Haven Connect: Test Automation Implementation

Project Overview

Haven Connect, a leading provider of waitlist management tools for affordable housing, needed to establish a robust test automation framework to ensure consistent quality across their platform releases. TTD Consulting provided a senior test automation engineer to design and implement a comprehensive end-to-end testing solution using Cypress, seamlessly integrated with their GitHub CI pipeline.

Our senior test automation engineer worked closely with Haven Connect's development team to build a scalable testing framework that provides rapid feedback, catches regression issues early, and ensures continuous quality assurance throughout the development lifecycle critical for a platform that helps property management companies and housing authorities serve affordable housing seekers.

The Challenge

Haven Connect, serving property management companies and housing authorities with their waitlist management platform, faced several critical challenges in their quality assurance process:

• Manual Testing Burden: Manual regression testing was time-consuming and prone to human error, slowing down release cycles for critical housing management features.
• Limited Test Coverage: Without automated testing, comprehensive test coverage across waitlist management, document collection, and automated list updates was difficult to maintain.
• CI/CD Integration: Needed seamless integration with existing GitHub workflows to enable continuous testing without disrupting development velocity.
• Fast Feedback Loops: Development team needed quick feedback on code quality to catch issues early, especially critical for a platform serving affordable housing seekers.
• Scalability: Test framework needed to be maintainable and scalable as the platform added new features for property managers and applicants.
• Technical Expertise: Lacked in-house expertise in modern test automation frameworks and best practices for comprehensive end-to-end testing.

Our Solution

TTD Consulting provided Haven Connect with a senior test automation engineer who brought deep expertise in modern testing frameworks and CI/CD integration. Our engineer designed and implemented a comprehensive Cypress-based test automation framework, seamlessly integrated with GitHub Actions to provide continuous quality assurance for Haven Connect's affordable housing waitlist management platform.

Test Automation Framework

The solution was built on Cypress, a modern end-to-end testing framework designed for reliability and developer experience:

• Cypress Testing Framework: Leveraged Cypress for fast, reliable end-to-end testing with real-time reloads, automatic waiting, and powerful debugging capabilities.
• GitHub CI Integration: Configured GitHub Actions workflows to automatically run tests on every pull request and merge to main branches.
• Test Structure: Organized tests following best practices with reusable commands, fixtures, and page object patterns for maintainability.
• Parallel Execution: Configured tests to run in parallel, significantly reducing overall test execution time.
• Reporting: Integrated comprehensive test reporting with screenshots and videos for failed tests, enabling quick issue diagnosis.

Key Features Implemented

• End-to-End Test Suite: Comprehensive test coverage across critical user journeys and application workflows.
• GitHub Actions Integration: Automated test execution on pull requests, commits, and scheduled runs with detailed status reporting.
• Cross-Browser Testing: Tests configured to run across multiple browsers ensuring consistent behavior.
• API Testing: Integrated API tests to validate backend services and data integrity.
• Visual Regression: Implemented visual testing to catch unintended UI changes automatically.
• Data Management: Created test data fixtures and helper functions for consistent, repeatable tests.
• Custom Commands: Developed reusable Cypress custom commands to simplify test authoring and maintenance.
• Flake Prevention: Implemented best practices to minimize flaky tests with proper waits, retries, and assertions.

Technical Excellence

The test automation implementation followed industry best practices and modern standards:

• Code Quality: Clean, maintainable test code following Cypress best practices with comprehensive documentation and comments.
• Version Control: All test code managed in GitHub with proper branching strategies and pull request workflows.
• CI/CD Integration: Seamless integration with GitHub Actions for automated test execution on every code change.
• Test Reliability: Implemented strategies to ensure stable, non-flaky tests with appropriate timeouts and retry mechanisms.
• Performance: Optimized test execution with parallel runs and efficient test design patterns.
• Reporting & Visibility: Comprehensive test reports with screenshots, videos, and detailed logs for quick issue resolution.

Senior Test Automation Engineer

TTD Consulting provided Heaven Connect with a senior test automation engineer who brought specialized expertise:

• Technical Leadership: Led the design and implementation of the test automation framework with strategic guidance and best practices
• Cypress Expertise: Deep knowledge of Cypress framework, patterns, and advanced features for reliable test automation
• CI/CD Integration: Configured and optimized GitHub Actions workflows for seamless automated testing
• Knowledge Transfer: Trained development team on test automation practices, enabling them to write and maintain tests independently
• Best Practices: Established coding standards, documentation, and processes for sustainable test automation
• Continuous Improvement: Ongoing optimization of test coverage, execution time, and framework capabilities

Results & Impact

The successful delivery of the client self-service portal delivered significant business value: