How do you test and validate your product quality before launching or releasing it to your customers?

Testing and validating product quality before launch involves several key steps. Start with internal testing, where your team rigorously evaluates the product against established standards and specifications. Conduct beta testing with a select group of external users to gather feedback on real-world usage, usability, and performance. Implement quality assurance protocols, including stress and endurance tests, to ensure durability and reliability. Analyze customer feedback from previous products to anticipate potential issues. Utilize industry-standard compliance checks and certifications, if applicable. Regularly review and update testing methods based on technological advancements and market trends.

To ensure our product meets Client needs, we need to test and validate its quality before launching it. Depending on our product’s type, stage, and complexity, we can use different testing strategies 1. Creating a version control sheet that contains the test results of all the features. This sheet shows the blockers and the working status of the features. You can share this sheet with the client as proof and update it as the features get updated 2. Creating test strategies based on requirements and product complexity 3. Defining user acceptance testing (UAT) criteria and updating them based on the results 4. Conducting beta/alpha testing 5. Running automation testing with valid input to check that the feature meets its requirements

Quality criteria is something that should be defined when we pick a user story/feature and lock the acceptance criteria. It’s very essential that we set the expectations right from the very beginning of the development keeping all the stakeholders in the same page. If we need to modify or change the AC later on due to either time or complexity or any other limitations, the quality expectation is to be modified accordingly.

Delivering a quality product depends on understanding and meeting customer expectations. Their satisfaction is based on their perception of our product and how well we meet their expectations.

Decide what 'good' means for your product. Is it strong? Does it last a long time? Is it easy to use? Make a list of these important things.

The testing strategy should be clearly outlined in the validation plan. The testing requirements,types of testing to be performed and details of the tester will be included in this plan.

I conduct tests that mirror how you'll use the products. For example, I stress test the straps to ensure they can handle weight, check the leather's color stability under various conditions, and repeatedly use zippers and clasps to guarantee their endurance. This approach ensures each item is not just elegant but also resilient and user-friendly.

The testing strategy should be clearly outlined in the test plan. The testing requirements, types of testing to be performed and details of the coverage will be included in this plan.

prenant l'exemple de Appele : Pour assurer la qualité d'un nouvel iPhone avant son lancement, Apple suit un processus rigoureux. Ils développent plusieurs prototypes, testés pour la fonctionnalité et la durabilité en laboratoire. Pendant la production, ils contr?lent les premières unités pour détecter des défauts. Des testeurs externes utilisent les iPhones dans des conditions réelles, et leurs retours permettent d'ajuster le produit. Avant le lancement, Apple valide que le produit respecte les normes et prépare le soutien client. Ce processus garantit que l’iPhone répond aux attentes élevées et aux normes de qualité.

Choosing tools that align with your team's specific needs and the nature of the product being tested is crucial. Some popular options include Jira for test case management, Selenium for automated testing, Postman for API testing, and TestRail for test planning and organization. Additionally, tools like Jenkins can be used for continuous integration and continuous deployment to streamline the testing process.

While it is important to Define the criteria for Product Quality in the first stage itself, it is also essential to keep reviewing the same and addressing the feedbacks through a proper PDCA approach. These feedbacks can be accumulated through - Personal Interviews, Pilot User Feedback, Benchmarking Studies, Market Surveys etc. It is important to incorporate these feedbacks and analyse and address the expressed issues.

While it is important to Define the criteria for Product Quality in the first stage itself, it is also essential to keep reviewing the same and addressing the feedbacks. - Can do inter-team demos - Demo your product with different teams

Based on my experience, I can say that user testing is one of the most effective methods of collecting and analyzing feedback. It allows you to see how customers actually use your product in real-world situations, which can provide valuable insights that you might not get through other feedback methods. Moreover, user testing can also help you test assumptions about your product and its features. You may find that users interact with your product in a way that you didn't expect, which can provide valuable insights.

To ensure product quality pre-launch: Requirements Analysis: Understand project requirements. Test Planning: Develop a comprehensive test plan. Manual Testing: Validate functionalities manually. Automated Testing: Implement automation for efficiency. User Acceptance Testing: Involve end-users for real-world validation. Non-Functional Testing: Assess performance, security, and usability. Regression Testing: Continuously verify existing functionalities. Compatibility Testing: Ensure consistent performance across platforms. Deployment Testing: Verify smooth deployment processes. Monitoring and Analytics: Implement tools for real-time insights. Continuous Improvement: Learn from testing cycles for ongoing refinement.

I recommend using various tools and techniques to implement and validate changes during product testing. Many trainees stumble at this very point. When used together, Git, Jenkins, Jira, Selenium, or JUnit can streamline the testing and validation process, ultimately leading to a more robust and reliable product.

Continuous improvement and Quality by design are essential elements in creating and maintaining high-quality products. It is important to continuously improve and refine processes and products to make them better, safer, and more effective.

There should be a post market surveillance team that continuously reviews complaints that may lead to PAEs. Continuous reviews of the feedback mechanisms will monitor and improve quality.

Keep your finger on the pulse. Tracking and improving product quality is key. - Track performance, usage, satisfaction. - Listen to customer feedback, reviews, complaints. - Use data to inform updates and improvements.

From the product compliance perspective, the right time for validation is during the product certification acquisition process. Before submitting the application we need to ensure the technical files e.g. test reports, certificates, specifications, brochure, photos, circuit diagram, Bill of Materials, rating label artwork, are in good order, which also means validation by documentation. Meanwhile for markets that requires product samples for local testing, it is again the best time to validate the samples are in robust, stable condition before sending aboard for certification.

First off, all your code should be unit tested by devs then tested by other devs to ensure accuracy and validity. Beyond that you can have QA testers offshore to test new features that go to market after the fact to ensure quality.