Software development is a fast-moving industry where modern software is constantly changing. This warrants a testing approach that is more fluid, organic, and iterative. Agile QA processes integrate with the four fundamental principles of agility—speed, flexibility, quality, and collaboration.
Rising Adoption of Agile QA in Software Development Projects
If development teams incorporate QA activities within the development life cycle, following a shift-left approach, it becomes easier and cheaper to fix defects. Additionally, a culture of constant testing and feedback leads to quick identification of bugs in the early stages of development eventually leading to shorter development cycles, improved customer satisfaction, and organizational competitiveness. Agile QA is a continuous process that is incorporated early into the development cycle. It enables constant testing, early identification of bugs, and quick feedback.
One major benefit of agile QA is in integrating test automation. Test automation supports the frequent testing required in Agile environments. This helps to identify a regression and ensure the newly developed functionality works as expected.
Agile QA also improves collaboration between QA team and the developers, product owners, and other members at all stages of development. This level of integration enables effective communication, enhanced understanding of requirements, and issue resolution faster.
Let us take a look at the various steps and approaches to adapt agile QA approach in software delivery.
Approaches to a Agile QA process
1. Involve QA from the start
Involving QA professionals in the project planning meetings is a key aspect of Agile approach. They can help in defining and refining acceptance criteria for user stories, ensuring that quality requirements are clearly articulated and understood by the entire team. They contribute valuable insights into shaping the project’s quality standards and testing strategies. They can understand the project’s goals, constraints, and potential quality risks from a QA perspective. Agile approach places QA team from a gatekeeping role to that of a quality enabler by integrating their plan for appropriate testing methodologies, tools, and resources needed throughout the project.
2. Follow a Test-Driven Development (TDD) approach
One significant reason to involve the QA team at the early stages of development lifecycle is to follow a TDD practice. In TDD approach, QA professionals collaborate with developers to create test cases before the actual code is written. Developers then write code to pass these tests. This forces developers to think about potential issues and edge cases before writing code. TDD helps in maintaining high test coverage, reduce the probability of bugs making it into production, leading to more robust and well-designed software.
3. Implement Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)
BDD stems from the concept of TDD by focusing on the behavior of the system from the user’s perspective. It bridges the gap between technical and no-code stakeholders by writing test cases in natural language. The “Given-When-Then” format of BDD is closer to everyday language and has a shallower learning curve compared to other tools. BDD enhances existing agile processes enabling timely, reliable releases of working software.
4. Integrate Continuous integration and continuous development (CI/CD)
Integrate code changes frequently and run automated tests with each integration. Leverage CI/CD tools to automatically build and test code changes, often multiple times a day. This constant feedback loop helps catch bugs early, reduces integration issues, and maintains a consistently releasable product.
5. Automate regression testing
Agile projects pass through multiple iterations increasing the chance of regressions (breaking existing functionality). Automated regression testing involves creating and maintaining a suite of tests that can be run quickly and frequently to ensure that new changes haven’t broken existing features. This practice assures development teams to make changes confidently and maintains software quality over time.
6. Segregate high-risk and low-risk test areas
Agile QA approach aims at optimizing time so prioritizing risk before testing is essential. This involves segregating test subjects into high-risk and low-risk areas. High-risk areas receive more thorough testing, while lower-risk areas might undergo less rigorous checks. This approach ensures that the most critical parts of the application receive adequate attention, even under tight deadlines.
7. Plan Sprint Sessions
Sprint planning helps in integrating quality considerations into the development activities within the team. Sprint sessions help QA professionals collaborate with the development team and product owner to discuss the plan of work within the next sprint and make changes to the list of requirements. Involving QA in Sprint ensures that acceptable user story characteristics are described in a clear and measurable manner. These points improve the way the team understands and provides for possible quality problems, defines testing needs, and checks that all needed testing resources and time are available
Apart from backlog grooming, QA also can contribute to the conversation with regards to aspects of the features that are best suited for testing and offers recommendations on how to enhance user stories to make test processes less complex or increase the software’s quality.
This is because, in the context of implementing the testing process, such an approach to planning contributes to the generation of a joint vision regarding quality and the integration of testing into the development phase rather than its addition as an appendix.
8. Conduct daily stand-ups
Daily stand-ups serve as an essential platform for QA people to align with the development team. QA team members are able to inform others about their work in testing, indicating the present obstacles that they encountered or potential quality problems that require attention instead of these issues getting piled up over the course of a week or so.
Stand-ups allow immediate addressing of QA issues and enhance the general flow of the project through quick identification of any quality issues that may be hindering the project flow.
9. Implement pair Programming and peer reviews
Pair programming and peer reviews are highly effective in improving Agile team productivity. In pair programming, one programmer writes code while the other reviews it in real-time, fostering immediate feedback and minimizing errors. Peer reviews involve developers examining each other’s work, which helps catch problems early, ensures adherence to coding standards, and promotes knowledge sharing. These practices lead to higher-quality code, reduced time on testing and debugging, and create a collaborative environment where team members continuously learn and share responsibility for the development process.
10. Implement defect management
Defect management is crucial in Agile development, focusing on identifying and addressing defects early to maintain high-quality standards throughout the development process. Tools like JIRA help teams track and manage defects, allowing for better communication among developers, testers, and stakeholders. This approach prevents the accumulation of issues, identifies recurring problems, and improves development protocols. Effective defect management ensures that all team members comprising of testers, developers, and other stakeholders are aligned on product quality, enhancing overall organizational performance.
11. Convene retrospective meetings
Retrospective meetings in Agile QA focus on continuous improvement by regularly reviewing the QA process. These meetings help teams discuss successes and areas for improvement, using metrics like defect density and test coverage to gauge effectiveness. Post-iteration retrospectives help teams to identify what went well and what could be improved in their testing approach. Retrospectives bring together cross-functional perspectives and promote collaboration, helping to break down the “us-vs-them” mindset between teams. The typical stages include preparation, data gathering, identifying what worked and what didn’t, planning next steps, and concluding the retrospective to enhance QA practices over time.
12. Adopt shift-left testing approach
Shift-left testing involves engaging QA specialists early in the development process, starting from the requirements gathering and design stages rather than waiting until after coding begins. This proactive approach allows potential issues to be identified and addressed before they become costly problems, ensuring that the software meets quality standards from the outset. By focusing on preventing defects during the design phase, shift-left testing leads to higher-quality software and reduces production costs.
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