Today, the importance of a dedicated quality assurance tester often gets overlooked by project managers and clients alike, seeing them as an option rather than a requirement. Quality assurance testing plays a very crucial role in the process of software development. It saves money and time by spotting bugs and errors early in the software development life-cycle.
Software that is newly developed may have inconsistencies, redundancies, and flaws; therefore, proper QA testing is mandatory. The testing ensures that the software product a company is developing meets all requirements, truly provides value to end users and has a long lifespan.
Role of a Quality Assurance Tester
QA testers communicate and build relationships with stakeholders, clients, database administrators, project managers, and developers. They help connect everything together and ensure smooth product development.
Quality assurance testers perform tuning, testing, and debugging. They use tools to find the flaws and errors and create a plan for manual testing, working very closely with the development and product teams. They can work independently or as part of a team.
We wrote about improving communication between QA testers and the development team in an Agile setting in last week’s article.
Skills of a Quality Assurance Tester
- They are experts in verbal and written communication, finding solutions to complex issues, logic and reasoning, documentation and time management.
- They have a good experience in software development and quality assurance.
- They are aware of the ongoing technological trends and recent advancements.
- They have an excellent knowledge of QA processes, tools, and methodologies.
Technical Skills of a Quality Assurance Tester
- Create methods and procedures to identify the quality of a product
- Determine enhancement areas
- Perform risk analysis
- Understand technical and business objectives
- Review user interface for consistency
- Research new testing processes and technologies
Common misconceptions and why they are wrong
Here are two common misconceptions that we come across, and people actually believe in:
1. The developer should deliver error-free work
2. The software testing should be done solely by developers
Both of these notions are absolutely wrong.
Proficient developers can create code with no or little error. However, they cannot visualize every user scenario. The software testers, on the other hand, hold a strong expertise in finding every possible user scenario to test every function satisfactorily. Developers interpret some requirements and functions in a different way than the client. That’s why it is essential to have a quality assurance tester who can check if everything is functioning as required.
QA testing takes a lot of time to complete, and software developers have to devote a huge amount of time to test a software product properly. Individuals who are experienced in software testing can complete the testing process fast. A quality assurance tester, who possesses exceptional testing skills, can identify the errors and bugs with ease. Moreover, software testers charge less than software developers for their service.
Delivery of a raw software product can upset the client. If they want to avoid this, companies and organizations absolutely need to view software testing as an essential element of the software development life-cycle. These people should be deeply involved in every stage of the development process.
To truly understand what is wrong with these misguided ideas, let’s see how they would look in some traditional industries:
Example #1 – Imagine the auto production industry without dedicated quality assurance testers. The automotive industry simply could not work without QA because any resulting functional errors can cause serious injuries to customers. Assembly workers also cannot perform their task flawlessly and assure the quality of the product simultaneously.
Example #2 – Articles that are published in a newspaper also go through many rounds of reviews first. If these articles were published without reviewing and editing, they would be full of grammatical errors, typos, or unreliable information. It is not easy for authors to find their own mistakes in writing. They work to the best of their knowledge.
It works the same way in software development. To ensure quality in the work process and the product, the role of a quality assurance tester is vital in the software product development life-cycle.
FAQ:
Why is a quality assurance tester indispensable in software development?
A quality assurance tester uncovers defects early, validates requirements, covers real user scenarios, and thereby saves time and money. They ensure the product delivers real value to end users and has a long lifespan.
What skills and responsibilities are part of a quality assurance tester’s role?
Key skills: strong verbal and written communication, logical reasoning, documentation, and time management. Responsibilities: developing testing methods, identifying areas for improvement, performing risk analysis, understanding business and technical goals, reviewing UI consistency, and researching new testing processes and technologies; as well as tuning/optimization, testing, and debugging in close collaboration with the development and product teams.
How does developer testing differ from a quality assurance tester’s work?
Developers primarily check the code they wrote, whereas a quality assurance tester independently validates requirements, covers complete user scenarios, applies a risk-based approach, and ensures UI consistency. This reduces misunderstandings between customer requirements and the developers’ interpretation.
If you would like to find out more about ways to integrate QA testing into your software development life-cycle more efficiently, feel free to ask your questions at [email protected], or ask for a free consultation through our website.
