#Collaboration Best Practices - Team Guide
Effective collaboration ensures that testing efforts are aligned, transparent, and efficient. This guide outlines best practices for working together in Hawzu across test cases, executions, defects, and integrations.
#Team Communication
#Clear and Actionable Documentation
- Write test cases with clear intent and expected behavior
- Include context and business purpose where relevant
- Keep descriptions concise but meaningful
- Update test cases when functionality changes
Good documentation reduces back-and-forth and prevents execution ambiguity.
#Notes During Execution
Hawzu uses notes during test execution instead of threaded comments.
Best practices:
- Add notes when a test fails, is blocked, or behaves unexpectedly
- Record observations, environment issues, or data dependencies
- Keep notes factual and execution-focused
- Avoid conversational discussion inside execution notes
Notes serve as execution evidence and help developers and reviewers understand outcomes.
#Shared Assets for Collaboration
#Shared Steps
- Use shared steps for common flows (login, setup, teardown)
- Prefer workspace shared steps for organization-wide standards
- Use project shared steps for project-specific workflows
- Update shared steps carefully, as changes affect all usages
Shared steps reduce duplication and keep teams aligned.
#Parameters & Custom Fields
- Use parameters to avoid hardcoding values in test steps
- Prefer workspace parameters for commonly reused values
- Use custom fields sparingly and consistently
- Document the intent of important fields and parameters
These mechanisms allow teams to collaborate without rewriting test logic.
#Assignment & Ownership
#Test Case Ownership
- Assign test cases to owners when accountability matters
- Keep ownership updated as team members change
- Avoid leaving critical test cases unassigned
Ownership improves accountability and follow-up.
#Execution Assignment
- Assign executions based on tester expertise
- Balance workload across the team
- Reassign promptly when blockers arise
- Avoid single-person ownership for large test runs
#Defect Collaboration
#Creating Actionable Defects
- Link defects directly from failed executions where possible
- Ensure steps, expected behavior, and actual behavior are clear
- Rely on Hawzu’s auto-generated context where available
- Avoid duplicating defects already linked
#External Issue Tracking
- Link defects to multiple external issues if required
- Keep Hawzu as the source of testing context
- Use external systems (Jira, Linear, etc.) for development workflows
- Avoid syncing every field unnecessarily
This keeps collaboration clean across QA and engineering teams.
#Groups & Access Management
#Use Groups, Not Individuals
- Organize users into groups based on teams or responsibilities
- Assign project roles to groups instead of individual users
- Keep group membership up to date
Groups make collaboration scalable and access easier to manage.
#Role Discipline
- Use higher privileges only where necessary
- Separate execution roles from configuration roles
- Review access periodically, especially for contractors or temporary members
Good access hygiene prevents accidental changes and confusion.
#Notifications & Visibility
#Notifications
- Subscribe to updates for executions or defects you own
- Avoid over-notifying large groups unnecessarily
- Use notifications for awareness, not discussion
#Transparency
- Keep execution statuses up to date
- Close or archive completed work
- Avoid silent changes to shared assets
Transparency builds trust and reduces coordination overhead.
#Integrations as Collaboration Bridges
- Use Slack or similar integrations for visibility
- Rely on issue tracker integrations for development handoff
- Treat integrations as connectors, not replacements for Hawzu workflows
Hawzu should remain the testing system of record.
#Common Collaboration Pitfalls to Avoid
- ❌ Writing vague execution notes
- ❌ Duplicating shared steps instead of reusing them
- ❌ Over-assigning admin privileges
- ❌ Using test cases as discussion threads
- ❌ Letting shared assets drift without ownership
#Summary
Strong collaboration in Hawzu comes from:
- Clear documentation
- Structured ownership
- Thoughtful use of shared assets
- Disciplined access control
- Transparent execution and defect tracking
When teams collaborate intentionally, testing becomes faster, clearer, and more reliable.