What Does It Mean To Be A QA Analyst At SSENSE?
By: Darlan Arruda
Tags: Testing, Process, Software Testing, Quality Assurance, Software Engineering

Quality Assurance (QA) is of extreme importance for achieving high-quality standards in software development projects. It should then come as no surprise that QA would also play an important role in software development projects at SSENSE. The way SSENSE leverages its QA process is quite different from how other companies tackle QA related activities. This article, then, aims at highlighting how the quality assurance endeavors are addressed at SSENSE, as well as how they differ from more “traditional” software testing roles.

But before we move into the specifics of this article, let’s first understand two important concepts: Software Testing and Software Quality Assurance. These two terms are used interchangeably across several industry and application domains. However, they are not the same, and in fact, they represent two very distinct but related ideas.

On the one hand, Software Testing is the process concerned with planning, preparation, and evaluation of a component or system to determine that they satisfy specified requirements, to demonstrate that they are fit for purpose, and to detect defects.

On the other hand, Software Quality Assurance can be defined as the set of activities that define and assess the adequacy of software processes to provide evidence that establishes confidence that the software processes are appropriate and produce software products of suitable quality for their intended purposes.

At a glance, the table below provides the main distinctions between these two concepts.

Software Quality Assurance vs. Software Testing

Now that we know there is a distinct difference between Software Testing and Software Quality Assurance, it is time to discuss how the QA efforts are leveraged within the tech department at SSENSE.

At SSENSE, the collaboration between QA analysts and developers is very much trusted. We do believe that everyone is responsible and accountable for the quality of their outcomes. Therefore, the developers play a very important role in guaranteeing the quality of our deliverables. Some facts about this collaboration are:

Fact 1: Typically in other companies, there is 1 QA analyst for every 2 or 3 developers. At SSENSE, there is one QA analyst for two projects. Yes, you read it right!! One QA analyst is assigned to a minimum of two projects. Project sizes usually vary from six to 15 people, including Application Development Managers, Software Developers, and Product Managers.

Fact 2: Developers are expected to write test cases and execute them as part of the ‘definition of done’ of a story. That includes tests related to various levels of validation such as integration, UAT, and regression testing.

So, you might now be questioning yourself: What is the role QA analysts play in SSENSE software development projects then?

The QA analysts are part of a coaching team that plays an important role in establishing and maintaining a quality culture across development squads within the department. In a nutshell, here are some of the ways QA analysts contribute to software development projects at SSENSE:

Coaching and supporting the implementation of quality-oriented processes : QA analysts are expected to provide continuous coaching support to members of the projects on aspects related to testing and quality assurance. Example activities are: (i) coaching sessions on test case design, (ii) training sessions on Bug reporting and SLA, and (iii) coaching sessions on test management tools, to name a few.

: QA analysts are expected to provide continuous coaching support to members of the projects on aspects related to testing and quality assurance. Example activities are: (i) coaching sessions on test case design, (ii) training sessions on Bug reporting and SLA, and (iii) coaching sessions on test management tools, to name a few. Enforcing the adoption and use of quality templates and standards: QA analysts are responsible for the definition, proposal, and implementation of specific templates for testing strategies, API testing, and Go Live and regression testing plans.

QA analysts are responsible for the definition, proposal, and implementation of specific templates for testing strategies, API testing, and Go Live and regression testing plans. Providing recommendations regarding testing strategies, scope, plans, and test effort : Although software developers are responsible for tasks related to test design and execution, the QA analysts are expected to provide developers with recommendations concerning (i) test strategies at both epic and story levels, (ii) test scenarios for validations, (iii) test scopes, and (iv) make sure developers take testing efforts into account when estimating the effort for a story.

: Although software developers are responsible for tasks related to test design and execution, the QA analysts are expected to provide developers with recommendations concerning (i) test strategies at both epic and story levels, (ii) test scenarios for validations, (iii) test scopes, and (iv) make sure developers take testing efforts into account when estimating the effort for a story. Review of Test Cases: QA analysts at SSENSE are responsible for reviewing and approving test cases designed by the developers within the squads. This process usually involves some back and forth interactions between the developer and the QA analyst until a final version of the test cases is reached.

QA analysts at SSENSE are responsible for reviewing and approving test cases designed by the developers within the squads. This process usually involves some back and forth interactions between the developer and the QA analyst until a final version of the test cases is reached. Bug SLA Enforcement : SSENSE has a very well defined Bug SLA, to which the QA analysts are responsible for enforcing that the SLA times are respected by the development squads. Usually this interaction happens between the QA analyst and the Product Manager, who is responsible for prioritizing tickets on the backlog. Bug SLA performance is evaluated every quarter and the results and associated metrics are presented to the development squads.

: SSENSE has a very well defined Bug SLA, to which the QA analysts are responsible for enforcing that the SLA times are respected by the development squads. Usually this interaction happens between the QA analyst and the Product Manager, who is responsible for prioritizing tickets on the backlog. Bug SLA performance is evaluated every quarter and the results and associated metrics are presented to the development squads. QA environment stability, consistency, and monitoring : The QA team is responsible for monitoring the stability and consistency of the QA environment and works closely with the infrastructure/tech direction teams in order to ensure the environment is suitable for testing. That includes (i) communicating any changes in the environment, and (ii) databases refreshes, for instance.

: The QA team is responsible for monitoring the stability and consistency of the QA environment and works closely with the infrastructure/tech direction teams in order to ensure the environment is suitable for testing. That includes (i) communicating any changes in the environment, and (ii) databases refreshes, for instance. Attending the teams’ agile ceremonies : Two ceremonies that should benefit from the presence of the QA analysts are Feature Grooming and Story Grooming . In Feature Grooming sessions, QA analysts should in advance evaluate the severity and reproducibility of bugs and then present them to the team during the meeting. In story grooming, QA analysts can raise questions to clarify the “WHAT” and functional aspect of the tickets (epic/stories) being groomed.

: Two ceremonies that should benefit from the presence of the QA analysts are and . In Feature Grooming sessions, QA analysts should in advance evaluate the severity and reproducibility of bugs and then present them to the team during the meeting. In story grooming, QA analysts can raise questions to clarify the “WHAT” and functional aspect of the tickets (epic/stories) being groomed. Automation Efforts: As part of the testing automation framework established at SSENSE, QA analysts should perform automation feasibility analysis for Functional UI test cases and then based on that nominate test cases for automation. In the automation process, QA analysts act as “product owners”.

What else do QA Analysts do?

QA Initiatives

QA analysts are also expected to take part in QA scoped activities, internally referred to as QA initiatives. These initiatives usually have a wider scope and impact within the tech department, benefiting all teams rather than a specific team. Example QA initiatives are: (i) defining the deployment risk assessment framework, (ii) development of test templates and standards to be adopted by all squads in the tech department, (iii) actions to drive down incidents and bugs in production, and (iv) defining specific processes, to name a few.

Testing Partners

As part of supporting team squads with testing related activities, we also have external partners that perform manual tests in the web systems as well as the mobile application, widening the scope of manual testing executions.

Takeaways

The main takeaways of this article are that:

Everyone is responsible and accountable for the quality of their deliverables.

Software Quality Assurance is not testing. It encompasses a much broader scope.

Instead of having testers, at SSENSE, we try to implement the notion of quality oriented teams where everyone within the development squad plays an important role in contributing to quality.

It is important to note that this is an ongoing process implementation that has presented its challenges and obstacles. Changing the mindset and culture into something new takes time, patience, and perseverance. It does not happen overnight. Despite the obstacles we face on a daily basis (to be discussed in a future article), this way of enforcing and contributing to quality, in general, has already come to fruition and presented some positive results within the tech department. The QA analysts at SSENSE are very excited to continue working on this process implementation and refinement in a way that will continue to be challenging — and sometimes arduous — but also transformative.

Editorial reviews by Deanna Chow, Liela Touré, & Mario Bittencourt.

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