Software development is often a complex process where errors, bugs, and performance issues are inevitable.
Many companies believe that developers are enough to test and fix everything, but this idea can lead to costly consequences.
This is where QA (Quality Assurance) comes in, a key role to ensure that your product is efficient, functional, and high-quality.
If you need more clarification about whether you need a QA, here are the clear signs that it’s time to integrate a quality assurance professional into your team.
What is a QA engineer, and what is its role in software development?
A QA engineer, or quality assurance specialist, performs exhaustive tests on a software or application to detect errors and optimize its performance. Unlike the developer, the QA focuses on finding problems and areas for improvement.
Their role is not limited to just finding bugs, but also helps to:
- Improve the user experience (UX).
- Reduce maintenance costs.
- Increase software efficiency.
Why shouldn’t all testing fall on developers?
It is common to think that developers can be in charge of testing their own code, but this has several problems:
- Lack of objectivity: Having created the code, it is difficult to identify own faults.
- Work overload: Developers need to concentrate on writing and optimizing code, not on testing, for the most part… Because it’s not that they don’t test their own code.
- Expertise: A QA engineer has advanced tools and knowledge to perform effective testing, such as automated, stress and load testing.
A team with developers and QA working together achieves more efficient and error-free results.
5 assessments to know if you need QA expert in the development of your software or mobile application
If you are still not sure if you need a QA in the development of your software or mobile application, pay attention to this, because they will interest you:
- Your application has frequent bugs that affect the user.
If your users are constantly reporting bugs, it is a clear sign that testing is ineffective. Bugs and failures generate frustration and can lead to traffic loss and the worst thing is losing customers… In the end what we do is to have a higher return on investment.
A QA engineer will make sure to:
- Perform functional tests.
- Detect bugs before they reach the end user.
- Guarantee the stability of the application.
2. Delivery times are longer than expected.
When developers spend time looking for bugs and fixing them, deliveries are delayed. This affects your deadlines and customer satisfaction.
A QA allows developers to focus on their core work while he is in charge of:
- Perform automated and manual testing.
- Identify bugs in early stages of development.
- Ensure faster and flawless deliveries.
3. The user experience (UX) leaves much to be desired.
A software can be functional, but you will lose customers if the user experience is bad. Problems such as slow loading times, interface crashes and unexpected shutdowns indicate that QA is missing.
QA performs tests aimed at improving the UX, such as:
- Usability testing.
- Performance analysis and response times.
- Design and user interface validation.
4. Optimizations are null or insufficient
Software without adequate testing tends to become slow and inefficient over time. Optimizations are not possible if there is no constant monitoring of its performance.
QA engineer uses advanced tools to:
- Detect software bottlenecks.
- Improve resource consumption (no one wants a huge bill later for server misuse, right?)
- Optimize the overall performance of the application.
5. Maintenance and bug fixing costs are high.
Detecting bugs late in development or after release can be very costly. The later a bug is detected, the more difficult and expensive it will be to fix it.
A QA expert allows:
- Detect bugs from the early stages of development.
- Reduce long-term maintenance costs.
- Increase the quality of the final product.
Benefits of having a QA specialist
Having a QA professional offers multiple benefits:
- Increased efficiency: Development and error correction times are reduced.
- Quality products: More stable and optimized applications are delivered.
- Better user experience: Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Cost reduction: By detecting problems earlier, costly maintenance is avoided.
QA engineer vs. Developer: Why the specialized approach makes the difference (but they are the Dream team).
Although developers and QA work together, their approaches are different:
- Developer: Focuses on writing functional code and adding new features.
- QA: Focuses on testing and analyzing software to detect problems and suggest improvements.
A QA expert brings a critical and objective view that the developer, being involved in the process, often cannot have.
How to implement a QA team in your company step by step.
- Assess your needs: Determine whether you need manual QA, automated QA or both.
- Hire specialized professionals: Make sure your QA has experience in testing tools.
- Integrate QA in your team: QA should work from the early stages of development.
- Define clear testing processes: Use methodologies such as Agile to improve workflow.
- Monitor and adjust: Constantly evaluate the performance and optimizations achieved by the QA.
Conclusion: The role of QA in the success of your software or application
Having a QA not only helps to detect and fix bugs, but also allows you to deliver higher quality and optimized software to your users. If you notice any of the above signs of frequent bugs, delivery delays or poor user experience, it’s time to integrate a QA into your team.
As they say “there is nothing better than someone focused with all the knowledge and experience in their field” to guarantee the success of your software.
The difference between a mediocre and an excellent product is in quality. A good QA team and your developers are the key to achieving it. And of course we can provide it, click here to quote with us.