Why Playwright?
Native support for Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit.
Powerful auto-waiting mechanism reducing flaky tests.
Built-in parallel execution without third-party grid setup.
API testing capabilities bundled within the same framework.
Rich debugging tools like trace viewer, video recording, and HTML reports.
Solution Approach
1 : Framework Modernization
Built a modular Playwright test automation framework.
Integrated TypeScript for better type safety and maintainability.
Configured Playwright Test Runner with built-in parallelization.
2 : Enhanced Test Design
Implemented the Page Object Model (POM) for clean test architecture.
Used Playwright’s
waitForSelector()and smart locators to stabilize element interactions.
3 : Seamless CI/CD Integration
Integrated tests into Azure DevOps pipelines.
Configured parallel test execution in Docker containers.
Set up Slack notifications and automatic reruns for failed test suites.
4 : Unified API & UI Testing
Automated user registration via API.
Verified login and product search flows on the UI using the same Playwright test.
Results & Impact
| Metric | Before Playwright | After Playwright |
|---|---|---|
| Regression Cycle Time | 4+ hours | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| Cross-browser Coverage | Limited to Chrome | Chromium, Firefox, WebKit |
| Test Stability (Flakiness) | 65-70% pass rate | >95% pass rate |
| Parallel Execution Capability | No | Yes (8 parallel threads) |
| Developer Feedback Loop | Slow | Fast, running on each PR merge |
| Reporting & Debugging | Minimal logs | Rich traces, screenshots, and videos |
Conclusion
Playwright empowered the client’s QA team to keep pace with rapid development cycles, deliver high-quality releases, and improve collaboration between testers and developers. The success of this project positions Playwright as a future-ready automation tool for organizations modernizing their test automation strategy.
