According to some reports, software that has passed the testing stage is 80% more efficient. With this, you can launch a high-quality product on the market that users will like, which means it will bring you real profit.
Today we want to look at several methods to help you make testing as efficient as possible.
What is high-quality testing?
Before we talk about how to make your testing more effective, let’s look at what quality testing can be called.
Rigorous testing includes:
- Reducing the cost of development up to 33% due to the detection of errors in the early stages of programming;
- Round-the-clock basic environmental testing with test automation;
- Testing speed is reduced by 70% if you replace manual tests with automatic ones.
Practice shows that top-quality testing can be achieved if this is implemented at all stages of the SDLC.
For your testing to be most effective, it must be systematic, and all steps must be well thought out. Many experts advise developing a testing strategy before you even start coding, based on the list of features and tools you will use.
Here are the topics that the test plan should cover:
- Goals of testing;
- Possible risks;
- Methods and tools that you will use;
- Resources (number and qualifications of specialists, environment, and much more);
- Test analysis plan and systematization of errors;
- Definition of test completion criteria.
All this should be outlined and understandable for all team members.
Basic Testing Improvement Techniques
We have identified 5 main methods that allow you to improve the testing of your product.
1. Reconsider this choice (review and design)
Before you start, you need to go through the process of converting generic test specifications into actual test conditions and a test plan.
To get started, you need:
- Review the basics of testing (architecture, design, interfaces and in general all requirements);
- Determine the conditions or requirements for testing and the data based on which the work will be carried out;
- Determine the possibility of testing system requirements;
- Set up your test environment and determine the required infrastructure and tools.
If you can complete this stage as efficiently as possible, the following activities will be much easier and faster.
2. Distribution of responsibilities
One person cannot cope with such a considerable amount of responsibilities alone. Typically, the test team should include the following specialists:
- Engineer for manual testing;
- Engineers for automated testing;
- Test Analyst;
- Team leader;
- Manager.
After you distribute the responsibilities among the specialists, you need to ensure that the testers have the opportunity to communicate with each other to transfer the necessary data. It is crucial to establish communication between testers and analysts. The team leader should resolve all contentious issues in the team.
The responsibilities of a manager usually include finding new clients and communicating with them.
The TestFort testing company has a large team of specialists with extensive experience in both manual and automated testing. It can reveal the most critical errors and help you fix them quickly and easily. After the cooperation, you will receive a high-quality product that users will like. You can read more on their official website.
3. Choosing the right tools
The choice of tools is a responsible process that requires a lot of experience and knowledge from testers. Testing quality can drop significantly if this is entrusted to specialists with low qualifications.
When choosing the most suitable tools, you need to pay attention to:
- Goals of testing;
- The background of the software engineer;
- Don’t forget to pay attention to security issues;
- Qualifications of your specialists (in which tools they can work better).
If you choose tools that you think are suitable for the project, but your specialists do not know how to use them, then it is better to reconsider this idea and choose something ideal among those they regularly use, one of these tools could be platform engineering, but first, you’d have to know the answer to the question: What Is Platform Engineering?
4. Use different tests depending on the programming stage
As already mentioned, it is worth starting testing in the early stages of software development. Tests should be carried out gradually at different levels. There are such On-the-test strategies:
- Unit testing;
- Integration testing;
- System testing;
- Acceptance testing.
The point is that first, you need to test each module. The easiest way to do this is right after writing this. Next, you need to check the connection between the modules and how correctly this was done. It is worth saying that some modules may cause the old ones to malfunction.
After the programming ends, experts comprehensively test functions, performance, scalability, user interface, and other aspects. After the tests, all the results are passed to the programmer, who must make corrections.
After the work is completed, it is necessary to conduct another stage of testing to ensure that all the fixes were performed correctly and did not lead to new errors.
5. Using Agile and DevOps methodologies
Using Agile and DevOps methodologies has several advantages:
- Better collaboration between stakeholders and quality assurance teams;
- Faster and more continuous software iterations;
- Shorter release cycles;
- Better overall quality.
According to some reports, in 2024, about 90% of all test teams used Agile, and 60% of such companies used DevOps between 2019 and 2020.
Strategies after testing
After the specialists have completed the testing, they must write down all the errors and systematize them. So, they have to understand which mistakes lead to big problems and which ones can be ignored.
Writing a report is one of the most critical stages of testing. It contains a simple list of errors and recommendations for their elimination. The better and more apparent the report is, the easier it will be for the programmer to correct the mistakes.
When compiling a report, it is also necessary to indicate whether the finished product meets the specification that was compiled at the beginning of work: does it meet the requirements for interface, functionality, security, and much more?
It is crucial that the testing is carried out by an independent team not involved in developing the software. In this case, it will be easier for specialists to evaluate the finished product to identify advantages and disadvantages. If the test results are positive, you can provide the results to potential investors to raise money for advertising and other needs.
Conclusion
Testing is an essential element of software development. To make it high-quality, you need to think over the strategy in advance, assemble a team of professionals and choose the tools. It is necessary to start testing at the first stages of development, and you will get the highest quality result.
