What is Documentation Testing?

Documentation testing – is a part of the non-functional testing that ensures that the digital product’s functioning matches the documentation of how it should function. In other words, it is a part of testing that shall look after documenting all product’s functionality and all its changes.

Every process of developing a digital product requires this kind of testing from the very beginning of work. But what is its importance? It becomes obvious while looking through its practical use and discovering its main functions.

What is the Purpose of Testing Documentation?

Within the scale of the product development, documentation testing assures proper creation and logic of a documentation plan, where all the project's main features are named and listed in a particular subsequence.

In its practical part, this area of testing includes a lot of specifications, which work with many aspects of quality assurance, such as:

• Test case specifications;
• Test plans;
• Test procedures;
• Test reports;
• Bag reports;
• Testing results reports;

Key Areas of Documentation Testing

Documentation testing is divided into four main areas:

• Instructions – a necessary part of testing which provides execution of test scenarios. This may help find and track all errors or defects found as the tester goes through the product’s functionality step by step.
• Examples – a part that provides particular cases of any functionality or problem that occurred and may be taken by users as a possible solution of a problem or as a small manual.
• Messages – are an area that gives prompts that may be used quickly after coming across a minor problem.
• Sample – more sophisticated examples or just examples of an entire product or system. It gives a full picture of how everything should look and operate.

Documentation testing is a very long and sophisticated process but extremely important at the same time. This part of testing is responsible for the entire skeleton of the product as it, first of all, tests its logic.

Testing of documentation starts from the very beginning when nothing except the idea has been done. The early start helps avoid misunderstanding and mean logic, preventing unnecessary extra expenses early. That’s the main reason why documentation testing is one of the most important parts of a product’s testing and development.

Then, all the changes and additional functionality, development stuff, development, and test plans adjustments are documented and tested through the whole process of work. The final documentation testing happens when the product is ready to be thrown into the market, and some tests are made even after the product’s release.