting requirements that make automation maintenance costly.
20% of QA budget and 700+ testing hours saved with automation: Get all the details about our recent project
What Is an Automated Software Testing Strategy?
The importance of testing automation barely requires an explanation to anyone who has worked with automation at any point in their lives and has seen what it can do. But before we talk about the importance of having an automation testing strategy and go over the steps the team needs to take to design a working plan, let’s define the concept of an automated testing strategy.
A test automation strategy is a document that outlines the automation testing approach the team will use in the upcoming project. This document specifies the most important parameters of an automation project, including:
- The scope of tests that need to be automated
- The testing environment
- The framework and tools to be used
- The size and composition of the automation QA team
- The timeframe and milestones
- The goals of the project
- The possible risks and how to mitigate them
In addition to helping the team plan the work on a QA project better, a solid strategy also allows them to analyze the results of the project, find out what worked and what didn’t, and learn some valuable lessons to be used on the next projects.
End-to-End Automation for a Reliable Wheel End Products Manufacturer
Why Do We Need a Test Automation Strategy?
To someone who has not been involved in creating an automated testing strategy, the need to get one may seem like an optional extra step. However, the experience of hundreds of companies, including ours, proves that this step is not optional at all, and a well-thought-out automation testing strategy can prevent many of the issues such projects often face, helping make the whole endeavor more effective.
Here are just a few of the many things a QA team can do with an automation strategy in place:
- Focus on what matters the most. Even for a long-term and large-scale project, automating every single manual test is not only unnecessary, but also impractical and excessive. Taking the time to set the focus for an automation project helps minimize unnecessary resource spending and direct the team’s efforts to where they’re needed.
- Ensure the anticipated result. A well-designed strategy will serve as an automation testing roadmap with a clear representation of the starting point, the end goal, and the milestones that need to be passed on the road to completion. That way, the team will be able to plan their work better, not miss anything important, and get the desired outcome.
- Ensure the anticipated result. A well-designed strategy will serve as an automation testing roadmap with a clear representation of the starting point, the end goal, and the milestones that need to be passed on the road to completion. That way, the team will be able to plan their work better, not miss anything important, and get the desired outcome.
- Choose the right tools for the job. An integral part of creating a test automation strategy is selecting the framework and the tools needed to complete the task. The proper choice of tools ensures meeting the goals of the project with the most optimal use of resources and helps match the personnel to the framework and tool set.
- Enhance the use of automation. At first glance, there are only so many things you can do with the help of automation on a typical QA project. However, since creating a strategy means dealing with the big picture, the automation team can find more uses for testing automation and make various operations more efficient.
- Increase the ROI of testing. The fact that testing automation helps increase the ROI of the QA project is pretty much common knowledge. However, that is only true when the automation testing strategy is finely tailored to the specifics and needs of the project. Only then can the company expect maximum profit with minimal use of resources, which is exactly how good ROI is achieved.
What Happens Without Test Automation Strategies in Place: Risks You Can’t Ignore
Skipping the creation of a software test automation strategy might seem like a shortcut to save time, but in reality, it often leads to inefficiency, delays, and wasted resources. Here’s what can happen when a new test automation strategy is missing:
- Wrong choice of technologies slows down automation efforts. Without a plan, teams risk selecting the wrong testing tools and frameworks, which directly affects test execution, increases testing time, and produces unreliable test results.
- Lack of a strategy defines project failure points too late. A well-defined test automation strategy clarifies project goals, milestones, and technology stacks early on. Skipping this step means discovering misalignments only when the test run is already underway.
- Inefficient approach to automation leads to resource drain. Without a structured approach to automation, teams often automate the wrong test cases, resulting in wasted effort and high maintenance overhead.
- Poor prioritization disrupts the testing process. When there’s no strategy to define priorities, the team struggles to determine which areas they need to test first, leading to missed deadlines and incomplete test coverage.
- Test engineers work without clear direction. A good strategy defines roles and responsibilities within the QA team. Without it, test engineers may duplicate work or overlook critical tasks, which derails the automation process.
- Choosing the best test automation framework becomes guesswork. The absence of a strategy forces teams to select frameworks and testing tools based on assumptions rather than project-specific analysis, reducing overall automation effectiveness.
- Test execution becomes inconsistent. Without a strategic plan, there’s no standard for how tests are designed, executed, and maintained, which leads to inconsistent test results and unreliable quality metrics.
What Should You Consider Before You Build a Test Automation Strategy?
The main purpose of a good automated testing strategy is to outline the automation testing approach that will shape the company’s automated testing efforts in the near future. To make sure the strategy fully meets the needs and expectations of the stakeholders, here are a few things to consider:
- Duration of the project. It’s possible to automate even a short-term project, but automation delivers the best results on medium and long-term testing projects.
- Development model. Testing automation can deliver the most impressive results when the company follows the iterative and incremental development model. Under this model, the product is updated with every iteration, which means the automation team’s scope of work is also updated dynamically and includes all the aspects of the app that need to be tested.
- Prevalent types of testing. An experienced automation QA needs to evaluate the areas that need to be automated and whether everything can be automated at all. For example, automation is not always the most appropriate solution for projects that heavily rely on the human experience with the product, such as usability and accessibility testing. As of now, there are some automation tools for these purposes, but they are not yet able to fully replace a human manual QA.
- Stage of the project. There are situations where testing automation makes perfect sense at the beginning of the project, but those situations are rare. When automation is introduced too early, the automation QA team often has trouble keeping up with the development team, as software products usually change a lot in their initial development stages.
- Team’s skills and experience. As we’ve mentioned in our recent longread on testing automation, automation QA is much more demanding than manual testing in terms of the person’s knowledge and experience. This is even more true for the team members who will automate the project from the ground up. Overseeing this process and managing it day-to-day is not a job for a complete automation QA novice or someone who has recently switched from a related field, such as software development.
Find out how our automation expertise can enhance your project
Which Features Make Up a Robust Test Automation Strategy?
Test automation strategies are created, approved, and launched every day, but not all of them end up meeting the expectations of the parties involved. At least in part, this can be attributed to insufficient planning. Here are the features that are typically present in a winning test automation strategy:
- Spotlight on the end goal. The process of creating an automation strategy usually starts with defining what the company wants to achieve, and this is the right way to do it. An ambitious yet realistic goal will allow the team to outline the most effective journey to reach it.
- Well-designed suite. One of the core tasks in front of the automation QA team is to select the cases that need to be automated, as it’s not feasible to automate them all. A thoroughly selected test suite helps the team further focus on what’s important and remove distractions along the way.
- Clearly defined approach. A testing automation approach deals with much more than just the suite of tests that need to be automated. It also defines everything from the criteria for selecting the cases to the tools that will be used. Including all of that in the strategy document helps avoid possible misunderstandings in the future.
- Size and composition of the team. Automation testing famously helps make QA projects leaner by lowering the need for manual testing. However, for the project to run smoothly, both manual and automated QAs need to work together towards the same goal. The size, composition, and seniority level of the team are decided based on the project’s needs and both long-term and short-term plans.
- Budget. Companies introduce testing automation for several reasons, such as to increase the efficiency of QA and to speed up the release cycle. However, they also do it to cut costs. This is why automation QA projects need to operate on a budget. The company’s budget can impact the scope of testing, the hiring decisions, the duration of the project, and more.
- Test maintenance included. In the complex and resource-intensive software testing process, test maintenance often gets put on the back burner. However, test automation scripts need regular maintenance, just like any other software product, to remain stable and continue delivering the anticipated results. The best approach to ensuring the success of test automation is to allocate time and resources for maintenance as well.
How Do You Create a Test Automation Strategy? A Full Strategy Checklist
Whether you are planning a startup or an enterprise test automation strategy, the whole process will be broken down into pretty similar stages. These are the steps necessary for developing a solid automation testing strategy.
1. Scope and goals definition
The first step in the process of creating a strategy is deciding what exactly the stakeholders want to achieve as the result of the project and which areas of the project the automation strategy will cover. The team can discuss both short and long-term goals, although the latter will understandably have a bigger impact on how the project unfolds.
2. Assembling the team
Although testing automation heavily relies on software (and often hardware), it’s the humans that will set up the whole process, operate the hardware and software, and process the results. A team involved in test automation needs a QA Lead or Key AQA, who will make executive decisions concerning the project, and at least one Automation QA to perform daily tasks.
3. Gathering the requirements
Before the team can make any QA-related decisions, they need to know what they are working on. In other words, they need to get a complete picture of the project in front of them. The test automation strategy defines, among other things, the specifics of what needs to be done, what has already been done, and what is in the pipeline for the near future.
4. Identifying the risks
Like any new endeavor, introducing automation to a QA project comes with its own risks, so the job of the team at this stage is to identify those risks and propose solutions to mitigate them. For example, incorrect estimation of time and personnel needed to complete a project is one of the common risks, and one of the ways to mitigate it is to make the goals and estimations more realistic with the help of valuable prior experience and best practices.
5. Selecting cases for automation
This is an integral step of designing a strategy for automation testing because it determines the scope of work for the automation team in the upcoming months. When selecting the test cases, it’s important to strike a balance between the desire to automate everything and the need to spend the available resources wisely. An experienced Automation QA will be able to easily choose the most appropriate cases for automation.
6. Choosing the framework and tools
The automation testing framework and tools will directly impact the efficiency of the team’s efforts and whether the project ends up meeting the goals set in the beginning. When choosing the tools and the framework, it’s necessary to take into account not just the needs and specifics of the project, but also the familiarity of the team members with the necessary technologies.
7. Setting up the environment
The test data and test environment are two aspects of an automation QA project that can make it efficient or slow it down in case wrong choices are made. This step typically includes setting up the equipment and preparing the software, establishing the schedules, and appointing the person who will be responsible for maintaining the test environment on a daily basis.
8. Writing the scripts
A group of well-written test scripts can give the project a sense of direction and help the team utilize the available resources and app functionality to the fullest extent. When writing test scripts, it’s best to break down complex scenarios into single-purpose tests and only then combine them into larger blocks if necessary. It’s also important to prioritize the scenarios, so that the most crucial elements of the application get the most attention.
9. Monitoring the results
After the start of the automation QA project, the team’s efforts should also be directed at monitoring the progress, analyzing the results, and finding room for improvement with the use of correct tools and metrics. This is done to prevent wasting valuable resources on tests that have little to no impact on improving the quality of the application being tested.
10. Maintaining the test suite
This is the part of the process that is sometimes overlooked by automation QA teams, usually to a detrimental effect. Neglecting to maintain the existing test suite results in the tests becoming outdated, far less effective, and wasteful of the company’s resources, so even if you implement a new test automation project but fail to account for maintenance, the results may turn out to be disappointing.
Popular Frameworks for Designing an Automation Testing Strategy
The choice of the framework for an automation testing strategy is one of the most crucial ones to make, on par with the choice of tools and the composition of the team. Generally speaking, the choice of a framework depends on the specifics and end goals of the project. Other factors influencing the decision include:
- Basic functionality offered by the framework
- Availability of advanced features specific to the project, such as reporting, logging, debugging, and so on
- Types and levels of testing the framework can cover
- Familiarity of the team members with the framework
- Whether the framework is distributed for free or on a paid basis
- Whether the team has the skills and resources to modify the framework to fit the needs of the project
- How well the framework can be incorporated into the CI/CD pipeline
In many cases, QA teams prefer to create their own frameworks or adjust their previously developed frameworks to better fit the current project. However, there are also several popular frameworks that offer ready-made solutions for automating tests. Here is a quick breakdown of popular automation testing frameworks to consider.
| Framework | Best use cases | Pros | Cons |
| Behavior-driven | Projects with strong collaboration between QA, developers, and business analysts | – Easy-to-understand scenarios written in plain English (Gherkin syntax) – High code reusability | – Time-consuming to write and maintain feature files – Initial setup is resource-intensive |
| Data-driven | Projects with frequently changing data sets | – Separates data from test scripts for flexibility – Can run the same tests with multiple data sets | – Data collection and organization can be time-consuming – Lower code reusability |
| Modular | Large, complex applications that benefit from component-based testing | – Easy to maintain and scale – Encourages reusability of modules and test cases | – Requires significant initial effort to break down the app into modules – Higher upfront resource demand |
| Hybrid | Projects with diverse testing needs requiring flexibility | – Combines strengths of multiple frameworks – Highly adaptable to project-specific requirements | – Requires high technical expertise – Poorly designed hybrid models can complicate maintenance |
AI-Based Test Automation Technology and Strategy Creation
AI is no longer a buzzword — it’s a practical addition to a well-built test automation strategy. When applied correctly, AI automation solutions enhance AQA efforts by reducing repetitive work, improving accuracy, and enabling faster adaptation to change. AI won’t replace the need for an automated testing strategy, but it will enhance its efficiency and long-term value.
Here’s more about how AI fits into a modern automation testing strategy:
- Smarter test case selection. AI algorithms analyze application usage patterns, user behavior, and code changes to prioritize which test cases to automate first. This helps teams focus their automation efforts on high-risk, high-impact areas, improving test coverage while keeping the scope manageable.
- Self-healing test scripts. One of the biggest challenges in automation is script maintenance. AI-powered frameworks can detect changes in the UI or underlying code and automatically adjust the affected test scripts. This reduces downtime, lowers maintenance costs, and keeps the test suite stable over time.
- Predictive analytics for risk-based testing. AI tools analyze historical defect data and test results to predict where future bugs are likely to occur. This insight allows teams to align their testing strategy with actual business risks, ensuring smarter resource allocation and faster feedback loops.
- Accelerated test creation with generative AI. Generative AI models can assist in creating test cases, user scenarios, and even code snippets for automation scripts. While human oversight is still essential, AI speeds up the initial creation process and helps cover edge cases that manual planning might miss.
- Intelligent reporting and root cause analysis. AI-powered dashboards go beyond basic metrics by identifying patterns, trends, and anomalies in test results. They can suggest root causes for failures, prioritize defects based on impact, and present actionable insights that streamline decision-making across teams.
Integrating AI into your automated testing strategy isn’t about replacing human expertise — it’s about empowering teams to focus on strategic tasks while AI handles repetitive, time-consuming operations. As part of a well-thought-out strategy, AI can significantly boost automation ROI, minimize manual intervention, and make the overall process more resilient and scalable.
Cutting testing time by 80% while dramatically increasing precision: Our latest AI-powered testing project
Where Low-Code and No-Code Tools Fit into Your Automation Strategy
Low-code and no-code automation platforms are gaining popularity as a way to speed up test creation and involve a broader range of team members in the automation process. These tools allow testers to design and execute automated tests through visual workflows, drag-and-drop interfaces, and pre-built components, reducing the need for extensive coding skills.
While low-code/no-code solutions may not handle complex, deeply technical scenarios, they are a valuable addition to your automation strategy for:
- Quickly automating routine or repetitive tests.
- Empowering non-technical team members to contribute to automation efforts.
- Reducing the initial setup time for automation in smaller or fast-moving projects.
A well-balanced test automation strategy can combine low-code tools for efficient automation with more robust, code-based frameworks for advanced scenarios, ensuring both speed and flexibility in your testing process.
How Do You Build a Test Automation Strategy That Actually Works? Key Best Practices
An automated test strategy depends on many factors, from the specifics of the project to the client’s preferred framework and toolset. However, certain things are universal for every test automation strategy regardless of the project, and best practices are among them. Here are the best practices for creating a well-crafted test automation strategy to follow:
- Have clear goals. Before you can take active steps to create an automated testing strategy, you need to know why you are doing it at all. Is the goal to minimize the use of manual testing, speed up the releases, increase the ROI of testing, or all of the above? A set of clearly defined goals will help the team focus on what’s actually important.
- Plan your automation testing approach. Once you know what matters the most in the upcoming automated testing project, you can prioritize the test cases and test level to make sure your resources are spent in the wisest way possible and you have accounted for every potential development in the project. It’s vital to choose the right types of test automation as well, so that the team’s resources are not stretched too thin.
- Make sure your tools and personnel are a match. An ideal test automation strategy is based on the notion that the choice of tools for an automation test plan has to match not only the project requirements, but also the skill set of the people working on the project. At the very least, it’s important to give the team members time to familiarize themselves with new tools in case you’re determined to use them.
- Avoid the desire to automate everything. Automation testing has a lot of benefits for most QA projects, but even the most advanced automation tools still cannot fully imitate human eyes. This is why, especially if your solution heavily relies on a good UI or adequate accessibility, some things should be left for the manual QA team to deal with.
- Consider the risks. Even with the most careful planning, a testing automation project faces certain risks. The risks can range from underestimating the input of manual testers and therefore missing out on important data to security risks linked to the incorrect choice of testing environments. These risks need to be calculated and accounted for in any test automation strategy.
Is Your Automated Testing Strategy Actually Working? Here’s How to Tell
After an automation test strategy has been put in motion, the next important step is to assess its effectiveness. Depending on the duration of the project, this can be done after several weeks to several months. The most direct way to do it is through a set of metrics.
The exact metrics to be used on the project revolve around its exact parameters and specifics. Naturally, the desired value of those metrics doesn’t come out of the blue — while working on the automation strategy, the team will set not only the final goals of the project, but also the interim checkpoints for measuring the effectiveness of the strategy.
A great solution for managing the expectations of the team and the stakeholders is to plan three different outcomes: a realistic, pessimistic, and optimistic one. This helps further visualize and adjust the goals. The metrics to compare before and after the introduction of automation can include:
- Number of test cases
- Number of bugs that make it to production
- Time it takes the team to perform a certain task, such as complete regression testing
- Release frequency
- User satisfaction
Checking these metrics regularly, or even analyzing them automatically with the help of a custom-made dashboard, and comparing them to the previous value, as well as the goals stipulated in the strategy, is exactly what allows the team to make sure that the strategy is working.
Another important metric is ROI, or Return On Investment. This metric refers to the financial efficiency of testing automation, or whether the company breaks even or saves money by introducing automation. ROI is not the metric you can calculate shortly after launching the automation project, but it’s one of the key ones to measure its success.
So what if the current automation testing strategy is underperforming and the team is barely meeting the objectives outlined in the worst-case scenario, or not meeting them at all? This can happen due to various reasons, from an incorrect estimation of the resources needed to reach the project goals to a less-than-perfect match between the team and the suggested tools and frameworks.
The good news is that a test automation strategy is not set in stone and can be changed or updated when the project is already ongoing. In fact, flexibility is one of the most desirable qualities in an automation QA team. Being able to quickly pivot if necessary without losing any of the efficiency is a sign of an experienced, mature team that can handle even the most challenging tasks.
From strategy creation to deliverables that bring value: Our automation experts are here for every stage of your project
Final Thoughts
In the constantly evolving software industry of 2025, it’s not just about whether you should automate testing — it’s about how effectively you can do it. A well-designed, efficient test automation strategy is what separates teams that get real business value from automation from those that struggle with wasted efforts and rising costs.
By taking the time to define your automation goals, choose the right tools, and align your strategy with project priorities, you set your team up for long-term success. Automation isn’t a shortcut; it’s an investment. And with a strong strategy, it’s one that pays off in faster releases, better product quality, and smarter use of resources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I really need an automation testing strategy if my project is small?
Yes. Even small projects benefit from an automation testing strategy because it helps prioritize what to automate, avoid unnecessary work, and align testing with project goals. A simple, focused strategy ensures you’re not wasting time or resources.
What’s the difference between a test plan and an automation testing strategy?
A test plan covers detailed steps and procedures for testing a specific feature or release. An automation testing strategy is a high-level document that defines your overall approach to automated testing across the project or organization.
What happens if we skip having an automated testing strategy?
Without a strategy, automation efforts often lack focus, leading to poor tool choices, misaligned priorities, and wasted resources. Teams may end up automating unnecessary tests while critical areas remain uncovered, delaying releases and lowering test quality.
How does AI fit into a test automation strategy?
AI helps optimize test case selection, maintain self-healing scripts, and automate result analysis. It reduces manual maintenance efforts and makes automation smarter by focusing on high-impact areas, improving both efficiency and test coverage.
What should be included in an automated testing strategy?
A complete strategy should cover the scope of automation, testing tools and frameworks, team roles, timeline and milestones, potential risks, and metrics for success. It serves as a high-level roadmap guiding all automation activities.
How do I know if my automation testing strategy is working?
Monitor key metrics like test coverage, defect leakage, execution time, release frequency, and ROI. Regularly compare results against your strategy’s objectives to identify gaps and adjust your approach if necessary.
How often should an automation strategy be reviewed or updated?
Review your strategy regularly — at least once per major release or when significant changes occur in project scope, technology, or team composition. Continuous improvement is key to keeping your automation efforts effective and aligned.
Jump to section
Hand over your project to the pros.
Let’s talk about how we can give your project the push it needs to succeed!
