In response to the continued loss of bombers during World War II, one country’s air force decided to add additional armor to its planes. Since the extra weight would cause a loss in performance, they had to be strategic. The obvious answer was to analyze the bullet holes in returned aircraft and place extra plating at the concentration of fire.
Wrong.
The sporting world has long struggled with deciding the significance of the “V” in its MVP awards. The use of the word “valuable” clouds the thinking on whether voters are searching for the player most valuable to the team and its success, or the flat-out best player that year.
We face a similar problem when comparing manual and automation testing in the QA process. Each approach has its pros and cons, but ultimately it is hard to declare one as universally superior. The most effective way to decide between them is to consider how often each has the advantage over the other. Automation gives you greater coverage, API integration, and speed. Manual testing, on the other hand, gives you greater human input, and an accompanying eye for detail and solutions.
Speed comes at a cost.
The idea of racing through the QA process and achieving time savings near the stressful end of the software development cycle is very attractive. The hard work of your core DevOps phase is behind you, and your thoughts turn to getting the product to users. So automation testing may be your first instinct for QA. Automation testing is indeed the fastest form of QA currently available, and will cut your testing time by 95%.
We hope you enjoyed our first installation of this blog post, where we dive into some of the pain points unique to healthcare domain testing and explore their solutions. Whether you have access to a QA partner, or you’re taking on the challenge of healthcare software testing in-house, this article should help you navigate the road ahead!
Your test automation approach and metrics should make you feel good about yourself. They are supposed to let you know what is working well within your software development process and what needs improvement. The right approach and metrics will also reassure you that you’ve made the right choice in implementing test automation in the first place.
We all have our limitations. Every business model we use has them, as does every system we engage to guide us through software development and quality assurance. The key is to understand these limitations and to overcome them.
When it comes to building and testing software products, the healthcare domain is one of the most rigorous and unique areas to work. Product companies in this space are helping doctors, patients, and other medical professionals reimagine what’s possible with wearable technology, hospital indexing systems, and countless other innovations.
The complexity of these new products demands testing that is thorough and stringent, as the quality can directly impact a patient’s life. Other high-stakes factors to consider are the cost and worth of the product to the customer, the protection of private and confidential patient data, and the safety of all patients or caregivers who interface with the product.
Financial services applications bear a heavier burden than those of just about any other industry. They must meet regulatory and commercial standards of accuracy and security comparable to the healthcare sector, while needing to meet the speed and usability demands of the online retail industry.
If you have been through the quality assurance process for financial services before, you understand the rigors. If you have not considered outsourcing that process, now is the time.
