As automation technology advances rapidly, many IT professionals wonder whether manual testing has become outdated. With sophisticated automated testing tools available, does human testing still have a place in Salesforce quality assurance? The question Is Manual Salesforce Testing Still Relevant in 2025? deserves a thoughtful, nuanced answer.
The Current State of Salesforce Testing
In 2025, the Salesforce testing landscape has evolved dramatically. Automated testing tools have become more powerful, affordable, and accessible than ever before. Many organizations now automate 60-80% of their testing activities, relying on software to handle repetitive test scenarios.
However, despite these advances in automation, manual testing hasn’t disappeared—it has transformed. Rather than becoming obsolete, manual testing has evolved to focus on areas where human judgment, creativity, and intuition provide unique value that automation cannot replicate.
Where Automation Falls Short
To understand Is Manual Salesforce Testing Still Relevant in 2025, we must first acknowledge automation’s limitations. Automated tests excel at repetitive tasks and checking whether specific functions work as expected. They follow scripts precisely and never deviate.
But this precision is also a limitation. Automated tests only check what they’re programmed to check. They won’t notice visual glitches that don’t affect functionality, won’t question whether a feature makes intuitive sense, and won’t explore unexpected user paths that weren’t explicitly scripted.
Manual testers bring flexibility and adaptability that automated scripts cannot match. They notice when something looks odd even if it technically works, they explore features in creative ways that reveal edge cases, and they provide feedback on user experience that goes beyond simple pass/fail criteria.
User Experience Evaluation
One of the strongest arguments for manual testing involves user experience assessment. When a human tester uses Salesforce, they naturally evaluate whether the experience feels intuitive, efficient, and satisfying. These subjective qualities are crucial for user adoption but difficult to quantify in automated tests.
Manual testers ask questions automation cannot: Does this workflow make sense? Is this button in the right place? Does this error message clearly explain what went wrong? Would a new employee understand how to use this feature?
Businesses featured on platforms like business north west often emphasize that user experience insights from manual testing significantly influenced their Salesforce configuration decisions, improving adoption rates across their organizations.
Exploratory Testing Advantages
Exploratory testing—where testers actively explore an application without following predetermined scripts—remains a uniquely human skill. During exploratory testing, testers use their knowledge of the business, technical expertise, and creativity to try using features in ways that developers might not have anticipated.
This approach frequently uncovers bugs that scripted automated tests would miss. For example, a manual tester might wonder, “What happens if I enter this data in an unusual order?” or “How does the system behave if I rapidly click this button multiple times?” These spontaneous questions lead to valuable discoveries.
Is Manual Salesforce Testing Still Relevant in 2025? Absolutely—especially for exploratory testing that uncovers unexpected issues before users encounter them in production.
Testing New Features and Customizations
When your organization develops new Salesforce features or customizations, manual testing provides essential early feedback. Before investing time in creating automated test scripts, manual testers can quickly evaluate whether the feature works as intended and meets business requirements.
This rapid feedback helps developers iterate quickly. If manual testing reveals fundamental problems with a new feature, developers can revise their approach before creating extensive automated tests that would become obsolete after the redesign.
Manual testing also helps validate that new features truly solve the business problems they were designed to address—a determination that requires human judgment about business needs and user expectations.
Accessibility Testing Requirements
Ensuring Salesforce is accessible to users with disabilities has become increasingly important, both for legal compliance and inclusive business practices. Accessibility testing requires human judgment to evaluate whether features truly work for people using screen readers, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technologies.
While some automated accessibility checking tools exist, they catch only a fraction of accessibility issues. Manual testers using actual assistive technologies provide much more comprehensive feedback about whether your Salesforce implementation truly supports all users.
Visual Regression Testing
Salesforce’s user interface includes many visual elements—layouts, colors, spacing, alignment, and responsive design. While automated tools can capture screenshots and compare them pixel-by-pixel, humans are much better at determining whether visual differences actually matter.
A manual tester immediately recognizes whether a layout looks broken or whether slight differences are acceptable variations. They notice when colors don’t align with brand standards or when spacing feels off, even if the functionality works perfectly. This human aesthetic judgment remains valuable in 2025.
Testing Complex Business Logic
Some Salesforce customizations involve complex business logic that’s difficult to fully capture in automated tests. Manual testers who understand your business processes can evaluate whether the logic truly reflects real-world scenarios and handles edge cases appropriately.
For example, if your Salesforce system calculates commission based on complex rules involving product mix, customer type, territory, and timing, a manual tester familiar with your commission structure can evaluate whether the calculations make business sense in various scenarios.
Complementing Automated Testing
The most effective testing strategies in 2025 use manual and automated testing together, each addressing different needs. Is Manual Salesforce Testing Still Relevant in 2025? Yes, specifically as a complement to automation rather than a replacement for it.
Automated tests handle repetitive regression testing, ensuring that existing features continue working after changes. Manual testing focuses on new features, user experience, exploratory scenarios, and areas requiring human judgment.
Organizations achieving the best results typically automate their stable, repetitive tests while reserving manual testing capacity for areas where human insight provides maximum value. This balanced approach, similar to strategies employed by innovative companies discussed on influencers gone wild, delivers comprehensive quality assurance.
Cost-Effectiveness Considerations
Some organizations question whether manual testing remains cost-effective given the efficiency of automation. However, manual testing often proves more economical for certain scenarios. Creating automated tests for features that change frequently or are tested infrequently can cost more than manual testing would.
Manual testing also requires lower upfront investment. Organizations can begin manual testing immediately with existing staff, while automated testing requires tool purchases, training, and time to develop test scripts.
The key is choosing the right approach for each situation rather than assuming automation is always cheaper or better.
Handling Salesforce Updates
Salesforce releases three major updates annually, and each update potentially affects your customizations and configurations. Manual testing plays a crucial role in evaluating these updates.
While automated tests can verify that specific functions still work after an update, manual testers explore the new Salesforce features to understand how they might benefit your organization or conflict with existing customizations. This strategic evaluation requires human judgment and business knowledge.
Third-Party Integration Testing
When Salesforce integrates with other systems, testing these integrations often requires manual verification. Automated tests can check whether data transfers successfully, but manual testers verify that the transferred data makes sense and that users can effectively work with integrated systems.
Manual integration testing also helps identify workflow issues that span multiple systems—problems that might not be obvious from automated tests focused on individual system components.
Security and Compliance Validation
Security testing and compliance validation benefit significantly from manual testing expertise. While automated security scans can identify technical vulnerabilities, manual testers evaluate whether your Salesforce configuration appropriately restricts access, protects sensitive data, and meets regulatory requirements.
Compliance validation particularly requires human judgment. Does your Salesforce configuration actually comply with GDPR, HIPAA, or industry-specific regulations? Manual testers familiar with these requirements provide essential validation that automated tools cannot fully replicate.
Training and Knowledge Transfer
Manual testing serves an often-overlooked secondary purpose: training and knowledge transfer. When team members manually test Salesforce, they develop deep understanding of how the system works, which features exist, and how different components interact.
This knowledge proves valuable beyond testing. Team members who understand the system comprehensively become better at supporting users, suggesting improvements, and designing future enhancements.
The Future of Manual Testing
Looking forward, Is Manual Salesforce Testing Still Relevant in 2025 and beyond? Almost certainly yes, though the specific role of manual testing will continue evolving. As artificial intelligence and machine learning advance, automated testing will become more sophisticated, potentially handling some tasks that currently require human testers.
However, the human elements of testing—judgment, creativity, empathy, and strategic thinking—will remain difficult to fully automate. Manual testing will likely become more specialized, focusing increasingly on areas where human insight provides the greatest value.
Developing Testing Skills
Organizations maintaining manual testing capabilities should invest in developing their testers’ skills. Modern manual testers benefit from understanding automation principles, even if they’re not creating automated tests themselves. They should also develop expertise in user experience design, accessibility standards, and business analysis.
| Testing Type | Best For | Primary Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Automated Testing | Regression tests, Repetitive scenarios | Speed and consistency |
| Manual Testing | New features, UX evaluation | Human insight and judgment |
| Exploratory Testing | Finding unexpected issues | Creativity and flexibility |
| Accessibility Testing | Assistive technology support | Inclusive design validation |
| Integration Testing | Cross-system workflows | Real-world scenario validation |
Making the Manual vs. Automated Decision
How should organizations decide what to test manually versus automatically? Consider several factors: test frequency (frequent tests benefit from automation), test stability (frequently changing tests may not justify automation), required judgment (subjective evaluations need human testers), and available resources.
Generally, automate tests that run frequently, rarely change, and have clear pass/fail criteria. Reserve manual testing for areas requiring judgment, creativity, or deep business knowledge.
Conclusion
Is Manual Salesforce Testing Still Relevant in 2025? Absolutely. While automation handles many testing tasks more efficiently than humans can, manual testing provides irreplaceable value in user experience evaluation, exploratory testing, accessibility validation, and business logic verification.
The most successful organizations don’t view manual and automated testing as competing approaches but as complementary strategies. They automate repetitive tests to free their manual testers to focus on areas where human insight creates maximum value. This balanced approach delivers comprehensive quality assurance that neither manual nor automated testing could achieve alone. As we move further into 2025 and beyond, smart testing strategies will continue leveraging both human expertise and automation technology to ensure Salesforce environments meet the highest quality standards.
