Resillion
Internal cheat sheet
Test Strategy Cheat Sheet
A practical reference for writing test strategies that help Resillion delivery teams make clear decisions about scope, risk, coverage, and readiness. Keep it short, explicit, and usable by both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
1
Core Principles
Risk-based
Outcome-focused
Transparent
Practical
Right-sized
1
Test the risk, not everything.
Prioritise areas with the highest business impact, change frequency, and defect history.
Prioritise areas with the highest business impact, change frequency, and defect history.
2
Make decisions visible.
Capture assumptions, exclusions, and unresolved questions so stakeholders can challenge them early.
Capture assumptions, exclusions, and unresolved questions so stakeholders can challenge them early.
3
Keep the strategy actionable.
A good strategy explains what to do, who does it, when it happens, and how success is measured.
A good strategy explains what to do, who does it, when it happens, and how success is measured.
2
Required Sections
| Section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Why the strategy exists, what release or product it covers, and what decisions it supports. |
| Scope | In scope, out of scope, dependencies, assumptions, and known constraints. |
| Approach | Test levels, test types, automation intent, and how testing is sequenced. |
| Readiness | Entry and exit criteria, governance gates, and sign-off expectations. |
| Reporting | Metrics, risks, defect trends, and how progress will be communicated. |
3
Scope
Use scope to set expectations, prevent over-testing, and make exclusions explicit.
Include
User journeys, integrations, critical rules, data changes, and known risk areas.
Exclude
Areas owned by other teams, low-risk legacy flows, and anything outside the release boundary.
4
Test Levels and Types
U
Unit and component testing
Catches logic defects early and supports fast feedback on small changes.
Catches logic defects early and supports fast feedback on small changes.
I
Integration testing
Validates service contracts, APIs, event flows, and third-party dependencies.
Validates service contracts, APIs, event flows, and third-party dependencies.
E
End-to-end and exploratory testing
Checks key journeys, business rules, and user experience across the full stack.
Checks key journeys, business rules, and user experience across the full stack.
N
Non-functional testing
Include performance, accessibility, security, resilience, and compatibility where risk demands it.
Include performance, accessibility, security, resilience, and compatibility where risk demands it.
5
Environments and Data
The strategy should state where testing happens and how test data is controlled.
A
Environment readiness
Document access, refresh cadence, service stubs, and environment ownership.
Document access, refresh cadence, service stubs, and environment ownership.
D
Data management
Define seed data, masking needs, data resets, and any synthetic or anonymised data constraints.
Define seed data, masking needs, data resets, and any synthetic or anonymised data constraints.
6
Risks and Dependencies
R
List the top risks first.
Highlight business impact, likelihood, mitigation, and who owns the follow-up.
Highlight business impact, likelihood, mitigation, and who owns the follow-up.
D
Call out dependencies early.
Third-party services, upstream teams, data teams, environments, and approvals should be visible from the start.
Third-party services, upstream teams, data teams, environments, and approvals should be visible from the start.
7
Governance, Entry, Exit
G
Governance
Define who reviews the strategy, how often it is updated, and what evidence is needed for approval.
Define who reviews the strategy, how often it is updated, and what evidence is needed for approval.
E
Entry and exit criteria
State when testing can begin and what must be true before the release can move forward.
State when testing can begin and what must be true before the release can move forward.
8
Metrics and Reporting
Useful metrics
Coverage of critical journeys, pass/fail trends, defect aging, execution progress, and blocked test cases.
Useful reporting
What was tested, what remains, the release risk picture, and the decision needed from stakeholders.
9
Anti-Patterns
1
Boiling the ocean
Trying to test everything creates noise and hides the real risks.
Trying to test everything creates noise and hides the real risks.
2
Copy-paste strategy
If the document is generic, it is probably not helping the team make better decisions.
If the document is generic, it is probably not helping the team make better decisions.
3
No owners, no dates
An unnamed risk or dependency usually means nothing will happen next.
An unnamed risk or dependency usually means nothing will happen next.
10
Reusable Template
Use this as a starting point and trim it to the level of formality the team actually needs.
Purpose:
Why this strategy exists and what decision it supports.
Scope:
In scope, out of scope, assumptions, constraints, and dependencies.
Approach:
Test levels, test types, automation intent, and sequencing.
Environments and data:
Required environments, test data, access, refresh rules, and ownership.
Risks:
Top risks, mitigations, and named owners.
Governance:
Entry criteria, exit criteria, reviews, and sign-off.
Reporting:
Metrics, reporting cadence, and who receives status updates.
Example opening: "This test strategy describes how we will reduce release risk for the payments uplift by focusing on critical customer journeys, integration points, and release readiness controls."