The Importance of Avoiding UI Details in BDD Scenarios

In the realm of Behavior-Driven Development (BDD), there are two cardinal rules when crafting scenarios: The first rule - You do not mention UI in your BDD scenarios. The second rule - You DO NOT mention UI in your BDD scenarios. It's a mantra that holds the key to effective BDD practices, and in this blog post, we'll explore why it matters and how it can revolutionize your testing efforts.

❌ The Common Pitfall

A common pitfall in BDD, often seen with tools like Cucumber, is the tendency to create scenarios that are heavily entwined with the User Interface (UI). Scenarios that revolve around actions like entering field values, clicking buttons, or checking URLs.

Consider this classic example:

Scenario: Login
When I visit the login page
And I enter username
And I enter password
And I click on Login button
Then I verify dashboard URL

At first glance, it might seem like a reasonable scenario for testing a login feature. However, it's fundamentally flawed as it primarily focuses on UI details. Such scenarios are not only fragile but also miss the true essence of BDD.

🧪 The Essence of BDD Scenarios

Effective BDD scenarios should zoom in on business flows, business rules, and business value. They should encapsulate what the application does from a functional perspective, not how it does it in terms of UI interactions.

In essence, your BDD scenarios should be UI-agnostic. In other words, they should be crafted in a way that UI implementation details are concealed. As a tester, you shouldn't be preoccupied with whether a scenario is interacting with the UI or not - that's an implementation detail.

Consider this improved scenario:

Scenario: Login with a standard account
Given Alice is an account holder with online banking access
When she logs in using her credentials
Then she should be presented with her personalized dashboard

While this is just a simplified example, it illustrates the point. In a real-world scenario, you might want to focus on more intricate business rules, such as what users can do post-login, handling account lockouts, or dealing with suspicious transactions.

💡 The Power of UI-Agnostic Scenarios

The magic happens when your BDD scenarios are decoupled from the UI. Here's why this matters:

👷‍♀️ Maintainability: When your scenarios aren't tied to the UI, they remain robust even as the UI evolves. You can overhaul the entire UI without needing to rewrite your scenarios. Your BDD scenarios capture the business rules and requirements, not the implementation details - and that's a game-changer.

⏳ Efficiency: Working with UI-agnostic scenarios allows you to automate tests faster and with greater ease. Testers can focus on testing the application's functionality rather than worrying about UI changes.

💻 Technology Agnostic: These scenarios are technology-agnostic. You can switch to different technologies or frameworks for your UI, and your BDD scenarios remain unaffected.

🤝 Reinforcing BDD Philosophy

This approach aligns seamlessly with the core philosophy of BDD, emphasizing collaboration, and shared understanding. BDD isn't about getting bogged down by UI intricacies; it's about clarifying and reinforcing what truly matters to the business.

🏁 Conclusion

In the world of BDD, the mantra is clear: avoid the lure of UI-centric scenarios. Focus on crafting UI-agnostic scenarios that capture the essence of your application's functionality and business rules. By doing so, you'll create scenarios that are not only more relevant but also more resilient.

Remember, the real value in testing isn't just about confirming functionality; it's about ensuring that your application aligns with the evolving needs of the business. This shift in perspective can revolutionize your testing efforts and empower your team to adapt to changes with ease.

So, take a step back from the UI and start writing scenarios that truly reflect the heart of your application's functionality. It's a journey that leads to more efficient, more durable, and ultimately more valuable testing.

tags: BehaviorDrivenDevelopment,EffectiveScenarios,TestAutomation,UIAutomation,SoftwareTesting,QualityAssurance,BestPractices,BDDGuidelines,ScenarioWriting,Behavior-driven development,Scenarios,Test automation,Software testing,Quality assurance,Best practices,BDD,TestAutomation,Agile,Cucumber,Gherkin