What Does a Quality Assurance Department Look Like in Software Development?

The main goal of the Quality Assurance (QA) department is to help create a quality product. Their job is not only bug searching and regular product testing, but to also prevent defects accordingly. They ensure the high quality of the development process and its results. A defect or a bug is a fragment of an error code, due to which the system can not perform its function. So what are the QA department and QA engineer’s responsibilities?

Here at Swan Software Solutions, the tasks include the following: 

• Testing the product during all phases of the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
• Identifying weaknesses and inconsistencies in the product 
• Helping to identify project requirements
• Providing the team with complete information on product quality

It is important to note that QA is interested in making any product user-friendly both in terms of functionality and design. To do this, they closely interact with all members of the team and constantly reference the set requirements.

Stages of QA Testing 

To better understand what functions the QA department is fulfilling in the software development process, you first need to determine what the stages of software testing development are.

1. Gathering all product requirements.

At this stage, the QA task consists of:

• Analyzing and deciding whether requirements are compatible and can be implemented within a single system
• Assessing what decisions will work and which ones will not
• Planning the required testing methods (see below for details)

2. Test planning At this stage, QA defines a testing strategy. The definition of a strategy implies an assessment of the time and effort for the whole project. After analyzing QA requirements, a document is created, known as a test plan. It includes the expected results of the project, its scope, purpose, as well as the testing environment.

3. Development of tests When a test plan is determined, we can begin setting up the testing environment and creating test cases. A test case is a set of steps you need to take to make sure there are no errors in the product and it works in accordance with the requirements.

4. Performing tests At this phase, all the tests cases are completed according to the plan. If some part of the system works well, we mark it as a positive completion. In this way, Swan Software Solutions can make sure that we do not miss anything and ensure a quality product at the end.

5. Test report To ensure a quick fix for errors without any designer misunderstandings, each problem identified must be well documented. To do this, we use the JIRA bug tracking system.

Features of QA Work:

If the QA does not participate in the development process, then the developer team may find that they did something that works and works well, but not what is required. QA also helps reduce the time necessary to develop new test cases. The sooner we understand what and how we are going to test, the easier it will be to test

So what are some features of implementing a QA department in your development process?:

Secure Business: Let’s say you have a payment system and it works fine. The user pays for the service and receives it. However, you have not checked all possible cases, and the money goes not to you, but to an unknown bank account. Disadvantages like this can be very costly.

Saving Money: It is much more expensive to fix the error than prevent it. Correction of one error may result in others.

Reputation Protection: If you release a product with bugs, users will not be satisfied using the application.  it. After this experience, it will be difficult to convince them that the problem is solved and that they can use the service again. The first impression is difficult to change, so why not provide your users with a quality product the first time.

Process Control: If the development process is not monitored and runs opposite to the set requirements, the final product may vary greatly from the intended one.

Conclusion 

Quality assurance includes everything from testing to the analysis of results. Many software development companies see the value in their QA engineers to:

• Monitor the development process
• Prevent bugs in the system before they are found by users
• Ensure the quality of the manufactured product

Here at Swan Software Solutions, we value ensuring quality in the products we develop for our clients. Do you have a project or idea but you don’t know what the next step is? Contact the Swan Wedge team for a free technical discovery roadmap to get you started!