An Evolution of a Software Tester's Role in 2020

Product Quality is an utmost important instrument for organizations to have a winning edge over competitors. So, demand for Product Quality has become huge, and this empowered Software Testing to evolve from a mere stage in Software Development Lifecycle to a huge market.

Every year, Software Testing industry has been evolving with new trends, tools, and technologies. As these advancements are happening, the role of Software Testers is also evolving.

“Software Testing, a billion-dollar industry is weighed on the skills of Software Testers.”

In this blog, we are going to talk about the evolution of a Software Tester’s role in 2020. We are going to cover both interpersonal and technical evolution of a Software Tester’s role.

Personal Evolution of a Software Tester

Primary Duties of a Software Tester in 2020 are Around Communication

Establishing good communication with Product Owners, Business Analysts, Project Managers, Developers, and the Client is essential for testers to improve the organization’s software testing efficiency, profitability, and product quality.

For a deeper understanding of the application under test, Testers need to communicate with Product Owners, Business Analysts, and the client. And, to inform the regular progress of testing, status on the bugs, and other quality metrics of the project, testers communicate with Project Managers and Quality Heads.

Along with basic communication skills, testers also need to focus on written and verbal communication. Having good written and oral communication will help testers to convey the information clearly and precisely. More detailed information always results in good output.

For example, the way a tester communicates about a defect while reporting it becomes crucial for developers to understand and fix the defects.

The Definition of Productivity for a Software Tester will Transform in 2020

Productivity is the measurement of what you’re doing to achieve your target. It is more satisfying and rewarding for a tester when his work becomes impactful on the product or application under test’s quality.

By having discussions with the stakeholders like Business Analyst, Project Manager, and clients, testers need to comprehend the functionality of the Software Application for future release and based on insights gained they should prioritize the execution of tests. Execution of high prioritized tests assist in detecting critical detects early. Early identification of critical defects enables to save the cost of a defect and reduce the impact of a defect.

Testers need to have a checklist before they start a day or week, and the tasks in the checklist should be achievable and focused. Being multitasking is not good for testers as each task’s effectiveness imply on the product quality.

The other important interpersonal skills Software Testers should have in 2020 include: Time Management, Adaptability, Detail Oriented, Listening, Analytical, and Creativity.

Technical Evolution of a Software Tester

Ability to work in Test Automation Coupled Manual Testing Environment

According to the Capgemini World Quality report, organizations should consider Teste Automation as a broad, smart and connected. Testers become integral to that platform, an opposite thing that people are assuming about Test Automation killing testing jobs.

Test Automation removes the manual effort of performing repetitive testing, giving time for testers to do exploratory testing and usability testing to improve the overall application quality. Therefore, Test Automation becomes undeniable to save cost, time and effort, and tester’s ability to improve the application’s functional accuracy.

In 2020, testers need to become adaptable to work in Test Automation coupled Manual Testing environment.

Domain Knowledge Helps Testers to Create Tests for Improved Functional Coverage

Functional Coverage is directly dependent on the tests created to test the functionality and functional test creation is again dependent on the tester’s domain knowledge on the application under test. Without domain knowledge, testers can create basic level test cases to cover high-level functionality and this impact functional coverage.

For example, when a tester is working for a life insurance application and he/she has the domain knowledge of life insurance, then they can create a good number of tests covering low, medium and high complexity functionalities. The number and the complexity of tests decide the functional coverage percentage.

So, testers must learn distinct vertical’s domain knowledge to stay relevant for the evolving software tester role in 2020.

Thought Process like an End User to Improve Defect Exploration and User Satisfaction

The quality of the software is not only about how accurate the functionalities of an application are; but also, the end-user satisfaction. Whether it is a B2B or B2C application, end-user satisfaction entails the success of it. So, testers need to have a thought process like an end-user and mimic the end-user behavior on the application to explore defects and hurdles for user satisfaction.

In functional testing, test steps in test cases are executed sequentially to validate the result. Whereas, application testing end-user perspective doesn’t any predefined tests and it is dependent on tester’s skill.

Applications’ success hinge upon end-user satisfaction. So, testers who can mimic end-user behavior becomes the need of the hour in 2020.

Conclusion

Testers need to understand and align themselves with the ever-evolving Software Development and Software Release cultures. A decade ago, testing used to work in desolation but today, it is well coupled with software development and an organization’s business goals. So, testers should ensure to add business value.