Back in 2013, I wrote a blog post while working at Adpearance. After re-reading it I still feel pretty strongly/the same as I did about quality assurance processes within the project lifecycle as I did 8 years ago. The original blog post can be found on Adpearance’s site here, but just in case there comes a day it’s not available, I’ve posted a copy of it below:
Have you ever been on a project where months were spent planning, designing and developing a beautiful product, and only 2 weeks were left for testing? No, seriously.
Studies have shown that many teams don’t include adequate time within their project life cycle to test the quality of their product.
When you realize you're releasing a website that has to work on 9 different browsers, 6 different devices and countless versions, quality assurance is an essential part of every project, and should be given the time it deserves.
Having started my career in quality assurance (QA), I have seen a wide variety of interpretations on what a QA role is supposed to be and where the responsibility of QA falls within the project life cycle. Quality assurance has also been referred to as quality control, test engineering, user acceptance testing, and cross-checking, among others.
No matter what you call it, quality assurance is risk management, and problems found at the end of a project lifecycle can cost up to 10 times more to fix than problems found in the beginning.
Quality assurance isn’t just checking for bugs or problems with the code in order to release a stable product. Your QA team member should spend the most time with every aspect of the product, create test plans, touch every button, pull every leaver, and become the expert on how the product functions.
By leveraging QA early and often during a project life cycle, you can create a way to check that there is brand consistency, find opportunities to optimize user experience, and make every assurance that the product you are delivering is amazing.
When you think QA, remember:
1. Plan for adequate testing at the beginning of any project
2. Reassess QA efforts once you understand your project requirements
3. Make sure that you give the QA team every opportunity to find problems or suggest improvements
4. Get your QA team member involved in the project as soon as possible, the sooner the better
5. Your QA team isn’t just testing technology, they are your project life line
At the end of the day, quality assurance is one of the most important aspects of a project. Your quality assurance team is the safety net to any project and by putting a QA process in place at the beginning of a project life cycle, you will not only create a more stable/higher quality product, but also ensure a smooth release that saves you time and money, not to mention the happiness it will spread throughout the universe.
Originally Posted October 14th, 2013: https://adpearance.com/blog/i-love-quality-assurance-and-you-should-too
