How to: effective QA software testing

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QA software testing is an essential part of software development. You have to make sure your product is up to par in terms of quality, and QA testing helps bring to light any errors or faults that need fixing.

Without these tests, your software may experience more errors in the long run, so it’s good to iron them out before releasing them to the public. QA testing must be done well in order to be effective, so it’s worth investing in a tool like Bugpilot, which helps automate your bug tracking.

Now without further delay, let’s discuss QA software testing in a little more detail.

What is QA software testing?

QA (quality assurance) software testing is where you use a piece of software to evaluate its performance and functionality. The goal is to prevent issues from occurring and ensure your product meets quality standards. For example, if you find that the interface is difficult to navigate, it may be worth redesigning it to improve user experience.

During QA software testing, you should be looking out for any problems that negatively impact your users, including security issues, long loading times, and user-facing bugs. It’s best to integrate QA testing throughout your development process so you can quickly locate and resolve bugs ahead of time.

Different types of QA software testing

Unit testing

This involves testing individual functions (i.e., small parts of isolated code), usually during the coding or development stage.

Component testing

This is where you test individual software components, such as a web page, in an isolated environment.

Integration testing

Integration testing consists of testing both software units and components together.

End-to-End testing

This is where you test all parts of your software combined in a live environment to see if it meets user requirements.

Performance testing

This type of testing evaluates how well your software functions when placed under significant amounts of workload.

Regression testing

This tests how well new updates work in the software and whether they negatively affect other features.

Sanity testing

This involves testing new code changes to see if they’re functioning well enough to undergo larger tests.

System testing

System testing allows you to test your entire software as part of a fully integrated system.

Smoke testing

This evaluates the general stability of your build and checks if your core features are working properly. This helps determine whether the build is ready for further testing.

User Acceptance testing

This is the final phase of QA software testing, which involves multiple end-users or clients testing the application before you go live with it

Quality Control vs. Quality Assurance in software testing

Quality control and quality assurance both deal with software quality management, but there are key differences between the two. Quality control focuses on fixing bugs or gaps in your product, whilst quality assurance is more about preventing bugs in the final product and improving your development processes.

Quality Control:

Identifies and fixes bugs in the actual product

Focuses on the final product

Involves the testing team

Occurs after QA testing

Reactive and corrective activities

Steps include product sampling, validation testing, and quality metrics

Quality Assurance:

Prevents bugs or defects in the product

Occurs throughout the software development life cycle

Focuses on improving development processes

Involves the full development team

Proactive and preventive activities

Steps include documentation, audits, team training, change control, and more

Why is QA software testing Important?

Builds a stable and competitive software product

QA software testing helps you improve your bug life cycle so you can keep your software product stable and reliable. Testing each component of your software during development means you can quickly detect bugs and fix them in the moment.

Prevent future bugs or errors

QA software testing, especially with the help of bug-tracking software, allows you to prevent future bugs from occurring. Conducting periodic tests during development stops unchecked bugs from becoming too large to handle in the future. If you deal with them at a smaller scale, you’re more likely to find an easy fix before release.

Protects your company’s reputation

Ensure your product is of a high quality with QA testing to improve your company’s reputation. Use comprehensive bug reports to speed up the bug resolution process and improve your reliability to customers.

How to do effective QA software testing

#1 Define clear testing objectives and requirements

Before conducting any QA software testing, you must first decide what objectives you want to achieve during this process. Create a list of requirements you want your software to meet and use them to ensure a high-quality product. Focus on meeting user expectations and elevating your customer experience.

Consider the following aspects when outlining your objectives:

Customer Expectations

Identify customer pain points through your QA testing to assess how functional or user-friendly your software is. Consider the best way to locate and resolve those issues.

Testing Priorities

Decide which features or components need testing first. Prioritize the most important ones (i.e., core features) or those with the most severe bugs.

Reporting Issues

Decide how you want to track and identify bugs. For example, what information should be included in your bug reports, and what kind of defects should be reported.

Communication

Make sure to establish clear communication channels between your QA testing team and development team (as well as other related parties).

#2 Set a clear workflow

Next, it’s time to come up with your QA testing workflow strategy. List out the steps involved in order, so your team knows how to proceed.

Remember to integrate QA testing throughout your development phase and separate each step into smaller tasks to outline your methodology clearly. Keep in mind the cost of services and task deadlines when creating your strategy.

#3 Select appropriate testing techniques

There are many testing techniques you can use for your QA testing, and different software components require different types of testing. There are mainly two types of testing you can do:

Functional Testing: Testing functions or features like the login system.

Non-Functional Testing: Testing aspects like performance and reliability. For example, how long it takes for a page to load.

It’s best to incorporate multiple testing techniques, such as unit testing and security testing, to cover all your grounds.

#4 Use automated testing tools

QA software testing is lengthy (and sometimes repetitive) work, so it’s worth integrating automated testing tools like Bugpilot to streamline the process. With Bugpilot, you can automate your bug detection and receive AI-generated bug reports straight to your help desk. Automating parts of the process also helps you save money on manual labor.

Each bug report comes with details like user info, browser logs, steps to reproduce bugs, and more. We also collect screenshots and recordings of user sessions, which you can watch to identify moments of frustration and software errors.

Our AI assistant also provides you with possible root causes and copy-paste solutions to help you troubleshoot bugs faster and more efficiently. It takes only 10 minutes to set up, so you don’t have to worry about any complicated procedures.

#5 Perform comprehensive testing

Decide how the different types of testing should work together. For example, have your developers monitor the automated testing process so they can adjust their code before handing it off to QA testers.

Then, your QA team can perform smoke testing to see if the build is ready for more in-depth testing methods. If they encounter problems, hand the build back to the developers for further adjustment.

#6 Document and report defects

Comprehensive bug reports are key during QA testing since they allow you to understand issues in your software fully. This is especially important because multiple members of your team must work together to solve said issues. Everyone must be able to quickly grasp the problem at hand and come up with viable solutions.

Bug reports usually change hands between development teams and QA teams, so make sure you’ve got an efficient way to send files to each other. When it comes to writing the perfect report, remember the following things:

Clearly describe the problem in a concise manner

List step-by-step how you can reproduce the bug (test this method out yourself)

Include technical details such as browser, device, etc.

Provide possible remedies

Address one bug per report

Attach relevant screenshots (annotated if necessary) of the issue

#7 Continuously improve the testing process

Always consider ways to improve the QA testing process with new techniques or tools. Consistently assess your current workflow to see if there are areas for improvement. You should be aiming for efficiency, effective teamwork and communication, and high-quality products.

Try conducting small-scale experiments with newer methods or tools before integrating them into your workflow. Automated code should also be constantly assessed for errors by experienced testers and engineers.

Conclusion

QA testing is a must when it comes to ensuring the quality of your product. Software development is a lengthy process bound to be filled with errors, so it’s essential to test each unit or component for faults early on in the process. However, constantly performing tests can be very time-consuming, which is why companies utilize tools like Bugpilot.

Here at Bugpilot, we help automate the most expensive aspects of bug resolution so you can focus on developing new features. Sign up for free today to start resolving your bugs at 2x the speed.