Quality Assurance, Quality Analyst, or Test Analyst, better known as QA, this profession is related to ensuring quality in products, processes, and services. QA professionals play a critical role in various industries, including the technology sector.
In the case of digital products, user experience is a primary concern. Therefore, even though the entire development team is committed to product quality, making mistakes is human. This is where a professional responsible for analyzing whether the product is functioning in the best way for the consumer comes in. The main goal of a QA person is to ensure that products or services meet or exceed the quality standards set by the client.
Some of the key responsibilities of a QA professional may include:
- Developing and implementing test strategies, identifying problems and defects, and providing solutions to improve overall quality.
- Creating and executing test plans (which tests to use?), analyzing test metrics and data to assess the effectiveness of QA processes.
- Reporting bugs and identifying areas for improvement in development processes and implementing solutions by collaborating with development teams to fix issues.
- Exploratory testing. QAs have an explorer’s instinct, maintaining a user’s perspective, they can analyze the use of what is being developed from various angles and perform tests on things that were not described as requirements to be analyzed.
The QA profession requires strong technical and analytical skills. Professionals must be able to identify areas of risk, anticipate potential issues, and ensure that products or services are thoroughly tested. Therefore, these professionals also need to have some skills such as:
Good communication – To communicate clearly to developers the details that need to be corrected in a product.
Knowledge of key technologies – Because they are in constant contact with the development team discussing product details, it is crucial to know the main technologies involved in running software, such as operating systems like Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android, for example.
Understanding logs – It is interesting that QA personnel understand which logs to look for, find error codes, and how to open and conduct research on them.
Understanding web fundamentals – Understanding HTTP selectors, HTML, DOM, CSS, for example, which provide the foundation for most systems the person will work with.
In addition, they need to be detail-oriented and have an extremely critical view, problem-solving skills, and the ability to work in teams, as they often collaborate with developers, designers, and other project team members.
Increasingly involved in the entire software development cycle, from the beginning of the process to the final delivery, the profession offers various career opportunities. But it is necessary to be aware that items closer to the development layer may be required, so it is important to expand knowledge and evolve. The demand for QA professionals is high, especially in sectors where product reliability is essential, such as software development, but dedication is required to become a sought-after professional.
In conclusion, QAs play a critical role in ensuring the quality of products and services, helping to identify and resolve issues before they affect end customers. Playing a critical role in building reliable and high-value products, they contribute to maximizing results, as prior error correction prevents the loss of time, money, and even gains the client by adding value to the delivery.
Verx Editorial.