Good Examples of Qualitative Communication between QA Specialists

A tester’s point of view plays a crucial role during the entire process of software development and software testing since it helps to not forget what users and developers think about all this. Its task is to find loopholes and potential bugs either from a business management side or from a virtual technology side.

When a QA engineer encourages work discussions, this greatly helps to clarify the subtlest details of backlog objects, giving developers the possibility to focus their tasks in a proper direction.

Correctly defined questions can instantly provoke efficient discussions and further responses. When testers can clearly explain their ways of testing software, developers can help them to define the correctness of a software code testing strategy, creating a group of correctly focused unit tests in the meanwhile.

Further in this article, we’ll talk about the most illustrative examples of the way software quality depends on the tester’s communication skills.

Tester’s Communication

Tests should be launched on the stages of analysis and design

Both in Waterfall and Agile analysis, a process of planning and design needs a thorough analysis of a current issue and potentially suggested solutions.

The main aim is to ensure that, after taking into account the skills and experience of engaged specialists, the most correct and appropriate solution has been made. It’s very important to make every member of a project group understand the nature of product development and its further stages.

A tester should communicate with people that have basic priorities and technical experience. In such cases, you should talk about your observations, ask questions, defend a user’s point of view, express your personal concerns and give working recommendations.

In such cases, a tester can talk about the following data:

• Talk about an unusual experience of testing similar software, tell what was easy and where you met problems;
• Peculiarities of making a test script and writing a user story;
• Code review;
• Analyzing a testing strategy;
• Correct planning of all planned releases;
• Expressing concern if the things must be changed to something inefficient;
• Reviewing a project, giving information to improve a process.

QA should defend software quality

A tester constantly behaves as a future user while performing software testing. This practice helps to understand what a user really needs and what actions he/she is able to perform.

Many aspects of such type should be practiced while planning an exhaustive test case. Some aspects can’t be checked by simply behaving as a potential user — users should have the possibility to test a system themselves, to verify that software meets their expectations.

A tester should defend software quality and this can be done in multiple ways:

1. An exploratory approach to analyzing a bug found by a user;
2. Managing user expectations on dates of bug editing;
3. Recommendations on using workarounds if a bug prevents a user from reaching a set goal.

Transfer of information

It’s a well-known fact that not everyone who has knowledge in some field can be an instructor of it and sometimes it’s connected with communication skills. It’s very important to make every test strategy simple and clear for everyone.

Such a practice helps to teach the employees, to make them able to manage their practices and also transfer the tasks to newcomers that can help to deal with potential backlogs.

Documentation is crucial

Test engineers should document software test scripts, patterns of their usage, and scripts of various borderline cases. It’s the best variant for mutual work with technical writers, with the main task of finding breakpoints, implementing the most efficient practices, using the new functionality.