Planning checklist
A Software QA Planning Checklist
A Software QA Planning Checklist organizes the decisions that matter for teams that need dependable evidence before software reaches users: the current workflow, ownership, implementation choices, rollout risk, and acceptance evidence.
Working artifact
Software QA rollout scorecard
Use the scorecard to keep each phase tied to an operating outcome rather than a list of completed tasks.
| Phase | Required outcome | Proof before proceeding |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Test strategy and acceptance-criteria design | Reduce or resolve critical failures are found by customers after release | Verified result involving browser, API, database, and mobile test automation |
| Phase 2: Automated regression and integration testing | Reduce or resolve regression testing depends on memory and heroics | Verified result involving risk-based exploratory and accessibility testing |
| Phase 3: Exploratory, device, accessibility, and release validation | Reduce or resolve tests pass while the real user journey still fails | Verified result involving CI quality gates, reports, and reproducible fixtures |
Define the affected journey
Critical failures are found by customers after release. Confirm who encounters it, where it occurs, and what changed before it appeared. Then distinguish the visible symptom from dependencies such as browser, API, database, and mobile test automation.
- Affected user
- Starting state
- Observed failure
- Desired outcome
Collect trustworthy evidence
For Software Testing & Quality Assurance, confirm account ownership, current exports or backups, recovery options, and recent changes before touching production. Preserve exact errors and timestamps that may disappear after a restart or update.
- Browser, API, database, and mobile test automation
- Risk-based exploratory and accessibility testing
- CI quality gates, reports, and reproducible fixtures
Compare scope options
Frame the first scope around test strategy and acceptance-criteria design and one observable acceptance journey. Treat automated regression and integration testing as a later phase unless the evidence shows it is a true dependency.
- Repair
- Extend
- Integrate
- Replace
Write acceptance checks
Repair fits when the core remains sound. Extension fits when the boundary around browser, API, database, and mobile test automation is understood. Replacement fits when ownership, architecture, or operating risk prevents a responsible change.
- Test strategy and acceptance-criteria design
- Automated regression and integration testing
- Exploratory, device, accessibility, and release validation
Plan ownership after release
Sequence work around risk-based exploratory and accessibility testing. Protect the people affected by “Critical failures are found by customers after release,” and define the point where rollback is safer than continuing.
- Monitoring owner
- Content owner
- Technical owner
- Escalation path