What are the 4 main qualities to look for in a professional tester?
Sometimes the test phases are sent too quickly or are performed by people who are not specialists in Quality Assurance. This is often caused by budgetary restraints or lack of time.
The fact remains that QA is a job in itseslf. Leaving this step to a professional is your best chance of getting a quality product; a product that makes your users happy and that will enable you to avoid inconveniences from negative user feedback after a launch or update.
How do you recognize a professional and make sure that the testing entrusted to them will be as efficient as possible?
> Here are the 4 qualities that you need to look for to ensure the support of an expert in the field.
Quality n°1 - They are involved in the project life cycle
Ideally, a professional tester must be involved throughout the product creation, for example, participating in the thought process of the team when developing a new feature.
However, too often the tester doesn’t come into play until the end of the production chain, after completion of the first version.
A professional tester knows how to organize themselves so they are involved in the development process. They free up time in the week to participate in meetings, take part in the product development therefore in doing so, they identify risky situations and prevent potential bugs.
Quality n°2 - they look to understand the end user
Essentially, the work of a tester is to test a product by using it in a way the end user would. This is rather hard to do if he doesn’t have a clue about the user and how they will use the product.
The professional tester is the user representative for the development team. In order to do the test in a relevant and effective way and to fix bugs that the end users will run into, it is imperative to know the user's environment and behaviour.
Therefore they will be in contact with future users to better understand how they will use the product and may replicate their approach in the tests.
Quality n°3 - tHey know how to prioritise
If there is something that must be known in the field of quality control, it’s that there is never enough time to test everything.
It is therefore crucial that the testers in charge know how to prioritise. That is to say, the test scenarios and features that cause the most problems, as well as the most critical project requirements, should be tested first. Also, the testers should know how to determine which features must be re-tested according to initially obtained results.
A professional tester knows which parts of the product potentially have the most bugs. They can therefore prioritise which tests to execute first, and even intervene during the production phase of the product alongside the development team to alert them of the potential danger zones.
Quality n°4 - tHey constantly seek to improve
The world of development (and the world of testing) is constantly evolving. How can you understand a product and confirm its features if you don’t master the languages, techniques and methods of this changing field?
A professional tester knows their strengths and weaknesses. They regularly question themselves and constantly seek to develop their knowledge to become more efficient.
>> Are you a tester in constant search of improvement? Do you manage a team that includes testers? Do you need resources to test your product? Keep this in mind ; these are the qualities that determine the performance and work ethic of a professional tester… and guarantee the best possible results in the long term.