Test Case Design

Purpose

Design comprehensive test cases from requirements and acceptance criteria that cover functional, negative, boundary, and edge case scenarios.

When to Use

• After requirements approved
• After acceptance criteria written
• Test planning phase
• Regression suite expansion

Prerequisites

• User stories with acceptance criteria
• Test strategy defined
• Domain understanding

Process

Step 1: Analyze Acceptance Criteria

For each AC:
- Identify testable conditions
- Extract expected outcomes
- Note preconditions
- Find boundaries

Step 2: Design Test Scenarios

Scenario types:
- Happy path (success)
- Negative (invalid inputs)
- Boundary (limits)
- Edge cases (unusual situations)
- Error handling

Step 3: Write Test Cases

Test case structure:
- ID and title
- Preconditions
- Test steps
- Expected results
- Test data
- Priority

Step 4: Create Test Data

Data requirements:
- Valid data sets
- Invalid data sets
- Boundary values
- Special characters
- Empty/null values

Step 5: Review and Trace

Quality checks:
- Full AC coverage
- Traceability maintained
- No redundant tests
- Priorities assigned

Inputs

Input	Type	Required	Description
user_stories	JSON	Yes	Stories with AC
requirements	Markdown	Yes	Requirement details
test_strategy	Markdown	Yes	Testing approach

Outputs

Output	Type	Description
test_cases/	Markdown	Test case files
test_data/	JSON	Test data sets
coverage_matrix.csv	CSV	AC to TC mapping

StudyAbroad-Specific Considerations

• Multi-step form scenarios
• OAuth2 flow variations
• File upload edge cases
• Application state transitions
• External API response scenarios

Integration Points

• Requirements Agent: Receives AC
• Developer Agent: Test implementation
• Traceability: Linked to requirements

Examples

Test Cases for US-005: Document Upload

TC-005-001: Successful PDF Upload
Priority: High
Preconditions:
  - User is logged in
  - User has an application in draft status
Steps:
  1. Navigate to application documents section
  2. Click "Upload Document"
  3. Select a valid PDF file (5MB)
  4. Select document type "Transcript"
  5. Click "Upload"
Expected Results:
  - Upload progress bar appears
  - Success message displays
  - Document appears in document list
  - Document shows correct name, size, type
Test Data:
  - File: transcript_valid.pdf (5MB)
  - Type: application/pdf

TC-005-002: Reject Oversized File
Priority: High
Preconditions:
  - User is logged in
Steps:
  1. Navigate to document upload
  2. Select file larger than 10MB
  3. Attempt upload
Expected Results:
  - Upload is rejected before starting
  - Error message: "File must be under 10MB"
  - No file appears in list
Test Data:
  - File: large_file.pdf (15MB)

TC-005-003: Reject Invalid File Type
Priority: High
Preconditions:
  - User is logged in
Steps:
  1. Navigate to document upload
  2. Select .exe file
  3. Attempt upload
Expected Results:
  - Upload is rejected
  - Error message: "Only PDF, JPG, PNG files allowed"
Test Data:
  - File: malware.exe

TC-005-004: Handle Upload Interruption
Priority: Medium
Preconditions:
  - User is logged in
  - Network is unstable
Steps:
  1. Start uploading large file
  2. Simulate network interruption at 50%
  3. Wait for timeout
Expected Results:
  - Error message displayed
  - Retry button available
  - Partial upload cleaned up
  - Can retry successfully

TC-005-005: Boundary - Exactly 10MB File
Priority: Medium
Steps:
  1. Upload file exactly 10MB
Expected Results:
  - Upload succeeds (10MB is allowed)
Test Data:
  - File: exactly_10mb.pdf (10,485,760 bytes)

TC-005-006: Special Characters in Filename
Priority: Low
Steps:
  1. Upload file with special characters: "tëst döc (1).pdf"
Expected Results:
  - Upload succeeds
  - Filename displayed correctly
  - Download works

Test Coverage Matrix:
| AC | Test Cases |
|----|------------|
| AC1: Successful upload | TC-005-001 |
| AC2: File type validation | TC-005-003 |
| AC3: File size limit | TC-005-002, TC-005-005 |
| AC4: Upload progress | TC-005-001, TC-005-004 |
| AC5: Duplicate handling | TC-005-007 |
| AC6: Upload failure | TC-005-004 |

Validation

• All AC covered by test cases
• Positive and negative scenarios
• Boundary values tested
• Test data specified
• Priorities assigned