7 Latest and Best Quality Assurance Services Practices

Today when software development companies strive hard to build innovative software solutions, their sole aim is to provide a flawless performance and frictionless experience that improves user satisfaction. So, whether they plan to launch a mobile, desktop, or web application, their complete focus gets diverted toward offering high-quality and reliable quality assurance services. Software quality assurance services are critical in determining whether the product or service meets the user expectations or complies with the highest functionality, security, and industry standards. 

However, the perception regarding quality assurance has changed over the years and it is no longer limited to implementing different types of testing practices, manual and automated to evaluate the platform’s performance. Much more advanced and modern practices have evolved with time and it has comprehensively reshaped how quality assurance specialists and software testers perform tests. 

Quality assurance services have become highly efficient and optimized to provide more accurate outcomes by integrating with transformative technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation, and adopting agile methodologies. 

The following article will walk you through the seven latest and best quality assurance practices that you can look to implement to test your software products. These strategies and practices will help you out whether you are rolling out a new software or upgrading an existing one. 

Shift-Left Testing 

There was a time when software testers and quality assurance teams would only come into play towards the end of the software development lifecycle. However, with the shift-left testing methodology gaining more traction, the quality assurance process has moved to a much earlier development phase. This has allowed the teams to identify and address the potential issues from the get-go. Shift-left practice enables QA teams to detect bugs quickly and precisely, which in turn minimizes the cost of fixing issues later.  

We can cite the example of social media giant Facebook, which has already adopted the shift-left testing approach, enabling developers to write tests alongside code. It allows Facebook to provide a seamless user experience. 

Test Automation

Although manual testing is still being carried out, the future belongs to test automation. Yes, quality assurance specialists are leveraging a wide range of advanced automated testing tools, including Appium, Selenium, and TestComplete; all allowing them to perform repetitive tasks and tests more efficiently. This means that they can conduct an improved meticulous test in less time. Automated testing has proved a boon for regression testing where you need to perform tests more frequently to ensure that new updates do not break the existing functionality. 

Automation has also accelerated the speed, accuracy, and consistency of software quality assurance testing, allowing the development team to release the system at its scheduled time and make it completely error-free. All top-notch companies like Google, Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, and others use test automation in their continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipeline.

AI-Powered Testing 

Probably you will agree with me that artificial intelligence is omnipresent, touching every feat of software development services. Certainly, quality assurance testing services aren’t an exception. AI is ready to revolutionize and change quality assurance through the integration of predictive analytics, intelligent defect detection, and automated testing processes. At the same time, it can efficiently analyze large datasets to identify patterns and help QA teams prioritize high-risk areas and perform smart testing. 

Advanced AI tools like Testim and Applitools Eyes offer innovative and modern capabilities, such as visual testing that can automatically identify user interface inconsistencies across devices and browsers. Thus,  the software development company can look to provide enhanced and improved user experiences. It is worth noting that video streaming app giant Netflix has already started using AI in its QA testing process which helps the company to anticipate issues based on historical data. 

Continuous Testing in DevOps 

It is interesting to note that DevOps practice and software quality assurance testing services are now going shoulder to shoulder with continuous testing playing the role of interconnecting the pipelines. Continuous testing is a modern test approach in which automated tests are integrated into every software development lifecycle (SDLC) phase to get instant and real-time feedback from users and fix the issues quickly as soon as they arise. 

Continuous testing aims to mitigate all loopholes during the development and speed up the release of new features and their updates. The popular tools used by top software companies are  Jenkins, Travis CI, and Bamboo. They help to ensure seamless integration, enhance development workflows, and minimize delays. 

Exploratory Testing 

In the previous point, we discussed automated testing and how it has brought a paradigm shift in quality assurance testing services by accurately testing the application features. Now, we will talk about exploratory testing, which has added a layer of human intuition. You must note that exploratory testing can only be performed by expert and proficient quality assurance specialists as it is unstructured and largely depends on identifying user behavior, use cases, edge cases, or areas where automation testing has not delivered the desired result. 

The best test cases and scenarios for performing exploratory tests are when dealing with complex software solutions or a personalized user-centric product where you require human interaction and feedback to identify potential problems and subtle bugs. 

One of the top-rated applications that carry out exploratory testing is Spotify to enhance their app’s user experience. Their quality assurance team explores different functionalities without predefining the test cases and mimics real-world user behavior to catch the issues. 

Crowdsourced Testing

As you may understand from the name, crowdsourced testing is a newly introduced trend in quality assurance testing services in which large groups of quality assurance specialists and software testers tap globally to provide access to a diverse range of platforms, devices, and environments. In this type of testing, QA teams can perform tests on different devices and networks instantly, gathering real-time feedback from users and eliminating bugs that may not be visible under usual testing. 

Crowdsourced testing is an ideal test scenario for multinational companies having worldwide customers. It ensures that software is working as per expectations in different environments and regions without compromising quality. 

The best example to quote for this type of testing is Uber which carries out crowdsourced testing to verify the functionality of its app across various devices and locations, ensuring smooth performance for users worldwide.

Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)

Behavior-driven development (BDD testing follows in the footsteps of the DevOps culture by establishing a robust collaboration between the QA team, developers, and non-technical stakeholders. Here the QA specialists mainly use simple languages like Gherkin syntax to ensure everybody understands what features and functions are being expected from the application. The focus remains on reducing all communication gaps and barriers and bringing the team on the same page, aligning with the product’s goal. 

The advanced tools used in behavior-driven development mainly include Cucumber and SpecFlow which help to write test cases in natural language. Software testers can easily convert these test cases into automated tests, making BDD more inclusive. Furthermore, it ensures that the final software product exceeds both business and user technical requirements. 

We can put forward the example of companies like Atlassian, which have adopted behavior-driven development test practices to ensure their Jira product features meet user expectations. 

Conclusion 

Quality assurance testing services have witnessed a sea change over the years and this evolution and improvement is going to further continue to make optimal quality software products. QA teams have many more facilities and advanced tools and technologies, including AI, automation, and DevOps practices to test and evaluate software products faster and more efficiently.  This allows businesses to deliver high-quality software, which in turn exceeds user expectations and enhances user experience. 

New and innovative testing procedures and methodologies are being developed and introduced in security and mobile application testing supported by cloud services. Hence, the landscape of QA has transformed from a daunting and burdensome task to a fun-filled and exciting challenge.