Many QA engineers perform functional testing on a regular basis and do not extend beyond established working methods. The process of software testing is a multi-structural data retrieval about the quality of developed software.
Such information can be useful to stakeholders while making important technical decisions. Actually, there are a lot of options on how one can find valuable information without the use of functional testing.
Further, we will talk about effective ways how to improve the labor performance of QA specialists in their daily bug searching activity.
Functional testing has its primary importance even in the time of widespread automation tests. A lot of programs and various software require manual testing for a full search of all the functions and interaction logic.
Unfortunately, many testers got used to performing only manual testing, and they do not extend beyond searching the bugs in software functionality. There can be several reasons for this: lack of technical skills, fear of the unknown, or incomplete understanding of the test environment.
In order to avoid such a situation, one should pay attention to the following ways of effectiveness improvement.
A Complete Examination of the Information Provided
Oftentimes, testers have to interact with technical requirements on a project, discuss some moments with managers and programmers, and then create test cases based on the information they’ve got.
But nobody can avoid some uncovered test cases on a project, especially if it is a huge product which is being developed for a long time already. Surely, developers cover some parts with tests. But, of course, there are unexpected situations for all employees who are working on the software development.
Please note that the creation of a similar planned test list can be whether easy or difficult. Someone believes that such a practice allows QA specialists to test functionality on a project more carefully. In this case, one should pay special attention to learning methodologies of even the simplest and the most irrelevant technical documentation.
Try this method and after some time you will see if such a strategy is suitable for you.
Review the UX
Many companies often release one program version and then improve or change it according to some specific client’s requests.
It is a common practice that quick releases of some software parts have priority over the releases of the builds of the highest quality. After some time, when more and more developers start working on the project, there will be a lot of unsolved issues.
After a thorough project UX-review, you can find a lot of defects and hidden bugs, which will be noticeable only after the official release of the software.
Analysis of the Opponents’ Work
Unfortunately, some testers have to work in complete isolation. They have no idea how other companies perform testing.
It is worth to get to know the way your opponents work:
- You can pay attention to the advertisement available on the Internet;
- Also, you may study video reports;
- And finally, analyze news in the media or in the different blogs.
After careful consideration, however, you will see which practices you can adopt and which one would be better to avoid.
If you are a QA lead, try to talk to project managers or administration about access to other companies’ offers. Also, you should get to know how you may help in the analysis of potential opponents.
Moreover, you should focus not only on the functionality consideration but also on usability, potential performance in any situation, security, and availability.
If you have time, you can make an analytical table with the description of the latest successful products of your opponents and evaluation criteria.
Analyze the Hidden Potential of Tools in Use
Tools are a good focus of the activities for those who know how to use these tools. They help to save much time on testing and significantly diversify the testing process.
Any QA engineer must have the necessary knowledge about systems and methods that are in use on a project.
There are a lot of other tools except automated functional tests and quick creation of test data. For example, a lot of these tools can do the following:
- Find the patterns in the logs and programs for data replication;
- Emulate the function execution;
- Record the running process or user actions;
- React on some events (on the basis of programmed rules).
Sometimes, a few can see the whole use of some tools, until they notice the effects.
Think About Critical Risk
In order to prevent a disaster, you need to think about headlines of bad news which can be connected with your unsuccessful releases or the whole project. In addition, try to test all the potential risks.
Any good tester can analyze all the possible crash scenarios. This skill can help the developers’ team avoid code errors (which on the other hand will save much time and money).
This is some kind of a game that involves several stakeholders. And after a while, it will help one to be sure that risks can be estimated.
Communication With Support Service
Some testers can be biased against software functionality because of an over-reliance on the same solutions. Therefore, expected program behavior becomes poorly adapted for use.
The client’s opinion is completely real data which is worth paying attention to. One can use this information in order to make a good influence on the quality of released products.
To conclude, it should be noticed that all these methods of functional testing improvement can help software testing companies to provide the maximum quality and operational stability of developed programs.
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