QA Has Come a Long Way. Thank God It Did

Back in the 1950s, software testing made space exploration possible. Sure, it wasn’t the only thing that established this milestone of technological progress. But the very first spacecraft launch would be very different without proper validation.?

This sentiment holds true today. Without quality assurance, modern digital products would be a graveyard of missed opportunities and unrealized ideas. And the past decade has proven how much power QA holds.

But it wasn’t always like this. So, let’s take a stroll down memory lane to see the unbelievable journey of software testing.

Testing Takes Its First Steps

Since the establishment of software testing as an actual practice, it has been extremely logical. You design, build, test, and release. And for a long time, this approach seemed simple and elegant. More importantly, it worked.

In the 20th century, software was already rather common. Software testing, however, wasn’t the star of the show (yet). The focus was on advancing the more promising things computing brought. And that’s when we saw the birth of modern programming languages, personal devices, and the formalization of software development.

Also, at that time, software predominantly existed to simplify tasks for big organizations. They used it for:

• Scientific and mathematical calculations.
• Business and financial applications.
• Word processing and document management, etc.

And that’s the main reason for the prolonged use of standard models like Waterfall. There was simply no need to advance testing when all the eyes were on development.?

Yet, it all changed when tech became the norm.?

• In 1999, global shipments of personal computers exceeded 100 million.
• In 2002, this number reached 500 million.
• And in 2008, it surpassed 1 billion.

As soon as personal devices became prevalent, app development boomed. And thus, software turned into a highly profitable niche.?

This prompted market saturation. And as we know, competition drives innovation. This was the moment testing reappeared with a new mission – deliver near-perfect products quickly.

Agile Becomes the Turning Point

Today, agile methodologies are nothing special. We’re all aware of the benefits it offers, and it has promptly made conventional testing obsolete. But in 2001, the Agile Manifesto was a miracle.?

Upon recognizing the inefficiencies of traditional software development, a group of 17 visionaries sought to make a change.?

1. Waterfall-like models were too inflexible for the rapidly shifting impact points of software development.
2. Rigid processes and extensive documentation brought far less value than expertise and communication.?
3. Traditional methodologies struggled to adapt to changing requirements, leading to project delays and increased costs.?
4. They often kept customers at a distance until the end of the development cycle. This resulted in misalignments between the product and customer expectations.
5. While useful, documentation often took precedence over the actual creation of functional and effectual software.
6. Prevalent at the time approaches also focused too much on the end-result rather than the process that delivered the outcome.

After realizing the edge Agile offers, companies began adopting it quite swiftly. And today, 95% of organizations use agile practices.?

While change is always good, it’s rarely easy. We see many try out agile methodologies primarily for their benefits. Yet, few understand what they mean for the bigger picture. The Manifesto was not about the perks of the new approach. It was about transformation.

And, frankly, a lot of projects struggle with implementing Agile properly. They seem to opt for bits of it that fit current procedures instead of overhauling the entire process.?

The maturity of the Agile culture is yet to come. But we can’t wait to see what embracing it to the fullest will do.

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QA Adapts to the New Reality

As the approach to software development shifted, testing needed to follow suit. QA specialists needed to know and do more. A definitive proof of this was the establishment of the ISTQB certification program in 2002. As it strived to give testers the resources they needed to embrace their new role – QA engineering.

From Testers to QA Engineers

“In many ways, being a good tester is harder than being a good developer because testing requires not only a very good understanding of the development process and its products, but it also demands an ability to anticipate likely faults and errors.” – John D. McGregor

Before, testers occupied a more reactive role. They were tasked with finding issues. And that’s about it. But since their bug-hunting mission was something that allowed teams to rectify errors, it was time to broaden the QA’s reach.?

Since you can identify mistakes with a nearly ready product, why not try and do the same but earlier??

This notion meant QA’s deeper involvement in the development processes. And so, testers began to focus on:

• Preventing defects.
• Improving quality-related procedures.
• And ensuring that the software met the desired quality standards.

QA engineers always had a decent understanding of the product they were working with. They couldn’t do their job without it. But they began to apply this expertise to design and implement effective testing strategies and analyze the results.

In turn, this allowed QA specialists to deepen their development knowledge further. And they could implement it to refine existing practices.

Thus, testers were no longer a “quite useful side hustle”. They became an integral, quality-defining part of the SDLC.

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Automation Takes Center Stage

The introduction of automation could be equated to the AI revolution of today. It was to dissolve human labor and be the catalyst of innovation. And it did precisely that. Just not in the way everyone envisioned.?

Automated testing didn’t replace people. Instead, it pushed them to new horizons. Because with this new tech, businesses needed experts who would set up and run it.?

Just a few years ago, 42% of companies placed automation at the core of their QA processes. And this number continues to grow. Does it mean that QA engineers are our jobs? On the contrary. Skilled experts are needed more than ever.?

As, sure, you can jump on any shiny tool you want. But if you don’t know how to use it properly, what’s the point?

Automation’s efficiency boost and QA engineers’ aptitude in using it right created a testing powerhouse. But it also introduced a fresh issue.

With the desire to maximize the value of automation, many began to go all in. And that often meant automating unnecessary tests and adding features that were useful only momentarily.?

This “automation for the sake of automation” mindset took a toll on many projects. What’s more, manual checks took the back seat. And even more products suffered from the lack of human touch.?

Thankfully, the automation vs manual conflict soon became a duet. Now, companies strive to combine the two so that each brings its unique advantages to software development. It’s all about reaching a balance. So, a few tips from us as a QA company:

1. Don’t replace manual with automated testing where it’s not optimal.
2. And find the right mixture of these that works for your business.

?? How to Reach the Right Level of Automation?

QA Intertwines with Development

After learning how the closer involvement of QA affects the product, it was time to take it to the next level. Companies wanted to capitalize on the transformation of the testing role. And DevOps and the shift-left approach helped refine it.

From DevOps, potentially the most impactful change was the integration of QA engineers and developers. Before, there was a somewhat hostile atmosphere between them. But what DevOps did with this mindset is incredible.?

QA specialists and devs began to work closely together. That meant collaboration from the initial stages of requirement gathering and design discussions all the way to maintenance. They shared responsibility for ensuring software quality. And QA experts contributed to code reviews, test automation efforts, and continuous improvement initiatives alongside developers.?

This cooperation fostered a culture of transparency, communication, and accountability, leading to faster delivery of high-quality software products.

Thus, QA and devs were no longer at odds. Combined, their skills created a storm of expertise that could do anything. And 99% of organizations acknowledged the positive impact of DevOps on their businesses. Teamwork is indeed dreamwork.

Another part of the “tricky scheme” that made development and QA join forces was the shift-left approach. It further supported the notion of QA engineers not being the gatekeepers of quality but its active participants.

If we condense the meaning of “shift left” to its essence, we get the core task of testing earlier. But, oh, it was so much more than that. QA engineers started to:

• Contribute to requirement gathering and analysis.?
• Collaborate with developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to ensure quality took precedence early on.
• Devise comprehensive test plans and strategies that are aligned with business goals and quality standards.
• Provide continuous feedback to development teams regarding the quality of code and the effectiveness of testing efforts.?
• Monitor test results, analyze defects, and identify areas for improvement, iterating on test cases and strategies as needed.?

QA soon turned into the middleman between tech and business specialists, as they knew enough about both extremes of software to secure result-driven communication. That’s why, with our experts, we never make soft skills secondary. With how the role of software testing evolved, being an apt professional is about two aspects:

1. Understanding how a QA engineer’s job affects the teams.
2. And knowing how to work with them.

One cannot exist without the other. So, don’t prioritize expertise over people. A good specialist that frustrates everyone around them will, sooner or later, ignite chaos.

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The Rise of Full-Stack Specialists

With time, software development took its present form. Agile continued to expand its reach. DevOps turned more and more prevalent. And the shift-left approach cemented itself as “the way”, with 61% of businesses noting an increase in product quality.?

But the progression of QA had no intention of stopping. As they say, complacency breeds stagnation. So, yet another modification awaited software testing specialists.?

As software systems became more complex and interconnected, a need for QA professionals who could navigate the entire software stack appeared.

Full-stack QA engineers are adept at both manual and automation testing. They can develop and maintain test suites using a variety of frameworks and tools. In fact, simultaneous proficiency in manual and automated QA gives engineers an edge. They are able to use manual testing knowledge to refine automated tests and vice versa.

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Another defining trait of such experts is their ability to conduct end-to-end testing. They are well-versed in testing various components of an application, including:

• Front-end interfaces.
• Back-end services.
• APIs.
• Databases.
• And infrastructure.?

In short, full-stack QA specialists possess a comprehensive skill set that lets them handle tasks across different layers of the software stack.

The demand for these engineers continues to grow as organizations seek versatile professionals who can handle diverse testing requirements in a quickly shifting, competitive market. Their ability to contribute to various aspects of testing makes them invaluable assets to development teams.

That’s why we, as a QA company, motivate our specialists to develop professionally. And we strive to provide any desired resources – from the knowledge base and practical training to ISTQB certification programs.

We must ensure that QA engineers not only become the strength for any project they’re working on, but also realize their own potential and never cease to reach new heights.?

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Customer-Centricity Levels Up QA

With all these changes, software development and testing finally reached an equilibrium. A proven method was established, and the optimal approaches defined. Now, high-quality products are, frankly, nothing special.

“All industries have set standards that a project should reach to compete. And, unfortunately, that has become the goal for many businesses – to be ‘good enough’ to enter the rivalry.” – QA Madness

Companies needed something else to set them apart. And that would be customer-centricity.

With the proliferation of digital products and services, user experience has become a critical differentiator for businesses. As in 2023, 80% of consumers prioritized usability. It was no longer enough to meet client expectations. Organizations needed to exceed them.?

As the era of the customer dawned, QA experts had to revamp themselves yet again. This time, they needed to think and act like a user to please the user.

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Customers became the core aspect of nearly every testing task.

• QA specialists focused on usability, UI, and UX testing to secure ease of navigation, intuitiveness, accessibility, and responsiveness.
• Rather than relying on predefined scenarios, QA teams sought input from end users through beta testing, user surveys, and usability studies.?
• Software testing engineers placed greater emphasis on performance optimization.?
• And they intensified the collaboration with designers to ensure alignment between visual appeal and value.

Some may think that this self-orientation towards users is another pebble in their shoe. But, in fact, customer centricity was long overdue. Because no company can afford to forget who makes their success possible – clients.?

For quite some time, we’ve encouraged readers of our blog not to view customers as a “check box”. We’ve completed all this testing, now let’s think about how a real person will use the product. This mindset is simply a loss of potential.

Be it your audiences or teams, try to genuinely understand them. And you will be able to create a product that no one could imagine in their wildest dreams.

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Modern Tech Defines QA’s Future

And, of course, we can’t forget about the MVPs of our age. AI, ML, and cloud computing – the father, son, and the holy spirit of this century.?

Cloud testing is already widely adopted. It allows QA engineers to work with a refined infrastructure and scale their efforts easily.?

As for testing with AI and ML, it’s yet to establish itself as a universal, mature practice. Quite a few companies, like Facebook and Netflix, already implement this tech in their QA processes. And nearly 78% of businesses plan or already use AI and ML in their workflows.

In the future, we’ll see the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning as fully-fledged aspects of testing. But for now, they are in their experimentation stage.?

Soon, another small step for QA specialists, a giant leap for mankind, will take place.

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution.” – John Ruskin

The journey of software testing is utterly inspiring. And it would never be possible without each person who was a bit obsessed with being and doing better.?

And we all could learn a thing or two from QA engineers who beat all odds to come out on top. Because today, they are synonymous with “quality”.

Have you started implementing a quality-centric approach in your company?

Share your experience below!