The best-engineered product in the world can still be a failure if users don’t like it. According to a Localytics survey, 21% of users abandon an app after just one use, and 62% stop using an app after ten or fewer uses.
Why might users prematurely stop using an app? It could be due to poor usability, excessive crashing, or simply that the app does not deliver on its promises.
All these factors should be known before your app launches – if the app has been properly tested. That is the role of product testing, to evaluate an app’s usability, reliability, and suitability to need. If an app is properly tested, potential problems can be identified and rectified before the product launch.
What is a Product Testing Engineer?
Product testing and engineering services are essential to making sure that a product is of high quality and functions according to customer needs and expectations. Product testing engineers are involved in all aspects of the product testing program, from devising the testing parameters to documenting the results of the tests.
The Betterteam job site lists the following job responsibilities for a typical product testing engineer:
- Interface with the product design team to establish parameters for testing
- Design product testing plans
- Document test procedures
- Train testing staff
- Provide support for testing staff
- Write up test results
What Product Testing Impacts
Product testing impacts product design and usability, as well as the marketing of the product. Jerry W. Thomas, President/CEO of the Decision Analyst research firm, points out several key benefits of product testing, including:
- Ensures products work as promised
- Ensures customers can use products as designed
- Highlights competitive strengths and weaknesses
- Helps improve product performance
- Improves customer satisfaction
- Helps predict customer acceptance of the product
- Provides data for use in creating future products
If you commit to thorough product testing, you forestall any issues that might arise when the product gets to market. It is the only way to know how your product will perform before it hits the market.
How to Build a Testing Automation Team
If you decide to do your product testing internally, you need to assemble an effective testing automation team. This team should include:
- A team leader experienced in product testing
- A chief developer with a strong background in testing methodology
- One or more junior engineers to support the existing automated tests
- Infrastructure specialists to maintain and manage the test framework
- Specialists in a variety of areas including project management, administration, reporting, and analysis
As you can see, to do testing automation right you need to recruit and maintain a good-sized team of skilled experts. As an alternative, many companies choose to outsource their product testing and test automation to software engineering services companies such as Encora. For example, Encora provides several important testing functions, including performance and load testing, usability testing, functional testing, API testing, and security and penetration testing – everything you need for robust product testing. Having test automation is a good idea for any business doing QA testing. Test automation increases the speed, completeness, and accuracy of QA testing.
Why You Should Consider a QA Partner
Quality assurance (QA) is an important part of the product testing process. Most companies do not have vast experience in QA testing and instead opt to partner with a third-party QA company for these essential tasks.
For example, Encora combines robust test automation with leading QA frameworks, including JMeter, LoadRunner, and Silk Performer, to perform application validation across multiple platforms. This can benefit your company in several ways – as you can now see.
Enables Testing When You Need It – Not Just When You Can
By partnering with a software engineering services company, you can opt to test the whole product at once or test just a part of the product or specific features independently. QA engineers are available as needed, ensuring that development efforts are not slowed or bottlenecked by shortage of internal resources.
Removes Any Internal Bias
Try as they might, internal testing teams may not be as critical as third-party testers. It is natural for employees to retain a bias towards products developed internally. You especially don’t want developers testing their own code; they may lack the distance necessary to see any defects.
Provides Necessary Expertise
Many companies simply do not have the in-house expertise to perform their own testing. Experienced software engineering services companies with DevOps expertise brings the skills and experience necessary for effective testing from day one.
Is Cost-Effective
The combination of outsourced QA testing and test automation is significantly more cost-effective than retaining a full-time internal testing staff.
Enables You to Focus on Your Core Business
Probably the most important reason to outsource QA testing is to enable your team to focus on driving the business forward. When you do your own testing you and your staff can get distracted from the important work you need to do. Outsourcing QA testing lets you focus on your core business while the experts take care of the testing. Encora is proud to offer QA testing an essential software engineering service.
Create a Partnership for Effective Product Testing
For many firms, the best approach is to establish a long-term partnership with a company that has mastered QA testing, such as Encora. Your company benefits from skilled independent testing and you find a partner that can help guide your future product development.
