QA article

Automakers agonize over the ways they test their cars before launching them into the market and public. They test their vehicles in all sorts of environments to ensure that the performance standards and quality they promised are delivered.

The same applies to website or software development.

Websites that don’t perform as fast as they should breed distrust and frustration amongst users, which in turn leads to abandonment of the website and spiking bounce rates.

Regardless if the project we are working on at Vardot; we realize that Quality Assurance (QA) is the vital factor behind the success or failure of that project.

But is QA simply about closer inspection after the development work is done? Or is it about adopting a micro management style when supervising the project delivery process?

 

Neither.

 

1. Quality Assurance is a culture

 

The aim is to deliver a complete digital experience for the client’s target audience. An experience that is engaging and effective.

 

From the moment we initiate discussions regarding business requirements with clients, we ensure that a QA specialist is in the room to analyze the clients’ needs in a bid to assess what needs to be tested from the get-go.

 

Working with the development team; the Quality Assurance Engineer will develop the necessary scenarios to be tested for throughout the development process and stages.

 

 

2. Quality Assurance is a business saver

 

You can opt to build a website via freelancer; however, don’t expect there to be a project manager nor a quality assurance specialist on board to guarantee that your website will be performing like it should or that it delivers your strategic business objectives.

 

Once that website is launched; your website visitors will conduct the quality assurance testing by themselves. Guess what happens when they find (and they will) any negative issues with your site that disrupts their desired user experience?

 

They leave. Once they leave, they are most likely never returning.

 

Conducting quality assurance is critical here as you avoid the embarrassment of failing clients online and the expensive procedure of fixing all the errors and UX pitfalls you should have identified earlier.

 

 

3. Quality Assurance is a happy customer

 

Nothing makes your customer happier to return than a simple and convenient experience with your brand.

 

QA is way more than just finding errors and bugs. It enables you to deliver the best possible user experience you can and open channels for feedback for ongoing maintenance.

 

Many website owners have bemoaned how much they found their digital presence to be lacking after a couple of months, how that it cannot handle traffic or maintain uptime.

 

Websites that don’t perform as fast as they should breed distrust and frustration amongst users, which in turn leads to abandonment of the website and spiking bounce rates.

 

For example: Client X wants to build an e-commerce platform. Prior to launch, we conduct testing based on scenarios relevant to the platform’s target audience and their customer journeys.

 

Testing based on e-commerce related factors will ensure that your customers can access and engage with your landing pages across all devices and browsers without any interruption and frustrations.

 

 

Conclusion

 

When selecting a developer to build your digital experience; you should stress and focus on their ability and expertise in delivering projects on-time and how successful they were in sustaining such projects’ growth afterwards.

 

Having your QA team work in tandem with your development teams from the beginning of every project is critical to ensure a smooth project launch.

 

It should make sense for all digital businesses to not risk launching an online platform without first conducting the appropriate testing needed to ensure that your target audience is happily engaging with your brand.