Keeping it valuable.
WHY IT DEGRADES
The application changes Tests accumulate Nobody owns individual tests Failures are tolerated
WHAT TO REVIEW REGULARLY
Tests that fail often Tests that never fail Duration Coverage of what matters now
WHAT TO DO WITH CHRONICALLY FAILING TESTS
Fix or delete, within a defined period.
WHY DELETION IS ACCEPTABLE
A test nobody trusts costs attention and provides nothing.
WHAT TO DO WITH TESTS THAT NEVER FAIL
Assess whether they verify anything.
HOW
Break the behaviour and check they fail.
WHAT TO CONSOLIDATE
Tests covering the same behaviour at several levels.
WHAT TO REFACTOR
Duplicated interaction code Overgrown page objects Setup repeated everywhere
WHAT TO TREAT TEST CODE AS
Production code, with the same standards.
WHAT OWNERSHIP SHOULD MEAN
Whoever changes a feature maintains its tests.
WHY NOT A SEPARATE TEAM
Tests then lag behind the code and break constantly.
WHAT TO BUDGET
Time for maintenance, explicitly.
WHY
Otherwise it happens only when the suite is already unusable.
WHAT TO MEASURE
Time spent maintaining, against defects caught.
