Always Give Attention to Detail
Having a fine eye for detail is arguably the most important skill for a QA engineer to possess. When going through the life cycle of any web development project, being able to spot errors early on in the process can prove to be a massive time-saver later down the line. Your attention to detail will improve a project’s accuracy, ensuring clients receive exactly what they signed off for.
Establish Clear Project Functionality Deliverables
Before running quality assurance checks on any project, make sure you have a clear understanding of what the client’s requirements are for functionality and design. This will inform what you need to look out for during the discovery, design and development phase of a build.
Having detailed notes of a project’s deliverables allows QA engineers to make test scripts and explore success criteria based on the project’s functional requirements. In turn, this allows developers, account managers and clients to rest assured that their project is being delivered to a high standard.
Follow Project Design Deliverables
It’s essential that the Design team’s vision, represented through visuals, is clearly communicated to guide the build process. These visuals are invaluable for QA, as they reflect the design elements agreed upon during the project’s Design phase.
QA engineers must have a thorough understanding of both the functional requirements and the design deliverables. While functionality has been discussed, it’s equally important to examine the design deliverables that will influence testing.
By aligning their testing with the approved designs, the QA team can ensure that any deviations from core functionality due to design changes are addressed, allowing them to update test plans as needed.
Time Management
Effective time management is a crucial element in any web development life cycle, ensuring that deadlines are consistently met throughout the process. It’s essential for every team member to manage their time efficiently to meet targets and deliver the final product to the client on schedule.
Work should be delivered in sprints, allowing for tasks to be planned, built, tested, and retested (if necessary) in a timely manner. This approach helps maintain workflow momentum and ensures that issues are identified and resolved early.
It’s also important that clients meet their own deadlines, especially regarding the delivery of website content. This typically occurs toward the end of the project, once most of the development has been completed and tested using placeholder or design-provided content. By providing the necessary content on time, clients help ensure that the project’s launch date remains on track and does not get delayed.
Defect Documentation
Defect documentation, also known as bug reporting, is a critical process for Quality Assurance (QA) engineers to communicate issues where functionality or design requirements are not being met.
A bug report typically includes detailed steps to reproduce the issue, the actual result observed, and the expected result based on the project’s design or functional requirements. Including screenshots or videos can further aid project managers or developers in understanding and addressing the issue efficiently.
A useful tool for this process is Marker.io, which serves as a centralised platform for reporting bugs. Both team members and clients (if permitted) can report issues, whether they are related to design, functionality, or general feedback. Marker.io integrates seamlessly with websites and syncs with JIRA boards, enabling real-time updates on bugs and improvements throughout the development process. This tool ensures that all stakeholders—Designers, Project Managers, Account Managers, Frontend Developers, Backend Developers, and QA Engineers—have clear visibility of reported issues, facilitating a smoother resolution process.
In Summary…
Quality assurance is the cornerstone of a successful website development project. From attention to detail and clear deliverables to time management and efficient defect documentation, each of the five QA elements we’ve explored plays a critical role in ensuring the final product meets the highest standards. By prioritising these factors throughout the development life cycle, you can confidently deliver a website that not only functions flawlessly but also aligns with the client’s vision.
At Propeller, we are dedicated to making sure your projects are executed on time and according to plan, with comprehensive QA practices at every stage. If you’re ready to take your web project to the next level with a trusted partner in design and development, contact us today to see how we can help bring your vision to life.
