Can you envision launching a market-failure product? The most important reason for failure is a product that has not undergone extensive testing or quality assurance. This can occur for a variety of reasons, including a shortage of time to test, projects that are already behind schedule, tests that are very superficial, and failure to adhere to quality standards. All of this points to an inaccuracy in the deliverable we provide to our consumers. As a result, we can confidently assert that all aspects of the SDLC, including the QA process, are equally important.
When a product starts to gain interest, rigorous testing is essential. As more users use a website or app, any bugs that make it into production become more apparent, and end-users are more inclined to leave unfavourable feedback. This is the time for stakeholders to start putting together a quality assurance team. It usually begins with the appointment of a senior quality assurance specialist and the establishment of a quality assurance team.
Software testing and quality assurance are much more than just identifying bugs. The aim of the QA and testing team is to assist web developers in delivering high-quality products within the anticipated timeline by finding any defects that may obstruct the software’s proper implementation or even negatively impact the user experience.
1. What is the Quality Assurance Process?
Quality Assurance (QA) is a comprehensive approach to ensuring the highest level of product and service quality. A strong quality assurance team investigates the requirements for designing, developing, and manufacturing dependable products, boosting customer confidence, organization credibility, and the ability to compete in a competitive market.
2. Why Should Quality Assurance Processes Be Incorporated?
Software testing quality assurance serves to guarantee that the product is developed successfully and without too many repetitions. An effective QA process accurately describes requirements, provides testers with a thorough knowledge of the functionalities, and shows them how to proceed.
It’s important to remember that testing should not come after development, but rather should complement it. Testing should, preferably, run simultaneously with development — that is, test code as soon as it is pushed to the repository, instead of allowing for the complete website or app to come together. In other words, the QA process must be carried out in an Agile manner.
3. Phases of QA Processes
Below, we have outlined the stages of the QA processes.
3.1 Requirements Analysis
Fixing a bug discovered during testing is more expensive than just eliminating them during the requirements design phase. QA specialists should be engaged in the assessment and development of both functional and non-functional software requirements. Consistent, thorough, verifiable, and clearly indicated requirements must be provided to QAs. This supports the QA team in creating tests that are relevant to the software getting tested.
3.2 Plan and Prepare for the Tests.
The gathered information during the requirements analysis step is utilized to plan the tests that will be required. The product testing strategy, the scope of testing, the cost management plan, and timeframes should all be included in the test plan. It should also specify the types and degrees of testing that are necessary, as well as the procedures and tools for monitoring issues, as well as assign resources and duties to testers.
3.3 Create and Design the Tests
QA teams must now create test cases and procedures that cover all of the software requirements. Criteria, data, and the actions required to validate each functionality must all be included in each test case. Every test must additionally include the expected test result so that testers can contrast actual results to the expected results.
It is suggested that QAs begin with some exploratory testing to become comfortable with the software. This would aid in the development of relevant test cases. This is the step for developing automation testing QA scenarios if an automation approach has been set in the test scope.
This is also the stage where the staging environment is being prepared for implementation. In terms of hardware, software, and network configurations, this environment should strongly match the production environment. Other features, such as databases and system settings, should be carefully replicated.
3.4 Run Tests and Report Bugs
Developers run unit tests at the start of the testing process. The QA team then executes API and user interface testing. Manual testing is carried out according to test cases that have been previously defined. A defect tracking system is used to track all problems found. Test automation experts can also run test scripts and create reports using an automated test framework like Selenium, Cypress, or Appium.
3.5 Execute Regression Tests
After finding, submitting, and fixing defects, QAs retested the functions to make sure they didn’t miss anything. They run regression tests to ensure that the fixes haven’t broken any existing features. Regression tests will be performed by QA engineers to validate that everything is working properly. and that nothing has changed because of the new adjustments. This is something you should do every time you add a new feature.
The primary purpose of a regression test is to identify product problems. The monitoring of defects and errors for the project’s development by the testing team and the project development team is one of the most significant components of the testing operations.
The quality assurance techniques are crucial because they reveal areas where development and testing could be improved. This indicates that the expected result of the test is superior to what is anticipated.
As the number of times a regression test suite execution increases, full regression testing becomes time-consuming in Agile projects. To improve the regression testing process, test teams can blend partial and full regression testing, prioritize regression testing operations depending on failure risk levels, and automate a regression test suite.
3.6 Perform Release Tests
The QA team needs to identify the functionalities that are implicated by these changes after developers deliver a release notification that contains a list of already implemented features, fixed bugs, reoccurring issues, and limits. The team must next create redesigned test suites that cover the new build’s scope.
Smoke tests are also required by the QA team to guarantee that each build is stable. If the test passes, the test suites are modified, and a report is created.
4. Develop a Quality Assurance process for Agile Environments.
To integrate the QA process with Agile development concepts, use a few basic methods:
4.1 Make QA more focused on outcomes.
Shorter goals and targets are prioritized in agile development approaches, so they may be managed in smaller increments at a faster pace. To fit within this strategy, QA processes must be speedier, more flexible, and more focused on specific goals.
4.2 Make transparency a top priority.
Transparency is beneficial to any development approach, but it is particularly important for Agile success. Testers must understand exactly what the product is supposed to perform, which features to test in each cycle, and what “excellent results” are. This clarity allows teams to work more effectively, test faster, and produce solutions on time.
4.3 Make quality assurance a continuous process.
Testing should not be put off until the end of the development phase. As previously stated, tests must be run after each code commit. It must occur at the end of each sprint in a way that allows teams to spot problems early on.
4.4 Utilize DevOps
DevOps streamlines the build, testing, deployment, and development of software by applying Agile methods to QA and Ops teams. It eliminates disagreements between development and quality assurance teams, among other benefits:
- Developers have more control over the production environment.
- Increases the number of deployments
- Reduces the number of new software releases that fail.
- Reduces the time it takes to recuperate.
- Increases the speed and quality of software that is released.
- Obtains a shorter time to market
5. What are the Tools Needed for QA?
The following are a few tools that support the smooth operation of QA processes:
- Google Docs: Can be used to store project material such as test plans, checklists, and test data while allowing for easy sharing between individuals and teams.
- Jira: Jira is a project management tool that may be used to track bugs, create task tickets, and allocate work to specific people.
- Zeplin: Allows designers to share and receive design documentation.
- Selenium: Selenium is a web testing framework that automates the process of testing websites.
- Cypress: Cypress is a great tool for automating website testing.
- Appium: Appium is a tool for automating app testing.
6. CONCLUSION
We’ve highlighted all of the recommended practices for aligning a setup for QA processes. We need a strategic plan to make the bug fixes a success because they are a time-consuming process. We are attempting to accomplish desired testing results with the assistance of the development team and other team members. To match the quality code with the test plan, the QA teams must go through this sophisticated process. Setting this up for your QA staff will allow you to audit and guarantee that all errors are dealt with immediately.
This article aims to provide clarity by describing the QA process so that QA managers may rapidly establish their teams. They can also set their teams up for optimal efficiency, rapid completion of the project, and apparent success.
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