QASource Blog

"You can't improve what you don't measure" - this saying is rightfully true for the world of software quality assurance. Quality Assurance (QA) metrics are used to estimate the progress and outcome of test results. Through metrics, it is easy to track the status of QA activities, measure team efficiency, and optimize processes.

It doesn’t take long to form a habit. With a trigger within your QA environment and a reward waiting at the finish line, bad habits are just as easy to develop as good ones.

The continued growth of your company depends on a quality product. In fact, ensuring product quality is the primary role of your engineering organization. It should then come as no surprise that your CEO and executive team are interested in keeping their finger on the pulse when it comes to quality and growth.

QA managers are tasked with continuously finding ways to improve quality assurance and overall software integrity, but are also asked to find ways to increase productivity of team members. But, between rounds of testing and writing up issue reports, there never seems to be enough time to carry out these changes.

Increasing productivity of your QA team doesn’t have to be difficult. Targeting easy wins allows for more time to implement additional tactics that improve team productivity. And since there are a lot of tasks that QA teams tackle, increasing QA productivity can help successfully drive a company’s revenue growth.

Here are 6 ways to increase productivity within your QA testing team:

Onboarding a QA partner can be overwhelming to any company. In order to curb any anxiety, there are several things to consider. This includes not just availability of the partner, but testing infrastructure, training, domain experience, precious experience, communication skills, as well as resources. Allocating your resources appropriately allows you to proceed with the onboarding process with ease and can boost your QA productivity in the long run.

Recently, QASource, in conjunction with Sauce Labs, presented "Measuring Your Way to Successful Automation," a webinar during which QASource took a poll of its attendees about their automation metrics. Using the results of this poll, QASource put together an infographic that highlights the many ways metrics can benefit QA teams and testing projects. 

QASource, in conjunction with Sauce Labs, recently presented the webinar "Measuring Your Way To Successful Automation." When preparing each webinar, we field a variety of questions about the topic at hand. We have coordinated with our expert automation engineers to answer several of the most common questions about team metrics and measurement approaches below:

When it comes to selecting a dedicated QA partner the choices are plentiful. But selecting the partner that will be a perfect fit for your company, product and existing team takes research and deliberation. The right partner is responsible for much more than providing high-quality testing -- they create a sustainable testing infrastructure, learn the product as well (or better!) than the developers and serve as a true extension of your onsite team.

What is the secret to a successful QA team? According to a recent poll conducted by QASource, the answer is simple: metrics. Implementing an established list of metrics is like holding up a mirror to your team of engineers – it shows an impartial account of the strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to assess your team balance and testing approach objectively. They are necessary in recognizing and eliminating variations in your organization's product or testing process.

In a broad sense, successful QA helps verify that the features and functionality of your software product meet business objectives. It also ensures that your code is mostly free of bugs prior to the shipment of your product or the release of new versions. Moving forward with unsuccessful QA is a huge risk, as it can directly impact business and your product's reputation.