There’s much more to software testing than just pausing design before final delivery. In fact, it is a vital part of ensuring your product meets customer requirements and today’s security, performance, and reliability standards.
But if the process is not properly structured and managed, testing can be stressful and inefficient, delaying the delivery of your product and potentially affecting the quality of your release.
That’s why it is so important to have a software quality assurance process that is not only consistent, but also integrates the latest best practices with the industry’s leading test management tools.
Not sure how your organization’s software quality assurance process measures up? Here is why your team should invest the time and effort into improving testing effectiveness.
The Value of a Strong Software Quality Assurance Process
Is your team going through the motions when executing the software quality assurance process? Is your organization doing what it has always done without evolving or enhancing its approach or testing tools?
Then it is likely that your team is missing out on some—if not many—of the benefits of conducting software testing that integrates today’s best practices and industry-leading platforms.
For example, without a strong software quality assurance process, your organization could be:
- Missing key defects that cause your software to not reach your customers' expectations.
- Damaging your company's reputation for quality design.
- Missing out on opportunities to build trust in your brand.
- Experiencing a quality assurance process that is inefficient and time-consuming.
- Spending money and resources on conducting costly rework and redesign later in the development process or post-launch.
Building quality software that resonates with customers and hits their design marks can not only build customer loyalty, but also help your team feel a sense of ownership over your products.
Are These Mistakes in the Software Quality Assurance Process Familiar?
Although no software quality assurance process is perfect, not all missing elements or struggles are created equal.
Here are some of the more common—and impactful—mistakes that could be in your software quality assurance process:
Not Effectively Translating Requirements to Test Cases
Software testing, like software design, should be purposeful.
As you near the software testing phase, ensure that your test cases are clearly written and can be linked to the initial requirements identified by end users and stakeholders. Without these requirements, your team will simply go through the motions of software testing without evaluating its ability to meet expectations.
Lacking a Collaborative Test Management Platform
Software testing is complex, detail-oriented work.
That’s why you need to give your testers the tools they need to focus their efforts and time on what matters most.
Industry-leading test management platforms make it simple to create test cases, promote collaboration, and oversee testing efforts and tasks.
Lacking a Consistent Method to Craft, Store, and Sequence Test Cases
There are several schools of thought about writing and sequencing test cases, but there are some universal best practices that make them more effective:
- Include a clear name, tester instructions, and expected results for each test case.
- Use a test management platform to assign tests, track progress, and store commonly used test cases.
- Organize test cases by function or role to get the most accurate and relevant feedback.
Not Executing a Comprehensive Range of Tests
Software testing isn’t a check-the-box exercise. Instead, it should be viewed as an opportunity to stress-test the functionality, usability, security, and performance of your design.
Use the strengths of automated and manual testing to maximize the effectiveness of your end-to-end software testing. By conducting a range of tests, you can find defects and design hurdles early to prevent any reputational damage to your brand.
Lacking a Method to Track Testing Results and Defects
When it comes to tracking test results, we have seen it all, from spreadsheets to whiteboards to everything in between.
Without a defined method to track testing, defects fall through the cracks, teams spend too much time on low-priority issues, and communication on next steps breaks down.
Finish your software testing strong by utilizing a structured, streamlined platform to document, assign, track, and close out defects.
TestMonitor Brings Your Software Testing to the Next Level
For years, software testing has been described as a process marked by inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and time waste.
However, in a time when budgets and timelines are tight and available solutions are vast, organizations that can effectively test, remediate, and deploy products and new releases will quickly rise to the top.
It’s for these reasons that we designed TestMonitor. Our platform makes each step of the software development testing process easy, efficient, and visible using built-in tools, a cloud-based design, and plenty of native features.
Want to learn more about how to improve your quality assurance process?
