A Complete Guide to QA and Software Testing

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes to make sure your favorite apps and websites don’t crash, glitch, or drive you crazy? That’s where software testing and quality assurance (QA) come in. This dynamic duo is here to make sure the whole experience works smoothly, reliably, and exactly the way it’s supposed to.

In this blog, we’ll break down why testing matters, what QA actually involves, and how it all keeps the digital world running without a hitch.

What are QA and software testing?

Think of quality assurance (QA) as a technical inspection for a vehicle, for example. There are specific requirements it must meet; if it doesn’t, the problems are pointed out, and the vehicle must undergo maintenance before an additional inspection is conducted. The process is similar for software products, where QA and software testing should be integrated throughout every part of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle). 

When it comes to software products, depending on the location of your business and your target audience, there are various regulations that you may need to consider. Some of them include data privacy (General Data Protection Regulation, California Privacy Rights Act), security (Open Web Application Security Project - OWASP), accessibility (European Accessibility Act - EAA), and others. Testing whether or not your product complies with these regulations is vital, since the repercussions can be very costly and can damage your business. Moreover, a good quality product means your users will want to use it repeatedly and recommend it to others, which in turn will improve your business’s growth, reputation, and visibility.

Each business that has a software product has it for a specific purpose - whether it be order tracking, online shopping, entertainment, or more. Whatever you may choose, a prime function will follow, and whether you test it will be the determining factor in the success of your product.

Why is QA important?

QA applies to many different industries and can be utilized in various fields. Moreover, having a high-quality digital presence ensures that you reach a wide, often global audience, which improves your company’s visibility, recognition, and accessibility. This article showcases just one of many industry examples: Legito Eva Andriani’s Transforming Commerce: A Bibliometric Exploration of E-Commerce Trends and Innovations in the Digital Age (2023) showcases how people rely on their devices not only for everyday tasks, but also for services and purchases. E-commerce and digital presence are being taught in schools and universities, and it is quickly becoming a (once optional, now vital) factor for creating businesses that last and grow with the new tech waves. Because of this, many businesses are scrambling to create their digital presences - apps, websites, and the like. One problem, however, is that creating these software products isn’t enough to make the cut. With regulations in place, software products must account not only for basic elements like UI or functionality, but also for accessibility and compliance. 

This is why having a “third-person view” of your products is so important. To you, your product may seem fine, but making sure that everything works as intended creates the need for QA Testing. As Amit Bhanushali mentions in his 2023 research, “Ensuring Software Quality Through Effective Quality Assurance Testing: Best Practices and Case Studies”, “high-quality standards must be followed at all times while developing any kind of software system. This is done to make sure that any issues or program flaws are found and fixed before the application is used.”

Types of software testing in QA

QA is a pretty broad term, and it encapsulates many processes that could be done in determining product quality. One aspect is software testing. There are many ways to talk about the types of software testing (from the viewpoint of frontend development, from the viewpoint of backend development, and so on), but one of the simpler ways is how we divide them: by services (or purpose), platforms, testing levels, and R&D.

Methods used in software testing

Based on the list of testing types above, it’s clear to see that there are multiple ways to approach testing, depending on the scope, resources, and cost effectiveness. There are three main types of testing:

1. Manual testing: Done by a QA engineer, following a pre-determined test case and completing the necessary steps to evaluate certain metrics. Although it may take some time, it can be less costly and can be best utilized in cases of accessibility or UX & usability testing.

2. Automated testing: Performed using a test automation script, which is created by a QA engineer, based on a pre-determined test case, and made to ease unnecessary use of time for repetitive tasks, if the project is bigger. This type of testing is suitable for most testing types, as long as it is supervised by the QA engineer along the way and evaluated for any discrepancies.

3. Hybrid approach: A mix of both manual and automated testing, suitable for most projects, since it utilizes the best of each method. The separate methods have their benefits and drawbacks, which is why it’s best to use them together, where applicable.

Industries that benefit from QA 

Understanding that QA should be the norm in almost every industry is key to acknowledging its value. No matter the case, quality and adherence to certain standards and regulation stands in every moment. Let’s look into some industry cases and the specifics that come with testing their products.

1. Fintech

When it comes to fintech, many people’s first thoughts regarding QA rush to security. Security is a very important part of ensuring fintech companies’ operations go smoothly and safely. However, there are many more things to keep in mind when discussing QA and fintech together. Factors like performance, reliability, and efficiency need to be taken into consideration.

Additionally, a study by TestDevLab analyzed 100 of Europe’s largest fintechs and found that only 31% fully meet basic web accessibility requirements. At least 51% of surveyed fintechs met requirements partly, with features that are not entirely accessible, available, or intuitive. These numbers show us clearly how undervalued QA can be in industries like fintech and banking – and the long way there is to go regarding making it more well-known.

2. Travel and hospitality

Decades ago, the only way to travel or book a flight was by going to the airport or to a travel agent. It was very limited in terms of accessibility and wasn’t very cost-effective. Since then, most airlines and travel providers have grown and created software products to simplify the process of booking flights and traveling. 

Although the relief is significant, research by Lucy Budd and Tim Vorley in Airlines, Apps, and Business Travel: A Critical Examination shows that while airlines are major but often overlooked adopters of mobile technology (SITA, 2012), 45% of users remain dissatisfied with the features and functionality of airline apps (Flightview, 2013).

3. Healthcare

When it comes to healthcare, the question of whether or not to perform QA is simple. Considering the sensitive nature of the industry and the amount of important decisions and aid it brings to its clients daily, it’s important to note the significance of a high-quality software solution.

For something as vital as healthcare and aid during a pandemic, a functional and high-quality application is critical. As M. Mubeen mentions in their 2021 study Usability Evaluation of Pandemic Health Care Mobile Applications, “The limitations of this pandemic health care application are firstly not everyone has a smartphone, secondly the app can crash anytime, and thirdly data privacy and security are the main issues.” Studies like these highlight the need for stress testing and security testing in the healthcare industry.

4. Gaming

Regarding the gaming industry, we understand that there is no other way to operate than with testing included in the SDLC. Considering how most games and forms of entertainment are digital nowadays, the importance of testing audio, video, and other factors has skyrocketed. 

If you want to create a video game and present it to a global audience, ensuring it can handle such loads and stress under globally specific conditions is what’s going to determine your success.

Validating and verifying in action: Using an e-commerce app as an example

Say, for example, you have created an app for e-commerce. Let’s check out the most important things to test before launching.

Data security and privacy 

Security testing helps verify that your product is safe to use - regardless of the volume of sensitive data handled, or the applications and networks involved. Thanks to this, you can be sure that your business will only benefit–not lose–from having an e-commerce platform. Plus, your clients will trust you and your provided services more, knowing that their sensitive data and transactions will be protected from attacks.

If you choose to opt out of security testing, you risk your product being subjected to security breaches, hackers, sensitive data leaks, and legal penalties. Additionally, avoiding security testing leads to your business (private or public) being more prone to losing valuable resources, industry reputation, and clients.

UX & usability (navigation, filters, visual consistency, and other functions)

When talking about software products, you have to understand who your main users will be and how they will interact with them. This leads to UX & usability testing, which go hand in hand to ensure that your clients have as few blockers (empty links, glitches, slow responses, etc.) in their shopping experience as possible.

The more blockers your clients will encounter, the greater the likelihood that they will choose an entirely different business, due to the ease of use offered by competitors. Any button or link you have intended to have in your product - every filter, page, and section has to work properly to guarantee your clients have a smooth shopping experience.

CX (intuitiveness, digital accessibility, and other functions)

As a broader concept that includes UX testing, CX encompasses the whole client experience from the first click to the last order confirmation email. CX Testing provides your business with the possibility of trialing how your future customers will use your product. Even if you think that individual parts of your product work perfectly, it’s still important to test how they all work together - and the experience they will bring.

Accessibility

As part of its usability, it’s important to check how accessible your product is. This involves far more than ensuring buttons link to valid destinations. Accessibility testing checks if your product will be usable not only to the general public, but also to people with various disabilities. Since the disability spectrum can be so broad, it’s important to test in a broad scope, too. Font, background colors, and appropriate sizes for images and text blocks are just the basics of making sure your product can be used to its fullest potential by everyone. 

It may seem unimportant to test for digital accessibility, but the truth is, accessible products ensure you have a competitive advantage. If you want to get your business across as attentive, respectful, and considerate to all of your users, accessibility testing is the way to go.

Functionality 

Functionality is one of the most instrumental parts of a successful software product. It guarantees that your product essentially does exactly what it’s intended to, and that all of the buttons fulfill their purpose, and that by clicking “Register”, your clients will actually get redirected to your desired location (for example, a registration template). 

If your product can’t function properly, then that should be at the top of the list of testing, because without functionality, your clients will be immediately put off and want to go to a different business. 

Performance 

Sure, your beta product may be working great right now, with no more than 20 users and only one network and location condition, but what will happen once you launch globally? Once your product is functionally correct on its own, it’s important to test how it will behave in combination with other factors. These factors include high loads of users at once, different location conditions, network conditions, and more. This is where performance testing comes in handy.

Performance testing encompasses a wide range of conditions and factors to test to determine how your product will behave in specific situations. During performance testing, factors like stress (pushing a system beyond its normal operating capacity), load, volume, endurance, recoverability, and spikes (sudden bursts of traffic) are taken into account.

Compatibility 

Last, it’s important to take into consideration the different devices (and their specifications) from which users could access your products. Just because your product performs as intended on your own devices and specifications doesn’t mean you are ready to launch. That’s where compatibility testing comes in. 

During compatibility testing, your product is used and tested on various devices with different operating systems and browsers. Thanks to this, the coverage is broad, and it’s easy to see whether or not your product is compatible with most devices.

In order to complete this type of testing, we, at TestDevLab, have a fleet of more than 5000 real devices to test software products under specific conditions and specifications.

Benefits of integrating QA 

Reduced costs

The earlier you find bugs in your products, the smaller the chance they will be able to snowball into much bigger, more expensive issues in the future. Fixing smaller bugs early on in production sets your product up for success along the way.

Moreover, keeping bugs in mind before your product launches ensures you won’t run into expensive (sometimes, even legal) problems with clients.

Compliance with regulations

By integrating QA, you can be sure that you won’t run into any non-compliance fines in the future. Furthermore, by complying with regulations, you will show your clients that you are attentive, respectful, and care about the end result.

A secure product 

On account of security testing, you can be sure that your products will be protected from security breaches, hackers, and sensitive information leaks. Because of this, your clients will be more inclined to use your products - without security concerns. 

Improved product quality

If you decide to perform testing on your software products, you will immediately gain a competitive advantage in the market. Verifying that there aren’t any hiccups in your product and making sure your clients receive the best services possible will give you confidence in your business and your services.

Setting your business up for success

Thanks to stress testing, you will be able to identify any gaps in your products and, therefore, improve those gaps and grow your business even further. This approach aligns with the principle of continuous improvement – constantly looking for imperfections and providing the best possible solutions for your audiences.

When to perform testing  

At first glance, it might seem that testing for issues or quality is done only once the full product is finished. But that’s a very harmful misconception, which needs to be changed. Most testing types should be performed throughout the production process. 

This means that testing once in the beginning (or end) won’t be enough–you have to do it continuously. When performing testing only in the beginning, only the very first bugs get resolved, but that doesn’t eliminate the possibility of future bugs in production. 

It may seem counterintuitive, but performing many small tests throughout production is more cost and resource-efficient than performing one big test at the end of it, when minor bugs have escalated into major issues, and when the deadlines are shortest.

Challenges faced in QA

Ensuring a high-quality product that adheres to regulations and performs under stressful conditions is important for business growth and relevancy; however, it’s not always an easy task. Based on the provided scales and specifications of projects, many things can quickly become blockers in the QA process.

Ineffective communication

This is a widely known issue concerning expectations and end result goals amongst QA engineers and developers. Furthermore, ineffective communication from clients with unrealistic deadlines without wiggle room leaves testing teams scrambling for more resources and time.

Repeated modifications to requirements

When clients aren’t quite sure what they want, they tend to repeatedly modify their requirements for projects - often last minute or during big projects. This leads to a loss of resources and creates more room for error and miscommunication.

Tight deadlines

When faced with tight deadlines, QA teams are faced with having to scramble to finish often unrealistic results, partly because clients underestimate the intricacies of the testing that is done.

Insufficient amounts of existing data

In dealing with projects that require some development or reconstruction of existing processes or products, developers and testers are often faced with the issue of insufficient existing data that is usable for their tasks. Because of this, more work has to be done, and deadlines are often underestimated, leading to rushing in the end.

Keeping up with technology

QA engineers use quite a number of tools and resources that help them conclude their projects. However, because of the quickly growing markets and innovations in tech, as well as frequent system updates or changes, testers and developers are faced with constantly having to re-learn the programs they are using, sometimes even switching to different ones entirely. This can be a big blocker in the middle of projects, as it slows down the project flow and creates issues in testing and development.

Wrap-up reflections

With the rise of digital services and applications, QA is quickly becoming an integral part of the SDLC. Implementing it means high-quality products that not only perform well in globally specific conditions but also adhere to quality, security, and accessibility standards. Having a high-quality software product helps deliver the messages of your business to a wide audience, showing you are attentive, understanding, and caring. 

QA has many different types and methods of realization, and the use points differ depending on your industry and platforms. When it comes to testing, there are many upsides and downsides to consider, though in the end, it is undoubtedly an essential part of how you present your business.