I recently had a conversation with a Development Manager at a company based in Leeds. We were discussing when to involve the QA Team in a release we were planning, I argued that there was little value in wasting the QA guys’ time until we were feature complete. After all, everything was still subject to change and they’d only have to repeat those test again at a later date.
Ironically I now hold the opposite view.
If you walked up to me today and asked at what stage of development you should bring QA resource into a project I would always advise that as soon as the developers start coding it’s too late.
Your QAs are not automated test machines, I can crank out a few Selenium scripts to test a UI during my lunch hour! Your QA team are there to ensure that the features you deliver are the highest quality they possibly can be. So when does quality begin? I would argue in the design phase!
I’m currently working with a QA who, for a variety of reasons is trying to work out all a feature’s permutations eighteen months after the design was originally done. He’s documenting these, generating Functional Tests for them, and raising bugs where required. This is incredibly time consuming and takes lots of time from him, a development resource, and the Product Owner. Imagine if he’d had the opportunity to work this out before development work had begun!
The key here is to allow you Product Owner, QA, and Developer to create the spec together. The developer sets to work and the QA begins creating their functional tests, as soon as the feature is code complete your QAs are ready to go!
So, my original concern was that our testers would have to continue to test over and over again. Yes, this is a risk, however, when would you rather be alerted to any issues… as the developer is adding finishing touches, lining up buttons and tidying Unit Tests, or six weeks after they’ve finished? I know which I’d prefer!
This is where the distinction between Functional Tests and Signoff Tests becomes important. Functional Tests are used to test every permutation of a feature, to verify it against the spec, and to perform regression testing after substantial change. Signoff Scripts are to protect your critical functionality. Use your Functional Tests early to ensure that the newly created feature behaves according to spec, use your Signoff Scripts to verify your functionality before a release.
Get your QAs involved in your spec documents, organise your Sprint so they create tests while the developer codes, and get timely feedback on your features while you’re still in a position to fix them.
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