How can you improve the cost-effectiveness of testing and quality assurance activities?

Business Analysts need to collaborate with testers early on in the requirements process. Testing must not be an afterthought and something done in order to achieve sign-off only. Testers need to be involved in planning, design, and development of functionality. Testers also understand systems really well as can add value in the requirements and design phase which can add additional cost savings.

Keeping an eye on the in-sprint deliverables is one of the key BA responsibilities. Scope can get easily overlooked when a solution is at a hand-off point e.g: dev to test team. Even with clearly defined requirements, there is a possibility that designers or developers take liberty to add an extra feature, perhaps to improve the performance or it was a simple task to do so. While it might sound pro-active, the risk is: 1. The test team might overlook it as it was never in the scope. 2. What one small feature is for a design or dev, might be several test scripts. As BA, it is crucial to ring-fence a sprint's scope and challenge anything that doesn't align with the Acceptance Criteria. Anything additional should go to the backlog.

1. Involve testers on very early stages of product development. Not only test managers or lead testers, but also regulars and/or juniors. They should be aware of product they’re gonna test. 2. Don’t run for automation until you know what, how and where can be automated with less effort comparing to manual testing. 3. Ask about deadlines not set that firm and then ask testers that they need to finish till deadline, that approach will never work properly.

Defining clear and realistic requirements is vital for cost-effective testing and QA. It allows efficient test planning and design, reduces rework, prevents scope creep, and improves communication between stakeholders, eliminate surprises for everyone during execution phase. Clear requirements enable effective prioritization of testing activities and accurate estimation of testing effort. This ensures focused and efficient testing, reducing costs and enhancing the product quality.

To enhance cost-effectiveness, my experience at John Hancock involved implementing streamlined processes and data-driven decision-making. Collaborating with IT partners led to a 30% reduction in claims processing time, reducing operational costs. Additionally, I utilized customer segmentation research to tailor quality assurance efforts, resulting in a 15% boost in customer satisfaction scores. This demonstrated how aligning strategies with business goals and optimizing processes can reduce costs while maintaining quality.

Here, the 80/20 method can work. Focus 80% of the time and resources in testing 20% of the most valuable activities. Also this can still be 70/30, it all depends on how dynamic the team and leadership is.

Effective testing and QA demands clear objectives, risk-based prioritization, and comprehensive planning. Develop a clear test strategy and plan, automate where feasible, prioritize regression testing, and integrate into CI/CD. Efficient test data and environment management are essential. Execute tests, prioritize critical defects, and track key metrics. Collaboration and feedback loops are crucial. Adapt to user feedback and continuous improvement. Conduct a cost-benefit analysis to allocate resources judiciously, balancing thoroughness and efficiency for high-quality results.

Agreed on Pareto principle. Prioritizing the most critical and important tasks for modules and features will help establish a strong foundation for future business efforts.

Choosing the right testing methods and tools is crucial for effective quality assurance. Start by understanding project requirements. Select testing methods (manual, automated, performance, etc.) and tools (Selenium, JMeter, etc.) aligned with your needs, budget, and resources. Consider scalability, integration, support, and compliance. Trial tools, gather team feedback, and assess long-term viability for informed decisions. Quality assurance success hinges on these choices.

From my experience working with testing teams, choosing the testing method by considering the objectives, the expectations, the team's skill set and resources available always lead to cost effectiveness.

I agree, but all depends on a project’s budget, human resources, and experience. The most valuable tools are human creativity, attention to details, and passion

For optimal cost-effectiveness in testing and QA, adhere to recognized best practices and standards. Implement a structured testing lifecycle, define clear strategies, and ensure meticulous planning. Techniques like boundary value analysis, pairwise testing, etc., are essential for designing efficient test cases. Following standards ensures alignment with industry benchmarks. And always, measure outcomes using metrics like defect density and test coverage to ensure top-notch QA performance.

Start with a clear test plan and link your tests to well-defined requirements. Create test cases with measurable steps. Manage test data and maintain stable test environments—Prioritise automation for repetitive and regression tests. Focus on traceability between requirements, tests, and defects. Follow industry best practices and standards like ISTQB, ISO 29119, or IEEE guidelines for consistency and quality. Conduct code reviews and static analysis. Prioritise testing efforts based on risk assessments and emphasise user-centric testing. Regularly update test cases and scripts, encourage knowledge sharing, and foster a culture of continuous improvement to ensure systematic and efficient testing practices.

Follow specific standards, maintain comprehensive documentation of test artifacts, invest in the continuous training and skill development for testing teams to keep up with quickly evolving technologies.

A key component to ensure all stakeholders involved are aligned is defining what problem the product solves. Often times a product can be designed and executed appropriately but misses the key reason it was initially designed to solve. Keeping that as part of the forefront conversation continues to ensure the product is still on target for success beyond testing and QA.

Maintain open and transparent communication, holding regular meetings and using collaborative tools. Clearly define roles and responsibilities, and encourage feedback and stakeholder engagement. Establish conflict resolution and decision-making processes. Ensure alignment with business goals, and celebrate achievements to boost morale. Effective listening, documenting agreements, and investing in training enhance communication and collaboration.

Collaboration and communication between cross-functional teams, including developers, testers and stakeholders during all stages and phases in a project is the most important.

As a BA that works closely works with QA I do not tell them on how to test. I like to work with QA on the test plans to make sure all requirement testing need is being tested. If something is not completely new then also have to cover regression testing is done make sure nothing is broken or changed with new requirements.

Start by engaging key stakeholders in the planning stage, where discussions should encompass not just the testing approach and scope, but also consensus on test execution. In today's landscape, many organizations are adopting continuous integration and deployment practices. To facilitate this, continuous testing with automation is essential, often involving the execution of tests in cloud-based VMs. It's advisable to take a holistic approach, covering everything from the initial test approach to reporting, and to consider an efficient testing strategy to ensure effectiveness.

Have good automation principles, in order to avoid duplication of code, and usage of unnecessary code. Apply otimization to your automation tests, follow the clean code ideas. If you have automated tests that cost too much when you need to update it, this is a problem, your tests should be simples, direct, independent, and with good manutenability.

Testing criteria must be a key component of any requirement and the requirement should not be considered complete if test criteria have not been defined.

QA is a value-adding function, helping businesses to capture the maximum value from the development of new features. To do this effectively requires the whole team take a proactive approach and bake quality in through the whole development cycle. 1.) Are requirements well-designed and documented? 2.) Are requirements reviewed early, allowing issues to be found proactively? 3.) Does the team review test cases with QA? 4.) Does the team have good documentation and deployment processes? This goes beyond QA alone, but at all phases the QA team should champion communication and process improvements to prevent bugs rather than find them. A bug prevented is cheaper than a bug found.