Using LLMs to Bridge the Gaps in QA Test Plans at Firefox

As software systems grow in scale and complexity, ensuring their reliability becomes increasingly challenging due to factors like diverse platforms, rapid release cycles, and evolving user needs. This places greater demands on software quality assurance (QA), where comprehensive test planning is crucial. However, in addition to this process being manual and time-consuming, skilled QA engineers may potentially overlook critical scenarios. <p xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">To bridge this gap, we used an LLM, GPT-4 Turbo, to generate test plans for eight Firefox features, evaluating them for novelty, validity, and relevance. Our results showed that 27% of the test cases in LLM-generated plans surfaced previously missed test scenarios the QA team deemed valuable, while 50.5% replicated existing ones. Although 22.5% were invalid and out of scope, our approach shows potential for improving test coverage. In this paper, we share our experience with this methodology and offer insights for SE/QA practitioners integrating LLMs into their workflows.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
IEEE Software
Published
2025-10-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1109/ms.2025.3621128
Primary Topic
SAS software applications and methods
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Using LLMs to Bridge the Gaps in QA Test Plans at Firefox

Suhaib Mujahid, Ahmad Abdellatif, Marco Castelluccio, John Pangas
IEEE Software
SAS software applications and methods
article

Using LLMs to Bridge the Gaps in QA Test Plans at Firefox

Suhaib Mujahid, Ahmad Abdellatif, Marco Castelluccio, John Pangas
article en

Abstract

As software systems grow in scale and complexity, ensuring their reliability becomes increasingly challenging due to factors like diverse platforms, rapid release cycles, and evolving user needs. This places greater demands on software quality assurance (QA), where comprehensive test planning is crucial. However, in addition to this process being manual and time-consuming, skilled QA engineers may potentially overlook critical scenarios. <p xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">To bridge this gap, we used an LLM, GPT-4 Turbo, to generate test plans for eight Firefox features, evaluating them for novelty, validity, and relevance. Our results showed that 27% of the test cases in LLM-generated plans surfaced previously missed test scenarios the QA team deemed valuable, while 50.5% replicated existing ones. Although 22.5% were invalid and out of scope, our approach shows potential for improving test coverage. In this paper, we share our experience with this methodology and offer insights for SE/QA practitioners integrating LLMs into their workflows.

IEEE SoftwareVol. 43(1)
Mozilla Foundation (US), University of Calgary (CA), Government of Canada (CA), Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts (Québec) (CA)
Openalex Percentile: Top 72%
SAS software applications and methods
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.