The tech world is buzzing about automation. Every day brings new tools promising to automate another aspect of software testing. With all this automation talk, you might be wondering: Is Manual Salesforce Testing Still Relevant in 2025? The short answer is yes, but the long answer is more interesting and nuanced.
The Current State of Salesforce Testing
In 2025, most successful companies use a combination of automated and manual testing. While automation handles repetitive tasks and regression testing, manual testing fills critical gaps that automation simply can’t address effectively.
The landscape has evolved significantly. Today’s testers are more strategic, focusing their manual efforts where they add the most value rather than clicking through every single test case manually.
Where Manual Testing Excels
User experience evaluation requires human judgment. A script can verify that a button works, but only a human tester can determine if the button is in the right place, if the color scheme makes sense, or if the overall workflow feels intuitive.
Exploratory testing represents one of manual testing’s greatest strengths. When testers freely explore the application without following strict scripts, they often discover issues that automated tests would never find. They ask questions like “What if I do this?” or “How does this work with that?” leading to valuable insights.
Usability concerns become apparent through manual testing. Does the page layout make sense? Are there too many clicks to complete a common task? Is the language clear and helpful? These qualitative assessments require human perspective.
The Human Element in Testing
Automated tests follow scripts exactly as written. They can’t think creatively or adapt to unexpected situations. Human testers bring intuition, experience, and critical thinking to the testing process.
Context understanding matters immensely. A manual tester knows your business processes and can spot when something doesn’t align with how your company actually operates, even if it technically “works” according to specifications.
Edge cases and unusual scenarios often emerge during manual testing sessions. Testers might try combinations of actions that weren’t anticipated during test script creation, revealing potential problems before users encounter them.
Visual and Design Testing
Automated tools struggle with visual verification. Is the logo displayed correctly? Does the layout look good on different screen sizes? Are colors rendering properly? Manual testing remains essential for these visual quality checks.
Accessibility testing for users with disabilities requires human judgment. While some automated tools can check basic accessibility compliance, understanding the actual experience of users with different abilities requires manual evaluation.
Brand consistency across different Salesforce screens and components is another area where human eyes are irreplaceable. Automated tests can verify functionality, but humans ensure everything looks and feels cohesive.
Complex Business Logic Validation
Some business processes are so complex and variable that writing automated tests for every scenario becomes impractical. Manual testing provides flexibility to validate these intricate workflows without the overhead of maintaining hundreds of test scripts.
| Testing Type | Best Suited For | Manual or Automated |
|---|---|---|
| Regression Testing | Repeated checks of existing functionality | Automated |
| Exploratory Testing | Discovering new issues | Manual |
| User Acceptance | Business process validation | Manual |
| API Testing | Integration verification | Automated |
| Usability Testing | User experience evaluation | Manual |
| Load Testing | Performance under stress | Automated |
This comparison shows how manual and automated testing complement each other rather than compete.
New Features and Ad-Hoc Testing
When your team develops a brand new Salesforce feature, manual testing often happens first. Testers explore the feature, understand its nuances, and provide feedback before automated test scripts are even written.
Ad-hoc testing for urgent issues or last-minute changes requires the flexibility that only manual testing provides. When something needs verification immediately, you can’t wait for test scripts to be written and debugged.
The Changing Role of Manual Testers
Manual testers in 2025 aren’t doing the same repetitive work they did years ago. Today’s manual testers are strategic thinkers who focus on high-value activities that automated testing can’t adequately cover.
Critical thinking skills have become more important than ever. Modern manual testers need to understand when to dig deeper, what questions to ask, and how to communicate findings effectively to developers and business stakeholders.
Many manual testers now work alongside automation engineers, identifying which test cases should be automated and which require continued manual attention. This collaboration ensures testing resources are used most efficiently.
Integration with Modern Development
Agile and DevOps methodologies haven’t eliminated manual testing – they’ve transformed it. Manual testers participate in sprint planning, provide rapid feedback during development, and ensure quality throughout the entire software lifecycle.
Similar to how established companies like those featured on business north west balance traditional business practices with modern innovations, successful Salesforce testing strategies blend manual expertise with automated efficiency.
Security and Compliance Testing
Security testing often requires manual intervention. While automated tools can scan for common vulnerabilities, human security testers understand the broader context and can think like attackers to find weaknesses.
Compliance verification for industry-specific regulations frequently needs manual review. Ensuring your Salesforce implementation meets HIPAA, GDPR, or financial services regulations requires human judgment and documentation that goes beyond what automated tests provide.
User Acceptance Testing Remains Manual
User acceptance testing (UAT) continues to be primarily manual because it involves actual end users verifying that the system meets their needs. These users aren’t running automated scripts – they’re performing real work tasks and providing feedback.
Stakeholder sign-off on new features or major changes requires manual demonstration and verification. Business leaders need to see and interact with changes before approving them for production release.
The Economics of Testing Choices
Cost considerations influence whether testing should be manual or automated. For tests that run once or twice, manual execution is usually more cost-effective than developing and maintaining automation scripts.
Return on investment calculations favor automation for frequently repeated tests but support manual testing for exploratory work and one-time verifications. Smart testing strategies optimize this balance.
Training and Skill Development
Manual testing provides an excellent entry point for people starting careers in quality assurance. They learn about the application, business processes, and testing principles before moving into more specialized roles.
Even experienced automation engineers benefit from regular manual testing sessions. This hands-on interaction with the application keeps them connected to user needs and helps them write better automated tests.
When Automation Isn’t Practical
Some testing scenarios resist automation due to technical limitations or rapidly changing requirements. Rather than forcing automation in these cases, manual testing provides a practical alternative.
Third-party component testing sometimes requires manual verification, especially when those components lack automation-friendly interfaces or documentation.
The Future of Manual Testing
Is Manual Salesforce Testing Still Relevant in 2025? Absolutely, and it will remain relevant for the foreseeable future. While the balance between manual and automated testing continues shifting toward automation, the human element in testing remains irreplaceable for certain crucial activities.
Future trends suggest manual testing will become even more specialized and strategic. Testers will focus increasingly on exploratory testing, usability evaluation, and complex scenario validation while automation handles routine verification tasks.
Building a Balanced Testing Strategy
The question isn’t whether to choose manual or automated testing – it’s how to combine both approaches effectively. Successful Salesforce testing strategies in 2025 leverage automation for efficiency while preserving manual testing for insight and flexibility.
Your testing strategy should evolve with your organization’s needs. As new features are added and your Salesforce implementation grows, regularly reassess which tests should be automated and which benefit from continued manual attention.
Collaboration Between Manual and Automated Testing
Modern testing teams work collaboratively, with manual testers and automation engineers supporting each other. Manual testers identify test cases suitable for automation, while automation engineers free up manual testers to focus on more valuable exploratory and analytical work.
This collaboration extends to developers and business analysts. When everyone understands the value of both manual and automated testing, quality improves across the entire Salesforce implementation.
Conclusion
Manual Salesforce testing hasn’t become obsolete – it has evolved. In 2025, manual testing focuses on areas where human judgment, creativity, and intuition add the most value. While automation handles repetitive verification tasks efficiently, manual testing provides the critical thinking, user perspective, and exploratory capabilities that no automated tool can replicate. The most successful organizations recognize that manual and automated testing aren’t competing approaches but complementary strategies that together ensure Salesforce quality, reliability, and user satisfaction. Rather than asking if manual testing is still relevant, the better question is how to best leverage both manual and automated testing to achieve your quality goals.