PATTERN PAGE OBJECT MODEL FOR MODULAR TEST AUTOMATION ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

Modern web applications evolve through short development cycles and frequent interface redesigns, which often make UI test suites fragile because scenarios depend directly on page structure, selectors, timing, and navigation logic. The paper examines the Page Object Model (POM) as an architectural foundation for modular test automation rather than a technique for storing locators. The study combines analysis of recent empirical literature on GUI test maintenance with a case illustration based on a Playwright and TypeScript framework. POM is compared with the Screenplay pattern and Component Object approach by separation of concerns, abstraction granularity, readability, reuse, scalability, and implementation complexity. The proposed interpretation distinguishes test scenarios, page interfaces, reusable component objects, fixtures, services, data factories, and utilities as separate architectural layers, formalising change propagation, cohesion, reuse, and maintenance cost through six numbered indicators. Attention is paid to TypeScript contracts, dependency injection, Playwright locators, fixtures, and isolated browser contexts as means of maintaining explicit dependencies and predictable module boundaries. A qualitative maintainability model, consistent with ISO/IEC 25010, explains how centralising interface knowledge reduces change propagation. The illustration shows page objects exposing business operations while component objects encapsulate recurring fragments such as navigation panels, modals, and notifications. POM improves maintainability only when responsibilities are limited to interface interaction and state representation; oversized classes, assertion-heavy methods, deep inheritance, and uncontrolled cross-page dependencies turn POM into a source of coupling. A modular POM implementation should be treated as an adaptable architectural layer whose effectiveness depends on cohesion, explicit contracts, composition, and controlled abstraction.