The Manual Test Scenario represents a series of associated actions or functions and helps set up a condition to test or even multiple conditions as they relate to a specific functional area. Where the test case tells you how to test something, the test scenario tells you what to test. Generally, a single test scenario is comprised of several test cases. The associated test cases try to test all possible inputs and outputs using that functional path or area. Each test case associated with a scenario have input values and expected results. They are step by step procedures to test the condition put forth by the overall test scenario.

A test scenario may also be a series of independent tests that, when completed, ensure the business process flow is functioning correctly from beginning to end. Some of these test cases may rely on the output of the previous test and as such, have to be executed sequentially. They always represent both typical, day-to-day operations as well as the unusual outlying situations.

An example scenario could be generalized to ‘Validate the Login Page’ and include multiple test cases to verify the behavior of invalid username and password combinations, ‘remember me’ functionality, or password resets. Or, the scenario could be more specific such as, “User Logs in with invalid credentials”. The test cases in the second scenario would be specific to invalid login situations. How generalized or specific a Test Scenario is depends on the QA Professional writing the scenario, the time allotted for scenario and test case creation, and the nature of the application under test.

QA Mentor utilizes the use cases, business requirements, and functional specifications to create each test scenario. We then map each one to its associated business requirements and associate them with functional specifications. This helps ensure and prove complete test coverage for the highest quality results.