A Design Taxonomy for GUI-Based Test Automation

Enes Kara; Bijan Khosrawi-Rad; Frederik Möller

doi:10.1007/978-3-032-28316-0_15

A Design Taxonomy for GUI-Based Test Automation

Enes Kara^*
, Bijan Khosrawi-Rad
, Frederik Möller

^*Corresponding author for this work

Professorship of Information Systems, in particular Digital Transformation and Information Management

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Article in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are central interaction points in modern software systems, making GUI-based test automation a central and economically relevant part of software development by enabling the automated execution and assessment of user-visible interactions. Over time, it has evolved into a diverse and fragmented landscape, ranging from manual and deterministic approaches to increasingly autonomous, AI-supported solutions. While this diversity enables flexible testing strategies, it also confronts practitioners with a growing number of implicit design decisions that are rarely made explicit or systematically compared. This paper addresses this challenge by conceptualizing GUI-based test automation frameworks as a design space and proposing a design-oriented taxonomy to structure it. Following design science research, we developed the taxonomy based on an analysis of 103 GUI-based test automation frameworks. We complement the taxonomy with a cluster analysis to identify recurring combinations of design decisions across existing test automation frameworks. To demonstrate practical relevance and evaluate the taxonomy, we applied it to established, widely used test automation frameworks from practice. This evaluation illustrates how the taxonomy supports systematic comparison and informed reasoning about alternative design choices and trade-offs, such as human control versus autonomy. Overall, the paper contributes design knowledge that helps practitioners and researchers reason about GUI-based test automation beyond tool-centric perspectives.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Design for Better Futures : Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Completed Research - 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Proceedings, Part I
Editors	Jan vom Brocke, Leona Chandra Kruse, Alan Hevner, Michael Rosemann, Monica Chiarini Tremblay, Robert Winter
Number of pages	18
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer International Publishing
Publication date	06.2026
Pages	260-277
ISBN (Print)	978-3-032-28315-3
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-032-28316-0
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-28316-0_15
Publication status	Published - 06.2026
Event	21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology - DESRIST 2026 - Münster, Germany Duration: 08.06.2026 → 10.06.2026 Conference number: 21 https://desrist2026.org/

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

Research areas and keywords

design archetype
design space
design taxonomy
GUI-based test automation
test automation framework
testing strategy
Informatics

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Theoretical Computer Science
General Computer Science

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-032-28316-0_15

Cite this

Kara, E., Khosrawi-Rad, B., & Möller, F. (2026). A Design Taxonomy for GUI-Based Test Automation. In J. vom Brocke, L. Chandra Kruse, A. Hevner, M. Rosemann, M. Chiarini Tremblay, & R. Winter (Eds.), Design for Better Futures: Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Completed Research - 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Proceedings, Part I (pp. 260-277). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. LNCS 16605 ). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-28316-0_15

Kara, Enes ; Khosrawi-Rad, Bijan ; Möller, Frederik. / A Design Taxonomy for GUI-Based Test Automation. Design for Better Futures: Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Completed Research - 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Proceedings, Part I . editor / Jan vom Brocke ; Leona Chandra Kruse ; Alan Hevner ; Michael Rosemann ; Monica Chiarini Tremblay ; Robert Winter. Cham : Springer International Publishing, 2026. pp. 260-277 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

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Kara, E, Khosrawi-Rad, B & Möller, F 2026, A Design Taxonomy for GUI-Based Test Automation. in J vom Brocke, L Chandra Kruse, A Hevner, M Rosemann, M Chiarini Tremblay & R Winter (eds), Design for Better Futures: Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Completed Research - 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Proceedings, Part I . Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. LNCS 16605 , Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 260-277, 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology - DESRIST 2026, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 08.06.26. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-28316-0_15

A Design Taxonomy for GUI-Based Test Automation. / Kara, Enes; Khosrawi-Rad, Bijan; Möller, Frederik.
Design for Better Futures: Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Completed Research - 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Proceedings, Part I . ed. / Jan vom Brocke; Leona Chandra Kruse; Alan Hevner; Michael Rosemann; Monica Chiarini Tremblay; Robert Winter. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2026. p. 260-277 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. LNCS 16605 ).

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Article in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review

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Kara E, Khosrawi-Rad B, Möller F. A Design Taxonomy for GUI-Based Test Automation. In vom Brocke J, Chandra Kruse L, Hevner A, Rosemann M, Chiarini Tremblay M, Winter R, editors, Design for Better Futures: Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Completed Research - 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Proceedings, Part I . Cham: Springer International Publishing. 2026. p. 260-277. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-28316-0_15

A Design Taxonomy for GUI-Based Test Automation

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Research areas and keywords

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Access to Document

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Cite this