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BeginnerFoundations

Manual Testing — Introduction to the QA World

Learn manual testing through Northstar Tickets examples and a local checkout exercise. Practice requirements analysis, test design, browser inspection, and evidence reporting. Read supplied application programming interface (API), database, and log records before continuing to specialist courses.

Manual testingTest designDefect reportingExploratory testingTeam collaborationWeb testingQA tools
Learning outcomes

What you’ll be able to do.

01

Explain the purpose of testing and the responsibilities of a QA engineer

02

Prepare role-specific questions, evidence, and decision records for product, design, development, and delivery contributors

03

Analyze requirements and design valuable manual test coverage

04

Perform functional, exploratory, regression, usability, and basic compatibility checks on a local practice product

05

Write reproducible defect reports and communicate release risk

06

Use browser tools and test records, interpret supplied API and database evidence, and communicate findings

Curriculum

8 focused modules.

34 lessons total
01Testing purpose and professional judgmentLearn why testing exists, how testers support decisions, and how quality risks guide useful investigation.
  1. ↳Welcome to practical manual testingLesson
  2. ↳Who is a software tester?Lesson
  3. ↳Why software testing existsLesson
  4. ↳Quality, defects, and riskLesson
  5. ↳Testing principles and the QA mindsetLesson
02How software teams deliver productsFollow product work from an idea to operation, and identify where each contributor can improve quality evidence.
  1. ↳The software development lifecycleLesson
  2. ↳Product, design, and business rolesLesson
  3. ↳Engineering, operations, and delivery rolesLesson
  4. ↳Agile events and the Three AmigosLesson
03From requirements to a test approachAnalyze product information, rank quality risks, and show how planned tests support important product decisions.
  1. ↳Reading and questioning requirementsLesson
  2. ↳Test basis and test oraclesLesson
  3. ↳Risk-based test planningLesson
  4. ↳Traceability and meaningful coverageLesson
04Designing powerful manual testsUse partitions, boundaries, decision rules, states, and journeys to select focused tests from large possibility spaces.
  1. ↳Equivalence partitioningLesson
  2. ↳Boundary value analysisLesson
  3. ↳Decision tables and combinationsLesson
  4. ↳State transitions and user journeysLesson
05Prepared checks, exploration, and user experienceSelect useful test documentation, explore changing risks, and evaluate functional and non-functional product behavior.
  1. ↳Test cases, checklists, and exploratory chartersLesson
  2. ↳Exploratory testingLesson
  3. ↳Functional, smoke, sanity, and regression testingLesson
  4. ↳Usability, accessibility, compatibility, and resilienceLesson
06Browser investigation and defect evidenceInspect a local checkout, distinguish observations from causes, and write reproducible defect reports.
  1. ↳Browser developer toolsLesson
  2. ↳Recognizing and investigating failuresLesson
  3. ↳Writing a great bug reportLesson
  4. ↳Severity, priority, and business impactLesson
  5. ↳Defect lifecycle, triage, and verificationLesson
07Tools of the manual testerUse common work, browser, system, and communication tools to collect safe evidence and support quality decisions.
  1. ↳Issue trackers and test management toolsLesson
  2. ↳API, database, and log toolsLesson
  3. ↳Communication, documentation, and evidence toolsLesson
08Controlled test work and release decisionsControl environments and data, communicate release risk, and complete an end-to-end manual testing assignment.
  1. ↳Environments, builds, and configurationLesson
  2. ↳Test data, accounts, and privacyLesson
  3. ↳Release testing and quality reportingLesson
  4. ↳Capstone: test a new checkout featureLesson
  5. ↳Review your manual QA evidence and choose the next practiceLesson
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