Why is QA so important in software development?
Noje
Head of Quality Assurance
Reading time: 4 min
Published: Mar 30, 2021
Key takeaways
- QA exists to ship stable, bug-free software; it's a driver of product success, not an optional final step.
- Developers test their own code, but QA engineers bring an independent, detail-focused 'what if?' perspective that catches what developers miss.
- Fixing a bug in production can cost far more than catching it early, up to ~150x the time and 60–100x the cost versus the requirements or design phase.
- Strong QA builds reputation and user trust; bugs drive negative reviews and push users to competitors.
- Investing in testing early pays back in loyal users, higher ratings, lower support costs, and a more competitive product.
When thinking about selling something to a customer, we generally want it to be as high quality as possible to ensure the success of our product. This is no different when it comes to digital apps. Having your app smooth, bug-free and with no errors is a key factor in its success.
In this article, I will explain how Quality Assurance (QA) is done and why it is so important.
What is QA in software development?
Quality Assurance is defined as a procedure to ensure the quality of software products or services provided to the customers by an organization, according to the definition of Guru99, Quality assurance focuses on improving the software development process and making it efficient and effective as per the quality standards defined for software products. Quality Assurance is popularly known as QA Testing.
Why can’t the developers test their code for bugs and errors? Why do there have to be separate people testing the product?
The answer is simple yet complicated. The developers indeed test their code and in some rare cases that is sufficient, but most of the time they work only on one section of the app and it’s hard to understand how the whole app works, or they overrate their work and bypass some of the tests. It is not efficient.
The QA engineers have a different set of skills. They bring a human approach to the app, have a sharper eye to details than the end-users, they even doubt the work of the devs and try to prove them wrong by finding errors in their code. They create and execute test plans, write documentation, analyze test results. They ask themselves a lot of “What if?” questions and push the app to its limits and beyond that.
To put it bluntly, think of it like this: if you are a great chef and cook the most complex meals, even if you use the best products and taste them before serving someone, the last word will always be from the people who will actually eat those meals. And, in this case, the QA team is like a team of Michelin inspectors who are extremely qualified to check the quality through deep poly-perspective analysis.
What are the benefits of QA?
It saves time and money!
Based on recent research, the time spent to fix errors depends on the stage of the app in the Software Development Life Cycle. It can take up to 150x more to fix an error found in the production phase than in the requirements phase and 30x more than in the design phase.
Source: Infostretch
Based on the same research, the cost to fix the bugs during the production phase can be 60x-100x more expensive than in the requirements or design phase.
Source: Infostretch
Builds Reputation
Having a stable and bug-free product will increase the trust of the users and will bring positive reviews. It helps to distance yourself from your competitors.
There were many cases where companies lost the trust of their customers because of one error. We all make mistakes, there is no bug-less app out there, but to reduce the risk of bugs and errors we should not underestimate the QA value.
Competitive product
Having bugs in your app will only cause the users to leave negative reviews and even cause them to switch to your competition. Investing early on in testing will benefit in the long term and will build loyal users. Will make your product stand out in the market.
Conclusion
To summarize, Quality Assurance (QA) plays an important role in developing your product’s success. Will save you money and time in the long run and will also build trust among customers, ensure you do not have a low rating because of glitches, increase the number of users considering the good reputation (and, MRR of course), and cut costs in terms of customer service. All in all, the QA keeps competitors away! 🙌
About the author: Noje is the Head of Quality Assurance at Wolfpack Digital and has over 4 years of QA experience. He developed a love-hate relationship with bugs: he loves finding them and hates when he finds them at the same time. In his free time, he is a huge fan of video games, going out with his longboard, walking, and watching documentaries about new space discoveries.
