A New Approach – Treat Test Like a Product
Why versioning, traceability, and structure aren’t just for software—and how they transform testing workflows.
The Legacy View: Test as a Phase - Not the final Checkpoint.
For decades, testing has been treated as a final step — something that happens after development.
You finalize the product, hand it to the lab, run a few tests, get a report, and move on. This approach worked — when products were simpler, development cycles were longer, and systems were mostly hardware-defined.
But that model no longer holds up in today’s fast-moving, software-defined world.
Modern validation involves:
- Rapid iteration of hardware and software versions
- Dozens of component variants and system configurations
- Suppliers and test labs spread across regions
- Certification cycles with growing documentation demands
Yet many organizations still rely on tools and workflows built for a different era:
- Requirements in Word docs
- Test plans in Excel
- Data in shared drives or inboxes
- Communication over scattered email threads, chat logs and phone calls
This document-based, manual approach leads to costly mistakes, duplicated efforts, version mismatches, and compliance risks.
Testing is no longer a task. It’s a full process. And like any process, it needs to be managed with structure and intent.
Core Requirements for Today’s Test Landscape
Testing today requires:
- Structured workflows that can adapt to change
- Real-time collaboration across teams and partners
- Centralized platforms that enable traceability, automation, and insight
- Audit-ready systems that reduce overhead and increase trust
From Output to Asset: Make Testing Work Like a Product
Instead of viewing testing as something done to a product, what if we started treating test itself like a product? By applying proven product development principles to the testing process, organizations can bring structure, repeatability, and clarity to even the most complex validation workflows.
That means applying the same principles we already use in product development:
Version control of DUTs, specifications, and test sequences Reusability through shared test bundles, templates, and checklists Modularity with individual test cases that can be composed and reused across systems Observability to gain real-time visibility into test execution and results Structured documentation that supports audits, compliance, and traceability
In short: apply product thinking to the process of testing.
What It Looks Like in Practice
Let’s take a simple test campaign for an HV battery module. You’re managing:
- 1 DUT with 3 product versions
- 6 test sequences (mechanical, electrical, environmental, abuse, etc.)
- 2 external labs
- 3 Internal test-benches
- 1 cert body expecting evidence and traceability
Folder-based approach:
- Each test sequence in a separate Excel or Word file
- Shared via email or Drive
- Version tracking is manual (v1_final_final_REALLY_final)
- Spec changes are hard to trace
- Test results saved as PDFs or raw CSVs
- No clear linkage between DUT version and data
Platform-based, product-thinking approach:
- DUTs are version-controlled (e.g., 1.0.0 → 1.1.0 → 1.2.0) with full change history
- Test sequences are modular, structured, and linked to specific DUT versions
- Specs, tests, and data are traceable across the entire campaign
- Labs access exactly the right test configuration — no guesswork
- Test results stream into a centralized, structured database
- Reports are auto-generated, audit-ready, and consistently formatted
- Everything is timestamped, traceable, and reviewable on demand
What You Gain
| Principle | Impact |
|---|---|
| Versioning | Avoid re-runs, keep everyone aligned |
| Reusability | Build faster with tested building blocks |
| Traceability | Always know what was tested, when, and how |
| Modularity | Easier to adapt and scale to different DUTs |
| Observability | Real-time updates and fewer sync meetings |
| Structured output | Reporting becomes instant, not manual |
Shift the Conversation Internally
To move your organization toward this mindset, ask:
- How do we version our test sequences today?
- Can we track which DUT version was used for which test report?
- Are we building reusable test infrastructure—or reinventing every time?
- What happens if a test partner changes a spec mid-project?
- Is rescheduling tests done with organisational ease?
If these questions are hard to answer — it’s time to upgrade.
The Role of TestForge X
TestForge X is built around this product-centric model of testing:
- Define test products (DUTs) with structured metadata
- Build reusable test campaigns with full versioning
- Link tests, resources, labs, and results across the value chain
- Enable fast reporting, traceability, and partner collaboration
Because testing should evolve with your product — not lag behind it.
📅 Next Week:
“How to Coordinate Across Labs, Suppliers & Cert Bodies” → Aligning expectations and execution in complex validation chains