Agile testing: Best practices for continuous quality

Today’s most competitive and forward-thinking firms have adopted Agile software development practices like Agile testing. They are embracing DevOps in order to deliver higher-quality software and more impressive user experiences faster. In fact, Agile practices have become nearly ubiquitous across industries; a recent survey found that 94% of companies now implement Agile in one form or another. This underscores the importance of effective Agile testing to ensure software quality keeps pace with rapid development.

Because digital transformation is now an urgent necessity for businesses of all sizes, the quality of an organization’s software — whether websites, mobile applications, or internal business systems — has become a key differentiator between firms trying to gain a competitive advantage and those that already have one.

With Agile testing, firms can rapidly develop and release software that users and businesses can depend on — reliable, defect-free software that enhances the customer experience, improves organizational productivity, and generates new revenue streams.

What is Agile testing?

Agile testing is a software testing practice that follows the principles of Agile software development. Unlike traditional testing (where testing is a final project phase), Agile testing is integrated continuously throughout the development lifecycle. It involves all members of a cross-functional Agile team (testers, developers, product owners, etc.) collaborating to deliver business value to customers at frequent intervals.

In Agile environments, testing is not a separate silo or afterthought; it’s an ongoing activity conducted in parallel with coding and design. This approach is often referred to as continuous testing in a DevOps context, meaning that tests are executed automatically on each code change to provide immediate feedback.

Additionally, Agile teams embrace a “whole-team” approach to quality, meaning everyone is responsible for testing and quality outcomes. Testing and coding are done incrementally and iteratively — each new feature is developed and tested in small pieces until it provides enough value to be released.

This approach ensures that feedback loops are short and that issues are identified and resolved early. Agile testing typically covers all levels of testing (from unit tests to integration, system, and user acceptance tests) continuously within short iterations.

Furthermore, Agile teams typically follow a “testing pyramid” strategy – maintaining many fast, automated unit tests at the base, a layer of service/API tests, and fewer end-to-end UI tests at the top – to maximize feedback speed and test reliability. It often goes hand-in-hand with practices like Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery, so that every code change is verified by automated tests and can be released quickly once it passes all checks.

Agile testing is continuous, team-driven, and adaptive

What makes Agile testing “Agile”

In Agile and DevOps environments, testing is an ongoing activity, not a phase tagged on at the end of a project or an activity limited only to testers. Agile testing is a continuous effort and is team-driven and adaptive. Testing is embedded throughout the software delivery pipeline, and everyone is involved — developers, testers, product owners, and domain experts. Testing starts early in the development process, and programmers and testers work together to create code that works.

Agile testing is also highly efficient. Testing requirements are prioritized based on risk, and automation is used to accelerate regression testing and other types of testing deemed suitable for automation. Automation and modern test automation tools enable testers to keep up with the rapid pace of Agile development workflows.

What are the main principles of Agile testing?

Agile testing is guided by several core principles that align with Agile values and ensure quality is built into the process. Some of the main principles of Agile testing include:

1. Test early and test continuously: Begin testing from day one and continue testing throughout each iteration. By shifting testing left (earlier in the lifecycle), teams shorten feedback loops and catch defects sooner rather than later.
2. Whole-team responsibility for quality: Quality is a shared responsibility. All team members (developers, testers, business analysts, product owners) collaborate to ensure the product meets the desired quality standards. This principle fosters a culture where testers, developers, and business stakeholders work side by side.
3. Frequent delivery and feedback: Agile teams deliver working software in short cycles (e.g., every 1–2 weeks). Each release or sprint provides an opportunity for continuous feedback, so the team can learn and adapt quickly. Regular feedback from end-users or stakeholders helps steer the product in the right direction.
4. Customer involvement: The customer or end-user is involved throughout the development and testing process. Their feedback is incorporated at each iteration, ensuring the software continuously aligns with user needs and business goals.
5. Focus on working software over documentation: Agile testing values working, functional software more than extensive documentation. Test artifacts are kept lean – for example, using lightweight test charters or checklists – so that the team can respond swiftly to change rather than being bogged down by paperwork.
6. Embrace change and adaptability: Changing requirements are expected and accepted. Agile testers remain flexible and adapt their test plans as requirements evolve, ensuring that testing still provides maximum value even as the software changes.
7. Continuous improvement: Agile teams regularly reflect on how to improve their processes (often in retrospectives). Testing practices are continuously refined, and lessons learned from each iteration are used to enhance quality going forward.

“People, not methodologies or tools, make projects successful.” — Lisa Crispin, co-author of Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams

This famous quote from Agile testing expert Lisa Crispin highlights the people-centric nature of Agile principles. By focusing on communication, collaboration, and skills rather than rigid processes or tools, Agile testing teams can more effectively implement all the above principles.

Why is Agile testing important?

By leveraging Agile testing methods, organizations can obtain a wide range of benefits. Firms can use Agile testing to expedite the delivery of software without compromising on quality.

In fact, Agile approaches have been shown to produce higher-quality products than traditional methods due to increased collaboration and early, intensive testing throughout the development cycle. Rapid and frequent testing means defects are caught and fixed early in the process, when they are faster and cheaper to address. This also helps the team ensure the software continuously meets customer needs.

More efficient testing contributes to cost reduction, helps boost productivity, and even improves team morale. The collaborative nature of Agile testing and the regular communication it fosters help teams better understand product requirements, thereby delivering a better product – software that truly meets the needs of the business and its users.

Continuous feedback loops and increased visibility across teams and team members help eliminate ambiguity, minimize misunderstandings, and keep everyone aligned and on track.

In short, Agile testing is important because it enables faster release cycles, higher product quality, and greater customer satisfaction compared to traditional testing approaches. Additionally, by enabling faster time-to-market and reducing the cost of late defect fixes, Agile testing often leads to a higher return on investment (ROI) for software projects.

Agile testing encompasses various development and testing approaches that support the Agile ethos

Agile testing methodologies

Agile testing encompasses various development and testing approaches that support the Agile ethos. Five key methodologies commonly practiced in Agile environments include:

1. Test-driven development (TDD)

In TDD, tests are created before writing the code. Developers write a small unit test for a new function or feature, then write “just enough” code to make that test pass. The cycle is red-green-refactor: write a test (red, as it initially fails), write code to pass the test (green), then refactor the code for improvement.

TDD interweaves testing, programming, and design, ensuring each unit of code has associated tests from the outset and that code is continually refactored once tests pass.

2. Acceptance test-driven development (ATDD)

ATDD is an extension of the test-first concept to the user acceptance level. In ATDD, the team (including testers, developers, and business or customer representatives) collaboratively defines acceptance criteria for features before development. These criteria are turned into acceptance tests (often describing the application’s behavior from an end-user’s perspective). Developers then write code to fulfill these acceptance tests. This approach shifts the focus to building the right feature as seen from the user or customer point of view.

3. Behavior-driven development (BDD)

BDD builds on TDD and ATDD by using natural language scenarios to specify behavior. Development begins with writing easy-to-understand user stories or scenarios (often in a Given-When-Then format) that describe a desired behavior or outcome. These scenarios guide both coding and testing.

BDD encourages close collaboration between developers, testers, and product owners when defining behaviors, ensuring everyone has a shared understanding of the requirements. The emphasis in BDD is on delivering software that supports specific user behaviors and business outcomes.

4. Exploratory testing

Exploratory testing is a hands-on and unscripted testing approach where testers actively explore the software like an end-user might, in order to discover bugs or unexpected behaviors. Rather than following predefined test scripts, testers continuously design and execute tests on the fly, using their creativity and domain knowledge.

This does not mean the process is random or unstructured – testers may use charters or goals for each session – but it relies on the tester’s skill and intuition to probe the application and find issues that scripted tests might miss. Exploratory testing is especially useful for uncovering edge cases and usability issues by simulating real-world usage.

5. Session-based testing

Session-based testing is a structured form of exploratory testing. Testing is conducted in time-boxed sessions (e.g., 90 minutes of uninterrupted testing focused on a particular goal or area of the application). Testers charter the session with a mission or scope, explore the application within that scope, and then report their findings at the end of the session.

This approach adds accountability and documentation to exploratory testing, as each session produces a report of what was tested, what defects were found, and any additional insights. Session-based testing ensures exploratory tests are systematic and can be reviewed or audited, which helps teams track coverage and replicate issues when needed.

Additionally, Agile testing is performed within the context of various Agile development frameworks. Teams might be following Scrum (working in fixed-length sprints with defined roles and ceremonies), Kanban (managing a continuous flow of work with limits on in-progress items), Extreme Programming (XP), which emphasizes practices like TDD, pair programming, and continuous integration, or even Lean principles.

Agile testing practices adapt to these frameworks. For example, in Scrum, each sprint has dedicated testing tasks and a “Definition of Done” that includes passing all tests, whereas in Kanban, testing is performed continuously as items flow through the pipeline. Regardless of framework, the common thread is that testing is tightly integrated with development and that quality feedback is provided rapidly and iteratively.

Team members must be willing to provide timely feedback and use the feedback they receive to continually refine their work and work methods

Best practices for Agile testing: Implementing testing effectively in Agile environments

Agile testing is not simply a matter of picking and choosing from the various programming and testing methods described above. It requires all those involved in testing to have broad skill sets and a willingness to embrace and adapt quickly to change. The success of Agile testing, and really any initiative using the Agile methodology, also depends on how effectively team members are able to communicate and collaborate on a day-to-day basis. Team members must be willing to provide timely feedback and use the feedback they receive to continually refine their work and work methods.

There are also some key best practices that development and testing teams can follow to help improve Agile testing outcomes. It is suggested that Agile teams:

1. Start testing early. Get testers involved in the software development process right off the bat and allow testers and QA managers to work in parallel with developers.
2. Test frequently but judiciously. Eliminate unnecessary tests and boost efficiency by focusing testing efforts on the most relevant and important scenarios and situations.
3. Use risk-based testing to prioritize areas of high business risk. Identify which tests are most valuable to achieve optimal risk coverage and strengthen the end product.
4. Leverage test management tools that can help you embed testing across the software delivery pipeline and provide stakeholders with full-scale visibility and traceability.

What are the challenges or limitations of Agile testing?

While Agile testing offers many benefits, teams may also face several challenges and limitations when implementing it:

1. Frequently changing requirements

Agile projects welcome change, but constant requirement changes can pose a challenge for testers. Tests and scripts may need frequent updates or even be discarded if features change mid-sprint. This can lead to extra rework and potential delays if not managed well.

2. Time pressure in short sprints

Agile iterations (sprints) are time-boxed, often to 1–2 weeks. This leaves a narrow window for thorough testing. Testers may feel pressure to cut corners or defer non-critical testing (like extensive regression, security, or performance tests) to keep up with the rapid release pace. Teams must prioritize testing efforts and possibly rely on automation to cover more ground quickly.

3. Incomplete or evolving test artifacts

Because Agile deemphasizes heavy documentation, testers often work with minimal written requirements or test plans. This can make it harder to know the expected results or to create detailed test cases. Agile testers compensate by maintaining close communication with developers and product owners to clarify expected behavior on the fly.

4. Need for technical and multi-disciplinary skills

Agile testing typically involves test automation, API testing, continuous integration, and other technically demanding tasks. Testers on Agile teams often need programming or scripting skills and a solid understanding of the system architecture. A team lacking these skills might struggle to implement automation or might miss important integration issues.

5. Test automation maintenance and flakiness

Frequent code changes may cause automated tests (especially UI or end-to-end tests) to break or produce false failures. Keeping the automated test suite stable and up-to-date requires ongoing effort. If not managed, test flakiness can erode confidence in the test results and slow down continuous integration, as teams spend time re-running or fixing brittle tests instead of adding new features.

6. Ensuring broad test coverage

With rapid changes and new features each sprint, maintaining sufficient test coverage is a continuous challenge. The team must constantly assess risk and decide what to test now versus later. Important tests (e.g., cross-browser compatibility, load testing) might be postponed due to time constraints, potentially leading to undiscovered issues. Keeping a balance between speed and coverage requires careful planning and possibly extra hardening sprints or testing phases.

7. Limited metrics for quality

Since testing is continuous in Agile, teams can’t rely on traditional testing metrics (like “% test cases executed” or a final test phase sign-off) to gauge progress. It can be challenging to quantify test coverage or readiness at any point in time.

Agile teams often track alternative indicators such as the number of defects found and fixed per iteration, code coverage levels, or customer satisfaction and feedback. Additionally, organizations also look to Lead time for changes, DORA metrics, Mean time to restore (MTTR) and Lead time for changes. These metrics are modern benchmarks for Agile and DevOps quality goals that don’t depend on heavy documentation.

Agile projects deliver , which means testing is never truly finished until the product is retired

8. No defined “end” to testing continuously

Agile projects deliver continuously, which means testing is never truly finished until the product is retired. There may not be a distinct final testing phase to “sign off” on quality. This can be uncomfortable for teams used to Waterfall models. Agile testers mitigate this by defining clear “Definition of Done” criteria for each story and maintaining regression suites that run regularly to ensure nothing is broken as the product evolves.

Despite these challenges, many organizations find that the advantages of Agile testing outweigh the drawbacks. By acknowledging these limitations and addressing them (for example, by adopting better tools, fostering open communication, and training team members on Agile practices), teams can overcome most issues and continuously improve their Agile testing process.

Agile testing automation and test management tools for the enterprise

Tricentis has developed a suite of Agile testing tools that can help your organization accelerate and rapidly scale test automation as well as streamline test design, build, and management workflows.

Tricentis Tosca is a next-generation Continuous Testing platform that can be integrated directly into your CI/CD pipelines and “best of breed” DevOps ecosystems. Tosca’s AI-based, no-code approach makes automating end-to-end testing simpler and easier, letting you scale functional test automation across hundreds of technologies. Leverage Tosca to deliver continuous feedback in Agile and DevOps environments, reduce regression testing time, ensure optimal risk coverage, and integrate and extend your existing test assets.

Team members must be willing to provide timely feedback and use the feedback they receive to continually refine their work and work methods.

Tricentis qTest is an easy-to-use yet powerful test management solution that is designed to help organizations test smarter, test faster, and test at scale. qTest works seamlessly with open-source frameworks as well as commercial test automation tools, enabling centralized management of Agile testing initiatives. It keeps teams and their tools connected — offering crystal clear visibility and full-scale traceability across the development pipeline.

qTest can help your organization fully embrace Agile: enhance collaboration, eliminate QA bottlenecks,  and increase speed to market without sacrificing on quality — with Tricentis’s modern test management solution for the enterprise.

In summary, embracing Agile testing — supported by robust automation and management tools — puts an organization in a strong position to deliver high-quality software continuously, adapt to change, and ultimately satisfy customer needs in today’s fast-moving digital landscape.

Accelerate your Agile workflows, start your free trial today and see how Tricentis streamlines Agile testing across every sprint.