Software Testing Test Cases – Do You Still Need Them?

How Many Software Testing Test Cases Do You Need – If any?

The Critical Role of Software Testing Test Cases

Test cases are a vital component of effective software testing, yet they are often misunderstood or implemented haphazardly. This leads to inadequate testing and software quality issues that impact customer satisfaction as well as company productivity and profits. At XBOSoft, we specialize in software testing, and it’s all we do. As such, we’ve helped many of our clients organize and write test cases to understand their coverage while also institutionalizing their software application knowledge. We’ve written many articles and blogs on how to write test cases based on your organizational context:

• Guidelines for Writing Effective Test Cases
• Ultimate Guide to Writing Test Cases
• How to Write Test Cases or NOT

With the advent of generative artificial intelligence, however, many think there is no need to write software testing test cases. Let’s examine this issue by starting with an understanding of what test cases are.

What Are Software Testing Test Cases?

A software test case is a set of steps and conditions that verify whether a particular software feature or function works as expected. Well-designed software testing test cases validate that the software meets business and technical requirements. According to recent research, good test case design can improve software testing efficiency by over 50% and defect detection rates by up to 75%[1]. As testing guru Boris Beizer states, “Test case design is one of the most intellectually challenging tasks in software testing” [2]. Crafting test cases that thoroughly exercise diverse scenarios requires creativity and domain expertise. Let’s examine the successful elements of software testing test cases.

Key Elements of Effective Software Testing Test Cases

• Clear Objective: The test objective must align with a requirement and specify the functionality or behavior to validate.
• Precise Steps: Each test step should clearly define the actions, input data, and environmental conditions required to execute the test.
• Expected Result: The expected result should specify the observable outputs and system state changes that indicate the test passed.
• Careful Maintenance: Test cases require ongoing review and updates as requirements evolve to remain accurate and relevant.

Why Invest in Software Testing Test Cases?

• Confidently Release Better Software – Comprehensive test cases validating all critical functionality substantially improve software quality and reliability. According to Gartner Research, software defects cost the average company 1.1%-1.4% of revenue. The cost can be as high as 20% of revenue for some segments[3].
• Improve Testing Efficiency – As Boris Beizer recommends, “Design tests with failure in mind”[4]. Well-designed test cases reduce execution time by minimizing redundant steps and providing clear pass/fail criteria. Efficiency gains enable more rigorous testing without increasing budgets. Automated test case generation using AI and machine learning has shown promise. However, hand-crafted test cases designed by skilled QA professionals with domain expertise remain superior at exposing risky defects.
• Institutionalize Knowledge – Documented test cases capture corporate testing knowledge in a transferrable framework benefiting new hires and offshore teams. This mitigates the risk when experienced testers leave. While AI agents like Claude and ChatGPT can generate tests, only human insight can incorporate testing heuristics and project context to maximize coverage and defect detection rates. And, many of the test cases that are automatically generated could be invalid or unnecessary. Of course, this will improve over time but there is still a need for human oversight at least for now. If you trust AI agents to write and execute test cases today, you may be in for some surprises in false positives and negatives.
• Support Agile Velocity – Concise, modular test cases map directly to user stories enabling test-driven agile development. Automated functional tests accelerate delivery without compromising quality. Combining AI-generated test cases with human-designed tests balances velocity and rigor as part of the overall testing strategy.

As technology complexity increases, businesses rely on high-quality software to remain competitive. Software quality and software testing have many elements in the development lifecycle. Investing in disciplined software testing test case design pays both short and long-term dividends across key metrics like cost reduction, risk mitigation, faster delivery, and improved customer satisfaction. 

Generative artificial intelligence has advanced to the point where test cases can now be generated but need human review. We expect the amount of human review to decline over time. The speed of decline remains to be seen. Other aspects to think about are the automatic generation of code, execution of test cases, and generation of test reports to indicate the quality of the system. How much human intervention will be needed? At XBOSoft we are researching and using the most advanced methods for test design, test case generation, test automation, and test reporting incorporating artificial intelligence where there is adequate payback and makes sense. If you’d like to find out more, please contact us.

Bibliography

1. Capgemini Test Case Design Research
2. Beizer, B. (1990). Software testing techniques. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co..
3. Gartner Defect Impact Research
4. Beizer, B. (1995). Black-box testing: techniques for functional testing of software and systems. John Wiley & Sons, Inc..