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:

Validation

• All AC covered by test cases

• Positive and negative scenarios

• Boundary values tested

• Test data specified

• Priorities assigned