It is often tempting to begin with small-scale QA efforts or even postpone them altogether in favor of speeding up the development process. In today’s ever-changing world, everything must happen fast to keep up with the pace. However, such an approach can affect the bigger picture and undermine a company's potential for achieving long-term success. When the focus lies on constantly developing new features, the regression tests are designed without any strategic thought process, only following the ”whenever you have time” strategy.
This usually ends up with test cases that are too user-centric and difficult to automate later on. The outcome is huge regression portfolios which don’t bring in too much of a value. Why? Because they are the result of piling up test cases – while nobody is brave enough to delete the useless ones. Starting too late with testing results in low value generated from testing and higher testing costs.
So, in the fast-paced world of software development, the importance of starting early with testing activities and quality assurance (QA) cannot be overstated. Testing strategy, test levels, test data management, test reporting, the split between manual and automated testing as well as the split between progression and regression testing, can never be defined too early.
In this blog post, we will describe the importance of getting started with testing and QA early to significantly influence the success of a business: from improved product quality and customer satisfaction to cost savings and competitive advantage.
Starting small is risky in several different aspects:
- Incomplete Quality Coverage: Starting with limited QA activities may result in inadequate test coverage, leaving critical areas untested. Insufficient testing increases the risk of undetected defects and potential issues slipping through the cracks, leading to poor product quality
- Increased Technical Debt: Delaying QA activities can accumulate technical debt, which refers to the extra work required in the future to fix issues that were ignored or overlooked. Technical debt can hinder future development and innovation by diverting resources and time from new feature development to fixing existing problems
- Reactive Approach to Quality: A small-scale approach to QA may result in a reactive rather than proactive mindset. Instead of actively preventing defects, the team becomes focused on fixing problems as they arise, leading to a cycle of firefighting and a slower overall development pace
- Limited Scalability: Neglecting to establish robust QA processes early on can make it challenging to scale up testing efforts as the project grows. Inadequate QA practices can cause bottlenecks, delays, and decreased productivity when attempting to handle larger workloads or expanding the development team
- Missed Opportunities: By neglecting comprehensive QA early on, a company may miss valuable insights and feedback from users, limiting their ability to refine and improve their product. Valuable data from early testing can inform product enhancements, address user pain points, and drive innovation, all of which are missed if QA is postponed
- Competitive Disadvantage: In today's fast-paced and highly competitive market, delivering high-quality products is a key differentiator. Starting small with QA activities may put a company at a competitive disadvantage compared to competitors who prioritize quality from the beginning, potentially losing market share as a result
As a whole, all these factors mentioned above lead to insufficient QA practices, which in turn can result in dissatisfied customers who experience frequent issues or poor usability. Negative customer impact can damage the company's reputation, hinder customer acquisition and retention, and ultimately impact the bottom line. Even though starting off with QA activities on a small scale may save some immediate costs, it can lead to higher expenses down the line with the increased need for customer support, late-stage bug fixing and potential loss of business due to quality issues. In the end, this can incur significant financial implications.
Instead, we advise you to get started early with robust QA activities early to ensure long-term success, improved product quality, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Are you curious to learn more about the importance of QA and how testing can help you achieve your business goals? Reach out!