Automation Assist, Part 2: Training

Use automation scripts to help your team to create customer-training videos

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The benefits of UI Test Automation extend beyond verification. In this article series, I will show you how to use automated test scripts to assist:

• Showcase

• Help Create Training Videos for staff and customers to use the app

• Test Data Generation (coming soon)

As an author and a blogger, I have to accept the fact that people nowadays reading less and less. Young generations get information from videos, that’s why YouTube and TikTok are so popular. The user manual is being gradually replaced with a small piece of paper with QRCode, which links to an online video.

So, for businesses producing products, creating product-use-guide videos is becoming a necessity.

Table of Contents:
· Problems with traditional App-Use video making
· The Steps to Make App-Use Video with the Help of Automation
· Example
· “But we don’t do test automation, can you still make this happen?”
· FAQ

Problems with traditional App-Use video making

In the software industry, this means creating videos that capture the typical app use scenarios. This work is usually done manually, which has some obvious drawbacks.

1. Expensive (taking a long time, with a lot of effort)
   The video-making people usually don’t understand the app well. Demonstrating a typical user scenario usually includes many test data. Thus, business analysts need to get involved. But BAs often don’t get test data ready, …, etc.

2. Cost of remake when the app changes
   As we all know, in Agile, app changes are frequent and constant.

3. Often videos are not in sync with the app
   This is the consequence of reason #2.

4. Need to redo the work for different platforms or browsers
   Windows and macOS, Chrome and Safari, iOS and Andriod. Each option means nearly a whole new job.

5. Prone to mistakes
   For a long business flow, getting every step right (clicking the right buttons in sequence, and no typos) is not easy. One mistake means a total retake.

That’s why some businesses use illustrations, rather than real UI. For example, Katalon, a so-call AI Test Automation tool, its demo video was created with illustrations, how embarrassing?

The much better way (flexible and cheap, nearly free) is to use Automation. Here I mean real automation, using an automated script to drive the app in a web browser or Mobile simulator, and then record the videos.

The Steps to Make App-Use Video with the Help of Automation

First, recording screen video is an easy task. Most people (after working remotely during the pandemic) know how to use it. The real work is producing automation scripts.

If your software team does Agile half-decently, there should have been the end-to-end automated script for core business scenarios, ‘Done, Done’, right? If not, your project is doing fake Agile, should seek professional help (such as a Test Automation Coach).

Assuming you do have the automated end-to-end (via UI) scripts (advice provided later if you don’t have), convert them to training scripts in the following easy steps.

1. Create a dedicated ‘training’ folder.

Please note, this ‘training’ folder shall be a sibling relationship to the core test scripts. This way, all page and helper references will remain valid.

2. Copy the automated test scripts for the core business scenarios over

The training team should have a clear idea about this. I suggest starting with just one first.

3. Remove any assertion steps

There is no need. After, this is not a test script, just a pure automation script.

4. Only keep the main workflow

An automated test script might contain one happy path and alternatives, just keep the main flow.

5. Refine the automation script

Adjust (usually means, simplify) and refine the test steps, such as

• if a test user name is “test01”, it might better change to a meaningful persona.

• set the browser window to a fixed size (optimal for video)

6. Do a quick run

This is to make sure the video-creation team is happy with the steps.

7. Adjust timings

Automation scripts drive the app too fast, we need to slow it down quite a bit.

There are two types of slowdowns:

• Add delays between each step.
  this can be done manually (not recommended) or via a tool, such as TestWise, which includes this feature.

TestWise Settings

• Adding long delays at specific steps. 
  such as sleep 5 at required places.

8. Execute Automation Scripts, and extra effects, then Record the video

If the testing tool is easy to use, video-creation-team should have no problems at all taking the work from now on. They can use their expertise to add subtitles and other effects, and the producing final video.

Zhimin: in 2010, one business analyst (without automation knowledge) just did that. I converted a custom automation script for him and he figured out a way to create subtitles in a separate window positioned right below the browser window. Our director showed the final video to the deputy Premier (governor in Australia) with good feedback. The director said to me happily afterwards, “without this automation, I surely will make mistakes with this complex workflow”.

Example

Check out the video below.

“But we don’t do test automation, can you still make this happen?”

Yes, two options: