Pro-Tip: Don't forget - You are testers
Hopefully a brief one:
While much automated testing gets its biggest ROI from being regression tests, there is an aspect of the process of test automation that I think gets missed sometimes. Frequently, people tasked with automating tests for an application get focused on getting the tests to run, making sure that you cover all contingencies, etc. And this is laudable stuff. But in the process don't forget:
You are a tester.
If it doesn't make sense, report it.
If the behavior doesn't seem right, report it.
If the application is clunky and unweildy and not user friendly, report it.
Basically, don't forget that, as you're digging in and trying to get that drop down list to click or figure out how to map that obscure component, you are a tester and one of the first lines of defense of the application before the end user sees it. Too many times I've seen folks write a bit of automation to make the test run well when, in fact, what they were doing is masking something in automation code that really is a bug. It doesn't do you any good to automate a bad application implementation.