How Test Scripts Solve Two Common Challenges with Digital Transformation Programs

Organizations that are just starting their digital transformation programs often face challenges around documentation and understanding why a business process or system is not working as expected. Let's explore how test scripts solve both of these challenges.

At its core, a test script describes how part of a business process is supposed to work, including what should have occurred prior, the steps to take, and what is expected to result from those steps.

Consultants and technologists call those user acceptance test (UAT) scripts, although I prefer to refer to it as interaction-based test scripts or interaction-centric test scripts.

The main benefits of using these test scripts is that it:

1. Establishes clear steps that anyone can follow to confirm expectations on how specific parts of a process or features of a system should work

2. Helps diagnose issues that arise when changes are introduced that have downstream impacts

3. Composes end-to-end process documentation as test scripts describe steps in the process and have natural links to one another (e.g. prerequisites, what to do next)

Let's take a look at a format to use with an inline example to see how this works.

Interaction Name
A descriptive title that concisely conveys what this part of the process is.
Monthly Newsletter: Create New Campaign

Role or Persona
A reference to the stakeholder that is executing the steps, which may also include the fictional name of a stakeholder persona.
Mattie, a marketing manager

Prerequisites
Describe what must already exist or have happened; this can be a reference other test scripts, the state of something, etc.

• "Monthly Newsletter: Draft Content" is done

• "Monthly Newsletter: Content Approvals" is in progress or done

Steps
Describe where the person is and what they are doing with high specificity.

1. Login to HubSpot and navigate to Marketing, then Campaigns

2. Find last month's newsletter campaign in the table, hover over the name, click Clone

3. Update the name to reflect this month's newsletter

   1. Use the format: Month Year - Newsletter

   2. Example: November 2024 - Newsletter

4. Other steps omitted for brevity...

Final State
Describe what the person sees on their screen, receives elsewhere (e.g. an email notification), and what the system should have in terms of data.

• HubSpot has a new campaign and email asset for this month's newsletter

Next Interactions
Tell the person where to go if they wanted to continue executing the process.

• Proceed to "Monthly Newsletter: Build Email Template"

Not only does this format define how to test a specific part of a process, it also acts as reference material for people that are filling in for a colleague or newly entering a role at your organization.

TLDR: Interaction-based test scripts define steps, diagnose issues, and serve as scalable process docs for your digital transformation program.