What is Quality Assurance (QA)?
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS QUALITY ASSURANCE?
QA or quality assurance is a way of preventing unwanted functionality/design flaws and defects from ever making it to your website or web app. QA focuses on ensuring that the quality of the product is in line with what the client wants and expects. This is achieved through carefully thought out processes and criteria along with experience and a sharp eye for detail.
A website might be very intuitive and tastefully made, but it’s going to drive away customers if it doesn’t work as expected or is ridden with irritating bugs.
Quality Assurance (QA) ensures that end-users get a functional user interface and the best user experience when using a web app or website.
TESTING AND QA GO HAND IN HAND
Testing and QA (Quality Assurance) are not the same notions. They have different goals, specific features and methods to apply. Although, they both have a very close relationship and form part of the Quality Assurance process.
So what is testing? Testing is a way of exploring the system to check how it operates and find the possible defects. Various methods are used to test the product, locate bugs and check if they are fixed. Testing enables customers with the possibility to see if the developed product meets their expectations on its design, compatibility, functioning, etc.
What are the different types of testing?
- Exploratory testing - is a type of testing where test cases are not created in advance but testers check the system as a user would.
- Compatibility Testing - is a form of non-functional testing, meaning it tests aspects such as usability, reliability and performance that is used to ensure trustworthy applications and customer satisfaction.
- Usability Testing - is the practice of testing how easy a design is to use with a group of representative users. It usually involves observing users as they attempt to complete tasks and can be done for different types of designs.
- Performance Testing - is the practice of evaluating how a system performs in terms of responsiveness and stability under a particular workload. Performance tests are typically executed to examine speed, robustness, reliability, and application size.
- Functional Testing - is a type of testing that is done to ensure the site meets all the functionality requirements and specifications.
- Integration Testing - this for us is the most exciting form of testing. It is when all the various parts of the project get combined and they get tested collectively.
- Vulnerability/Security Testing - this form of testing checks to make sure that there are no major vulnerabilities on the website/web app that could potentially lead to information getting out that is supposed to be private.
WHY IS QA TESTING IMPORTANT
Quality Assurance is a prerequisite for any process that is keen on delivering high-quality products. It's in our bones and it’s what we do well!
QA should be undertaken routinely even after development is complete. Why do you ask? Doing so allows you to continually locate and correct any issues that might crop up within your website or web application. The benefits of routine QA testing are far-reaching and include the following:
Your website or app works perfectly
Needless to say, there’s a need to confirm that something is working correctly before you push it live online. In so doing, the QA tester confirms whether or not the product is delivering all the expected functionalities.
QA Testing will help boost UX
Quality Assurance measures the usability of an app or website. Usability is in turn directly linked to User Experience (UX). QA, especially when backed by user testing data, will help you find ways to deliver maximum usability and subsequently optimal user experience.
QA strengthens your brand
Five things happen when you give users a product that doesn’t function properly or one that doesn’t work at all:
- Users will become frustrated with your product
- You will appear inept and/or working with an incompetent team
- Your product will be assumed to be of poor quality and not worth buying or interacting with
- It will look as though you don’t really value or care about your work
- You will eventually lose your customer’s trust and credibility.
Conducting proper quality assurance is thus critical in minimizing all of the above outcomes.
QA testing prevents disasters from happening
It is not uncommon for web developers to make errors when coding, they are human after all. They may also write code that doesn’t work as expected or even one that’s incompatible with some of the technologies being used in your app or website.
Some of these mistakes could go unnoticed until one day they cause a catastrophic crash or breach of security and privacy. Proper testing is thus recommended to help reveal some of the critical errors that could potentially cause problems within your web application or website.
WHAT QA MEANS TO US
QA is about more than just making sure your website or app works. It's to ensure your website or app is of the highest possible quality it can be. At Elemental, we don’t consider a project complete until it has been thoroughly tested and we are 100% confident that your website or app delivers excellent usability, functionality, and performance.
This is why we invest in a QA team that works hand in hand with web developers, project managers, designers, and clients in delivering high-quality product and solutions
