Lets talk about QA
- What is it?
- What makes a you good QA?
- Why is QA necessary?
- Is QA given its due importance?
QA in its bare essence is constructive criticism. That is it. It is later developed into viable skill with knowledge, creativity and a healthy dose of common sense (as basic as that sounds). You take or are given something unfinished, you are asked or required to see what is out of it's place or what could work in that place instead. However, as simple as it may seem, it is quite deceptive in nature. It is great for people who get a moral high from criticizing but that wears off quickly. Anyone can make a life here. But only few reach their goals.
One could be in QA all their life and remain but a statistic on paper. On the other hand, one could be a natural QA because for them, everything is out of place. Neither will be successful without balance. To be a good QA, your goal is to balance what you can do with what is needed. Your next goal is to improve yourself to the next stage. Not for promotion or praise, but to stay relevant. First few years of your career are not to make money, nor are they to establish yourself. They are to show you what the world is and where you stand. You gauge yourself and make your move. You always gauge yourself. No matter who you are. Learn from past experiences, adapt to situations, implement what you learnt. There will always come a time when you will seem out of touch or inadequate. It is natural. And if you do not feel inadequate after a while, you should. No knowledge, no experience or lesson stays relevant for long in this ever changing world. This is not to say always be questioning yourself. No. Have confidence in what you do. But, look at yourself in relation to where the world stands. Stay contemporary.
As a matter of requirement, QA is as necessary as the product itself. Compare 2 video games, set 1.5 decades apart. Yes, the size, complexity and technology used are too different. But considering the technological limitation one faces in their own age, they can be put in the same boat. Now, purely as an example, do you remember if you constantly downloaded patches over your 128-256Kbps dial-up connection to make your copy of Diablo 1 run properly or do you remember seeing the release day launch error of Diablo 3? As time goes on, as products become bigger, more ambitious, QA is necessary more than ever to ensure that a product's vision reaches it's intended goal. Given proper time and resources, even a bad product will look good if it is clean. But even a good product will become bad if QA is not given enough time. This is not a sly attempt to keep QA relevant or to blow its importance out of proportion. This is to emphasize on the fact that QA is the first and last line of defense. There is no getting around it.
The last question is debatable. The region, the type of company, the type of people and the product decide this. For example, a small company might pay more attention to their QA while a AAA company might think it is a necessary sacrifice to meet seemingly arbitrary deadlines or vice versa. There is no stereotype. However, from my not so inconsiderable experience, most of the times, Quality Assurance is respected, not the one who Assures. Do take this point considering my experience was limited to one region of one country. However, i have had the fortune of coming into contact with some big developers and some big names of the industry. But i saw a similar pattern. Maybe i was not lucky enough to have met more people who could provide me with a different view. But i do believe that the other side exists. Because this industry would not exist without this balance. So, based on this, should you as QA think you are unnecessary? No. Your role is one of absolute importance. Even if you are not given your worth, if you have done justice to your job then you are what is needed. Your position in a company is answerable to everyone above you. However, You are not. You are only answerable to yourself and to anyone who You deem worthy. You make your position respectable and irreplaceable. And if you cannot, give way. Do not fight. It is not the same as giving up. It is just you finding your place in this industry. There is always a place for you. Somewhere. All life is, is to find it. And that makes it worth it.
I have been in this industry all my career, however small in comparison. I love it. It has given me so much. Knowledge, people and the best of all, a big reason to be better than what i was or am. Yes, i would have liked to have had a few things differently, but that is not how it works. That is not how any of this works. You make the best with what you have and move on. QA is a part of life, if chosen as a career. But life is so much bigger than this. So rather than concentrating on what is going wrong now, see a better future with what is going right. See QA as a journey. A first step to becoming something you would be proud of. And also have the satisfaction that you helped or made a basic contribution to making a product experience good for someone. That you brought smiles to their faces. Or just made money off of this, if that was your goal all along. In which case, ignore most of this article. Whatever makes you happy :)
This is my first article in LinkedIn. But not as an intention to continue writing more. I just wanted to share my experience. Thank you if you made it till here in the article. You my friend have patience. Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Stay Happy.