Unit Pattern: A Design Pattern for Self-Documenting User Acceptance Test Automation

Unit Pattern: A Design Pattern for Self-Documenting User Acceptance Test Automation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Unit Pattern: A Design Pattern for Self-Documenting User Acceptance Test Automation Shan Shan, Gene Han, Marcela Reyna, Jeff Huang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4752482/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Generally, test cases that closely mirror business logic are easier for practitioners and stakeholders to understand. However, they are typically more expensive to implement compared to cases that execute specific functions without domainspecific specialization. Readability plays a crucial role in enhancing software quality, reducing maintenance costs, and facilitating testing by non-technical personnel. Implementing easily readable test automation solutions may impact code structure and entail additional development and maintenance costs. Yet, the best approach to mitigate these costs remains unaddressed. Existing frameworks often employ ad hoc approaches limited to specialized scenarios, lacking a systematic solution to the cost and readability problem in general. To bridge this gap, we share the challenges and difficulties encountered during the process of creating readable test automation test cases. Drawing from our practical experience, we introduce a new design pattern called the Unit Pattern. This pattern focuses on dividing test logic into the smallest units that convey a clear business meaning, eliminating business domain dependence and ensuring applicability to all projects. The idea behind this approach is straightforward, making implementation very straightforward and with minimal additional costs. Through theoretical analysis and empirical studies using real-world projects from industrial settings, we find that the Unit Pattern has minimal impact on code structure. Our experimental results confirm that applying the Unit Pattern to test automation yields good readability with minimal additional costs. Self-documenting Test Automation Web Application Readability Development Costs Maintenance Costs Test Automation Design Pattern Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4752482","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":338591015,"identity":"4d037ea7-1167-4810-b794-a2488575cc52","order_by":0,"name":"Shan Shan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPCCA0DMA8QVQMzM3IBXLQ+qljMgLYykaGFsA3EIaLFn7zH8+OPPHXlz/rMHPxfOq43mbwdq+VGxDbctPMeSpXnbnhnunJGXLD1z2/HcGYcZGxh7ztzGrUUi+YA0Y8Nhxg03eAykebcdywWyG5gZ2/BokX/Y/PPHn8P2G86fMf7NO+dY7nyCWiSYj0nwsB1O3HAgx0yat6EmdwNBLWfS0qx52w4nb7iRY2bNc+xA7kagloP4/MLefsb4JtBhtiCH3eapqcudd/7wwQc/KnBrQQeHweQBotUDQR0pikfBKBgFo2CEAABXal6WLiBirgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Texas at Dallas","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shan","middleName":"","lastName":"Shan","suffix":""},{"id":338591017,"identity":"7c7dc149-6213-493c-8022-b98c9be77d4a","order_by":1,"name":"Gene Han","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gene","middleName":"","lastName":"Han","suffix":""},{"id":338591018,"identity":"6502d37e-f5b1-472a-8488-f84c232a3eef","order_by":2,"name":"Marcela Reyna","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marcela","middleName":"","lastName":"Reyna","suffix":""},{"id":338591019,"identity":"397091f1-bea3-4b93-a828-73928f1618a8","order_by":3,"name":"Jeff Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Texas A\u0026M University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jeff","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-16 22:27:47","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4752482/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4752482/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":66595674,"identity":"4104e022-6132-4a6d-91d9-b1cfea7fef3e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-10-14 15:38:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1907121,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"snarticle.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4752482/v1_covered_9935fc1d-e10e-431f-ad11-246a0268b86d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Unit Pattern: A Design Pattern for Self-Documenting User Acceptance Test Automation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Self-documenting Test Automation, Web Application, Readability, Development Costs, Maintenance Costs, Test Automation Design Pattern","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4752482/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4752482/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eGenerally, test cases that closely mirror business logic are easier for practitioners and stakeholders to understand. However, they are typically more expensive to implement compared to cases that execute specific functions without domainspecific specialization. Readability plays a crucial role in enhancing software quality, reducing maintenance costs, and facilitating testing by non-technical personnel.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImplementing easily readable test automation solutions may impact code structure and entail additional development and maintenance costs. Yet, the best approach to mitigate these costs remains unaddressed. Existing frameworks often employ ad hoc approaches limited to specialized scenarios, lacking a systematic\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003esolution to the cost and readability problem in general.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo bridge this gap, we share the challenges and difficulties encountered during the process of creating readable test automation test cases. 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