What is a Test Plan and how should you approach creating it?

Kevin
Thu, 08 Sep 2022 22:23:52 +0000
App Submission

First, what is a test plan?

This should not be a user manual for your service as a whole, but instead a Zoom-specific document we can use to quickly test the use cases of the Zoom API scopes requested.

You can think of the test plan as a step-by-step guide on how to configure and use each Zoom API scope requested in your integration.

If your integration requires a user account with data in it to work correctly, you are required to also provide TEST CREDENTIALS for our review team to use during the review. To be clear, the test credentials we need are NOT Zoom Account credentials. We need a user account or login to your application or service during our review. This is not required if a free account without data can be created in a self service way and still work with the integration as expected.

As a team our Zoom Test Accounts can add unpublished integrations without a Publishable URL. It is not necessary to request a Publishable URL in order to submit for review. The Publishable URL is intended for Beta program users outside your Zoom Account and before you are ready to submit for publishing.

You should add a link to this document in the release notes of each submission. Please remember to include it again when you are re-submitting after making requested changes.

How does the test plan fit into the Marketplace review process?

The test plan and test credentials (when required) are really the chance for you to guide us through an ideal user experience for your integration. We are most interested in how you use the data you are accessing through our APIs.

Our review team processes a large volume of apps for review which means a clear, step-by-step plan can really speed things up as we tackle your specific integration. We make a good faith effort to try and use the integration as intended but without a test plan we don’t have your perspective to guide us through the review.

With a clear test plan we are able to step through your review much more efficiently and this typically means a shorter review cycle because less time is taken up by asking and answering general user-flow questions and confirming API scope usage details.

How to approach making a test plan? and common mistakes.

The review process is the last test or check before your integration goes public on our Marketplace, we will need to install the production version of your app into our own Zoom account, the same way an end user would. This way we can see the same experience an end user will have when they install your app.

As you write the test plan try to think of it from the standpoint of someone who has never used the app before. Sometimes we receive test plans that only include a few of the necessary steps to use the API scopes requested and this slows us down in our review as we have to request more information to continue.

This is not a requirement like the written test plan is, but we encourage you to take a few minutes and record a walkthrough or demo video of you or someone on your team following the test plan. This is very helpful to us as reviewers. You can include the link to view the video with the test plan. Thank you in advance if you are able to do this!

One important thing to remember is that if your integration requires a paid or subscriber level account you will need to provide credentials with this level of access enabled and any required seed or example data pre-populated for our team to use.

Common Mistake 1

Test Plan is not accurate or is missing steps

A great way to double check that you aren’t making this mistake is to run through the entire thing yourself with a fresh user in your system. If that won’t work for your situation you may need to get creative but the point is to provide enough information for us to complete the review.

Common Mistake 2

Not providing Test Credentials with required data

We see this time and time again that a developer has gone to the trouble to provide us a test user account for their system, but has not added data to that account. Often these integrations require data to be in the system for the integration to work properly. If your integration requires specific data in the account or system to work, please be sure to provide it.

Common Mistake 3

Contact Email is not monitored

We send communication about the integration review to the email address provided in the developer contact field of the build flow. Be sure to actively monitor that mailbox and respond promptly if our team reaches out to you. This really helps things go as fast as possible during your review!

So to recap, What is a test plan?

A Test Plan is required as part of your submission. You can think of the test plan as a step-by-step guide on how to configure and use each Zoom API scope requested in your submission.

What are test credentials?

Test credentials are required if self service free sign up is not available in your integration. If your app requires an account with data in it for the integration to work as expected, please be sure to pre-populate the account you provide test credentials for.

Avoid the common mistake of leaving out important steps on your test plan.

Double check the credentials you are providing will work to test the integration.

Be sure to monitor the developer contact email inbox and respond so we can keep the review moving forward.

Thank you for developing with us!

13 posts - 10 participants