The importance of testing has never been emphasized as much as it is now. By testing, of course, we mean the kind that occurs as part of the quality assurance (QA) process. Vital industries such as healthcare, security and manufacturing depend on reliable and secure software to provide much-needed services and for development teams to deliver, (…)
The importance of testing has never been emphasized as much as it is now. By testing, of course, we mean the kind that occurs as part of the Quality Assurance (QA) process. Vital industries such as healthcare, security and manufacturing depend on reliable and secure software to provide much-needed services, and for development teams to deliver results, they must drive rigorous action. Quality control testing .
If you're new to the inner workings of the software development process, you're probably wondering what exactly QA testing involves and the right and wrong ways to do it. That's why we've put together a list of do's and don'ts to drive it in your organization.
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1. Communicate
The quality control process should never be a one-person operation. The QA team itself likely involves multiple participants, and they must work closely with other instrumental personnel, particularly the software developers and the project manager. This involves extensive communication.
First, everyone must understand the strategies and objectives of the software development cycle, as well as the roles each person plays. It is important to remember that although there are specialists designated for quality control, quality is ultimately everyone's concern and responsibility. Each team member must be informed of what they are expected to contribute and remain in close contact with other team members at all times.
Additionally, QA specialists must take great care to make the reporting and documentation process collaborative, ensuring that software developers know what they need to solve and why. Developers, in turn, must keep QA specialists informed about their progress and any problems they encounter along the way.
2. Prioritize
While you should test all aspects of your product to evaluate its functionality, performance, usability, and other factors, keep in mind that some tests overlap in terms of what they evaluate. You don't need to spend a lot of time testing simple features. In fact, if you do this, you risk ignoring key features.
It's important to prioritize when it comes to your quality control strategy, ensuring you're paying the most attention to critical features that influence the overall quality of your product.
3. Start the quality control process from the beginning
In many cases, the quality control process predominantly occurs at the end of the software development cycle. But as we've already discussed, collaboration is key to successful delivery — and part of that involves creating a solid quality control strategy to implement throughout the project.
The QA team and development team must work together to hone a strategy that involves quality assessment at the beginning and throughout the process. This will reduce development delays and speed up your product's final release timeline as you can resolve defects sooner rather than later.
4. Keep testing
Quality control testing can never be one-size-fits-all. It is virtually impossible to detect all possible defects before your product's initial release, and you will need to constantly improve and improve it with each new release. As new iterations require additional requirements and features, more and more testing will be essential.
Of course, you'll also want to squash as many bugs as possible with each new release. Testing allows you to continually detect defects and have developers resolve them to make your product even better.
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1. Don't automate just to automate
Automation should speed up and improve your quality control process, not make it even more complicated. Think carefully about which tests can be automated. As a general rule, repetitive tests that can be scheduled by a human QA expert once, but need to be run reasonably frequently, will be the ones you should automate.
Think about what you are investing in automation and what it will deliver. In other words, automation must add some type of value to your product. Additionally, you must ensure that the tests you script for automation are solid.
2. Don't forget about manual testing
Likewise, your QA strategy should incorporate manual testing. Of course, even automated tests require you to write and run the evaluation manually initially. But even for other scenarios, you can opt for manual testing over the automated alternative. Engaging with a manual test development company can provide you with the knowledge and accuracy needed for these tasks.
For example, if you are testing a particularly complex feature, you will probably need to test manually. Also, if you're writing a test that you won't use very often, there's no point in automating it. Manual test development services can help ensure that these less frequent but critical tests are executed effectively.
3. Don't just let software developers do your QA testing
Some companies believe that software developers can perform QA testing, so they accept this as it means they won't have to hire QA analysts. This is a big mistake.
Software developers will do some testing such as unit testing while building the product, but they should not be responsible for the entire QA process. Each type of profession requires a specific and specialized skill set, and placing quality assurance in the hands of developers who are not experts in this area can put your product at risk. As an added bonus, using QA testers will give you a fresh look at your product.
4. Don't stop documenting and reporting
No matter how small or insignificant a defect may seem, you should always document and report it. This will keep it from falling through the cracks and help you ensure it doesn't get overlooked for another round of testing.
It's a good idea to have a centralized place for documentation, which will streamline the entire quality control process. Tracking issues in multiple locations and using many different tools can make things confusing for both QA specialists and developers. This way, developers know where to look and analysts can confirm that they fulfilled their request.
These dos and don'ts will help you define your quality control strategy, but remember to continually evaluate and reevaluate your procedures and develop best practices unique to your team and organization. It's a good idea to update your process as you learn more and also gain input from your team.
