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22 Feb 2023
How a Redefined QA Approach Can Add Value to Your Business
Written by Vrushali Majithia
A powerful quality assurance (QA) strategy is essential to software delivery as it prepares your product for an efficient release. While you may already have a QA strategy in place, it is important to assess it regularly.
In this blog, we will attempt to share our experience and learnings of how, redefining the Quality Assurance process has helped us add value to, not only the application, but the business, and the end user as well!.
Ways to Add Value to The Business Using a Refined QA Approach
A good QA approach always begins with building strong groundwork before designing and executing test scenarios/test cases to understand certain aspects of the project.
Here are some keys to building a solid groundwork:
1. Understanding the Goal Behind Developing the App
The importance of clearly understanding goals and objectives in software testing is immense. It is the first thing that helps get across the value of the QA strategies to clients.
Gaining this kind of visibility into the bigger picture gives a better perspective on the application under test. It helps define test scenarios and test cases in a more effective manner.
2. Consider the Technology Stack and Tools Which Will Be Used in The Project
Once a QA process is in place, you need to consider the different types of testing techniques and approaches that exist and what tools testers use. Various tools are available in the market, and choosing the right tools ensures that your software is tested comprehensively without missing any requirements.
It is always a good idea to be familiar with the latest and most popular tools, such as Jira, Selenium, and BrowserStack. Among these tools, Selenium is one of the most popular testing tools used for Automation Testing and it does not require advanced scripting knowledge and is quite user-friendly for starters.
Likewise, BrowserStack is another great tool that enables testers to test their apps across different devices, browsers, and operating systems
JIRA is a powerful work management tool that helps teams plan, assign, track, report, and manage their work.
3. Consider End User’s Expectations
Another important aspect here is to make requisite efforts to understand the expectations of the end users. Make sure to build a robust understanding of the user persona, the main characteristics of the typical user, app user profiles, frequency of use, how the application will help them, and so on.
Some of the things that can help you here include
- Thoroughly analysing your potential users’ needs,
- Doing thorough research on competitors early on,
- Clearly defining the issue or problem your app is going to solve for the people installing it, and
- Prioritizing aspects such as application performance and ease of use.
4. Consider the Complexity of The Project
In any software development process, QA testing takes a unique and complex position where testers are completely responsible for ensuring that the code developed in a project is bug-free and works in full alignment with the technical and general requirements of the business.
This means that QA needs to have a comprehensive understanding of each module of the project and how they can accomplish the same.
In addition, they should have enough clarity on things that can go wrong and how they can leverage technical/digital innovations so that they are aware of any new threats/bugs to test for.
5. Release Procedures Being Followed in The Project
Lastly, testers need to be fully aware of the release and deployment process.
If the release procedures aren’t followed in the project, or the deployment team encounters challenges or issues in deploying the code properly, it can lead to various bugs that may be tied to the release environment or deployment process.
Best Practices to Improve the QA Process
Here are some of the best practices you can follow to ensure that the above framework is in place.
1. Set up A Secure Testing Environment
A QA should always make sure that they have all the necessary inputs/testing environment setup ready before executing the test cases.
E.g., Access to the application, permission to edit/ delete queries, etc.
Having a dedicated environment for testing helps to isolate the code and get accurate feedback about the quality of application.
2. Work in Close Collaboration with The Development Team
Working closely with development team will help to troubleshoot and fix the errors. However, all the requirements should be confirmed by BA/PM or product owner in case of any queries or ambiguity.
3. Continuously Update the Test Suite
An effort should be made to review and update the test suite at regular intervals. In case you discover corner cases, scenarios those were earlier not envisioned, or in case underlying application behaviour changes, the updated test suite will ensure that the application performs at its best.
4. Follow Agile Processes
Adopting agile methodologies makes a lot of sense in software development since it prioritizes smaller targets to be handled in smaller increments with greater speed.
Integrating QA processes in Agile environment helps to ensure that the testing process is continuously enhanced, and the product meets the required standards of quality.
5. Write Good Test Cases
Write your test cases in the requirement analysis and design phase itself. This way you can ensure that all the requirements are testable.
While Writing Test Cases, you must write test cases for intended functionality first i.e. for valid conditions according to requirements. Then write test cases for invalid conditions. This will cover the expected as well as unexpected behaviour of the application under test.
6. Look Beyond Requirement Testing
Another best practice is to test the application for what it is not supposed to do.
This will help in preventing bugs, reducing development costs and improve performance of application.
7. Accurate Bug Reporting
Finally, make sure to write a clear, descriptive, and unambiguous bug report. Effective Bug reporting helps to avoid miscommunication or confusion with the development team.
Conclusion
When it comes to software development, a good QA focuses not only on the app testing aspect but takes a holistic approach to ensure true quality assurance. They look at every possible area that defines the software quality, including its usability and overall customer experience.
When multiplying value with a redefined QA approach, a qualified QA engineer remains organized, adjusts priorities, and maintains great attention to detail. They work closely with the product team to mutually release quality features and thoroughly document issues to minimize the time it takes a developer to resolve them.
Overall, multiplying business value with a structured QA approach is the primary responsibility of a good QA. They must act as a partner to the software developer with the goal of having the most smooth and seamless release possible.
Leveraging this philosophy to our QA endeavours has not only helped us ensure sustained quality but is also enabling us to deliver value throughout the software product ecosystem.