Leveraging Test Scripts for Training

One of the quickest ways to develop software training materials is to use your test scripts. Don't let a developer or an application consultant tell you that they don't use test scripts: everyone worth their salt does. They're required for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and for Food and Drug Administration compliance, if your company is subject to either of those regulatory regimes. So most reputable people who build or configure software systems use test scripts. At the very least, they demonstrate that some thought was put into the system's setup and configuration.

Test scripts can come in a variety of flavors. They can be simple, with just a couple of screenshots and some suggested data, or complex, with lots of field data and Expected Results descriptions. The more descriptive, the better, for training. It's easier to cut information out than to build it from scratch.

Typically, you can use the test scripts to:

  • Run your own transactions and capture screenshots for your own training documentation
  • Identify important decision points or software features that users should be taught in the training documentation
  • Choose representative training data or scenarios to use in the classroom
  • Structure and "chunk" your own training documentation or simulations

In a pinch, you can use test scripts as the actual training documentation, but that's not recommended. Test scripts are often written hastily, and have a different slant on them; they're meant to prove that the system works. This means they may be set up for negative testing (where an error should result) or they may engage in several repetitions of the same transaction. Scripts like those aren't good for training. You need to be judicious in your use of scripts as training materials.

Always gather as many test scripts as you can before you start creating training materials. They'll help you identify which transactions to train, teach you how to run them, and show you what the system's designers think is important to know.

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