ContinuousQA.org
The Continuous QA Starter Checklist
From one dedicated engineer to a Master Test Suite in CI/CD.
Seed (week 1–2)
- One QA engineer dedicated 100% to regression — no sprint duties
- Starting application chosen (most business-critical first)
- Responsibility split announced to feature teams
- Defect hand-off path into sprint backlogs agreed
Document (week 2–6)
- Gherkin format standardized (Given / When / Then)
- Scenarios stored in version control
- Top-risk flows captured as the first test cases
- Product owners reviewing scenario coverage
Execute (week 4–10)
- Manual regression pass added as a named release step
- Defects filed with the failing scenario attached
- Weekly KPIs tracked: test cases written, automations added
Automate (month 2–4)
- Automation framework chosen for maintainability
- Master Test Suite wired into CI/CD, running on every merge
- Releases gated on a green suite run
- Standing time budgeted for automation maintenance
- Load, stress, and boundary testing in the pre-release pass
Scale (month 4+)
- Next application onboarded (repeat Document → Automate)
- Escape defects reviewed monthly — each one becomes a scenario
- Test suite used as onboarding documentation for new hires