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Barış Sarıalioğlu, the founder of TesterYou, shared the following 10 ways to shorten test automation times:

Define effective page elements. One of the most important steps to consider when writing automation code is how elements on the page are defined. Standard location identifiers such as ID, name, CSS selector, and link text make it easier to locate automation code and prevent irregularities. Use smart waiting. Smart waiting, which indicates that an element has not yet loaded or been activated, prevents potential errors. Using a predefined set of smart waits can significantly improve test performance. Optimize your automation code. Programming languages like Java, Python, and similar are suitable data for automation code. Minimizing HTTP and DB calls prevents additional effort and saves time. Having alternative conditions in this step helps avoid errors in the future. Using pause conditions also enhances the performance of automation code. Use the browser's provided cache. Creating a cache in the browser itself instead of fetching data from the data server allows for faster local storage and quicker access to data. Additionally, cache data is automatically refreshed when expiration times are set, improving the performance of web automation tests. Avoid creating new browser sessions for each test case. Using the same browser session for a group of scenarios is beneficial as it eliminates the overhead of setting browser properties, clearing cookies, and creating cache data. Starting a new browser for each command unnecessarily fills memory, and grouping relevant test command files and running them in a single browser session is more efficient and faster. Use APIs instead of UI interactions. Some companies still use UI tests to gather user feedback, but APIs simplify the process. Integrating API tests using predefined functions streamlines end-to-end flow. Prevent inconsistent visuals and pop-ups. Loading many images and pop-ups in applications like e-commerce websites significantly slows down the process. The feature to block images, available in most modern browsers, saves substantial time during testing. Typically, creating a URL parameter to disable all pop-ups is necessary for a seamless testing process. Enable parallel testing. Using Docker, which is used to run multiple systems on a single computer, enables fast parallel testing. Parallel tests with enhanced test stability and high test coverage save time by allowing data processing in parallel. To process data in parallel, API services on a database server are required. This method enables all Dockers to monitor the same data. Remove old code. Unused code scattered among many command files is often overlooked. To address this issue, command files need to be reviewed at regular intervals by verifying functionality. This not only saves time but also keeps the codebase constantly up to date. Backing up command files before making changes is also a measure to clean up old code. Use headless execution. Headless execution is a technique that disables the graphical user interface (GUI) to speed up automation tests. Agile teams use headless mode to visualize how the application appears on different devices by utilizing features like Chrome. This approach contributes to speeding up test automation."