Software Testing: Master the art of making software cry — so your customers don’t have to.
Follow the Functional Testing Process Without Getting Lost (or Falling Asleep Mid-Plan)
🎬 Setting the Stage: What’s Functional Testing Again?
Imagine you ordered a pizza 🍕 online. When the delivery arrives, you expect:
- ✅ The crust to be baked
- ✅ The cheese to melt
- ✅ The toppings to match your order
- ❌ And for pineapple to never show up unless explicitly invited!
Now imagine you’re testing this whole pizza experience:
- Did the “Order Now” button work?
- Did you get a confirmation email?
- Was the “Choose Toppings” dropdown working properly?
- Did the cart update when you added extra cheese?
- Did the checkout form behave when you used a fake credit card?
That, my friend, is Functional Testing in action.
You’re not inspecting the oven’s temperature — you’re just making sure the pizza tastes like what the customer paid for.
🛠️ But How Do We Actually Do Functional Testing?
It’s not just about clicking buttons and shouting “Bug!”
There’s a structured process behind the scenes — like a well-oiled kitchen.
Let’s now break down that process step-by-step — from reading the recipe (requirements), to prepping ingredients (test cases), baking the pizza (execution), handling burnt ones (bug reports), and finally sending the final menu (closure report).
🔽 Scroll down to dive into:
The Functional Testing Process — A Step-by-Step Guide With Examples, Docs & Laughs.
📋 STEP 1: Requirement Analysis
“If you don’t know what’s expected, how will you know if it failed?”
🎯 What You Do Here:
You read, understand, question, and organize everything that the client or product owner wants.
🔍 Let’s Break It Down:
📝 1.1 — BRD (Business Requirement Document)
What it is: The big-picture document that says, “Our app needs to let users log in, search, and buy ice cream.”
Looks like:
textCopyEditBRD: IceCreamHub App v1.0
Objective:
Allow customers to search, view, and order ice cream online.
Functional Requirements:
1. Users must be able to register and login.
2. Users can browse available flavors.
3. Users can add items to cart and checkout.
📌 Not very detailed — just the skeleton.
🧠 1.2 — User Stories
What it is: Simple, user-focused descriptions of a feature.
🗣️ Example:
pgsqlCopyEditAs a registered user, I want to reset my password so that I can log in if I forget it.
✅ Acceptance Criteria:
- Password reset link sent to registered email
- Link expires after 24 hours
- Error shown for unregistered emails
🎉 Now we’re talking testable content!
🧪 1.3 — Functional Specs / Wireframes
Visuals or documents showing what the system will do on each screen. Think:
- UI mockups
- Field validations
- Error messages
🧠 Pro Tip: Functional testers eat wireframes for breakfast.
🧠 Analogy Time:
Requirement analysis is like reading the recipe before you start cooking.
You wouldn’t start baking a cake without knowing if it’s a chocolate or a vanilla one, right?
📑 STEP 2: Test Planning & Strategy
“Failing to plan is planning to write bug reports forever.”
🧠 2.1 — Test Plan Document
📄 Think of this as your roadmap to war — where you write down:
| Section | Example Entry |
|---|---|
| Scope | Only UI and API tests for Login & Checkout |
| Out of Scope | Payment Gateway integration |
| Test Types | Functional (Manual + Automation) |
| Tools | Selenium, Postman |
| Entry/Exit Criteria | Entry: Code deployed; Exit: 100% test run |
| Risks | No test environment before UAT |
🧭 2.2 — Test Strategy
Usually at an organization or project level.
It’s the umbrella plan — test plan is the picnic under it. ☂️
Covers:
- Testing approach for all modules
- Team roles/responsibilities
- Communication plans
- Test levels & environments
📁 Often a PDF/Confluence page shared across the QA team.
🧠 Analogy Time:
Test Planning is like prepping for a road trip.
You decide who’s driving, what snacks you’ll take, where you’ll stop, and how much fuel you’ll need.
🖊️ STEP 3: Test Case Design
“This is where the rubber meets the test case.”
💡 Your Mission:
Turn those user stories and requirements into step-by-step checklists.
Example Test Case:
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Test ID | TC_Login_01 |
| Description | Login with valid credentials |
| Steps | 1. Enter email 2. Enter password 3. Click Login |
| Expected | User is redirected to dashboard |
| Precondition | User already registered |
| Priority | High |
🧠 Analogy Time:
Writing test cases is like writing a recipe others can follow without messing up.
The clearer it is, the less likely someone bakes a cake with toothpaste.
🧪 STEP 4: Test Execution
“It’s time to break things professionally.” 😎
🔥 What Happens:
- You follow the test cases and mark them as:
- ✅ Pass
- ❌ Fail
- 🚫 Blocked
- Report unexpected behavior
- Document actual results (and attach screenshots)
🛠️ Tools Used: TestLink, Zephyr, Xray, Excel (for the brave)
🎯 Example Entry:
pgsqlCopyEditLogin with wrong password → Actual: No error message shown → Status: Fail
🐞 STEP 5: Defect Logging
“Reporting a bug is like leaving a note saying ‘Hey, you dropped this 💩’… politely.”
🔧 What a Bug Report Contains:
| Field | Sample Entry |
|---|---|
| Summary | “Forgot Password sends link to wrong email” |
| Steps | 1. Go to forgot password → 2. Enter email |
| Expected | Link sent to correct email |
| Actual | Link sent to unrelated address |
| Severity | High |
| Priority | Critical |
| Attachment | Screenshot of wrong email |
🛠️ Bug Tools: JIRA, Bugzilla, Mantis, etc.
🧠 Analogy Time:
Bug reporting is like filing a complaint in a hotel — you want results, not revenge.
🔁 STEP 6: Retesting & Regression
“Fix one bug, awaken the rest.” 🧟
🔁 Retesting: Giving Bugs a Second Chance (To Fail!)
Definition:
Retesting is the process of verifying a specific test case that previously failed, after the reported bug has been fixed by the development team.
💡 In Simple Terms:
You found a bug 🐞 → Dev fixes it 🛠️ → You go back and run that same test again to make sure the fix actually worked.
No shortcuts. No assumptions. Just laser-focused verification.
🧪 What Happens During Retesting?
- Bug Fix Confirmed: Developer marks the defect as “Fixed.”
- Test Case Re-Executed: You rerun only the failed test(s) using the same data, environment, and steps.
- Result Observed:
- If it passes – great! The fix worked.
- If it fails again – back to the dev team it goes. 🚨
🚫 What Retesting Is Not:
- It is not running all test cases again.
- It is not checking for side effects or new bugs (that’s regression testing, our next guest!).
🎭 Analogy Time!
Imagine a coffee machine breaks down and the maintenance guy says, “Fixed it!”
Retesting is like brewing that exact same espresso shot again ☕ — same button, same cup, same pressure — just to confirm it actually pours this time.
✅ Key Points to Remember:
| Aspect | Retesting |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Confirm bug fix works |
| Scope | Only specific failed test case(s) |
| Performed By | QA/Testers |
| Test Data | Same as original test |
| Timeline | After the fix is marked complete |
| Related To | Defect life cycle, not full system testing |
🔁 Regression Testing:
- Run previous tests again to ensure nothing else is broken
💡 Use automation to save time — especially for repetitive UI flows or APIs.
🛠️ Tools:
- Selenium WebDriver
- Cypress
- Postman (for APIs)
- JUnit/TestNG (for unit tests)
✅ STEP 7: Test Closure
“We came. We tested. We filed bugs. We wrote a summary report.”
📁 Final Steps:
- Review test execution summary
- Log metrics (pass %, bug trends, effort hours)
- Archive documents (Test Plan, Test Cases, Defects)
- Conduct a retrospective
📄 Final Report Includes:
- Scope tested
- Outstanding bugs
- Coverage %
- Lessons learned
- Team comments (“We need better coffee!”)
🧠 Wrap-Up: Why This Whole Process Matters
By following this process:
- You catch problems early (cheaper to fix!)
- You protect the user experience
- You save the developer’s backside
- You become the unsung hero of product quality 🎖️
