STAGES OF SOFTWARE PRODUCT TESTING
Software Products need their own unique approach to test adequately and correctly. Oftentimes, teams treat them as any other software (i.e. internal applications built for a specific client or team; not accessible by the general public; non-revenue generating) and that is the starting point of trouble.
Software Product Testing needs a custom test style and strategy to add value. Software Product development and sustenance is in itself a complex ecosystem and to thrive testers need to adapt.
SOFTWARE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES:
Here are some of the challenges that Software Product development teams face:
1) Lack of control over user demographics, devices
Software products unlike software built for specific stakeholders are not used in controlled and predictable situations. There are many just too many factors to take into account.
2) Foggy product vision
Product behaviour and features are forever changing and the journey to maturity isn't clearly visible. Or the product is growing too rapidly that it spirals out of control that teams don’t know what is happening.
3) Aggressive timelines
Due to heavy competition in the software product market, things have to move at a breakneck speed and teams must stay a step ahead of their peers. Otherwise, they are sure to lose out to the competition.
Let’s see how to test at each stage.
Stage 1] PRODUCT INTRODUCTION
A good test strategy at this point should include the following:
- Tests that validate the short term goals of TrackFast.
- Tests for ease of installation, set up and getting-up-to-speed
- Tests for performance, security, and usability
- Tests that compare TrackFast with the competitionPlatform, browser and device compatibility tests
- Integration Tests if it interfaces with other systems. A simple integration example is that Defect tracking systems often interact with email clients to send notifications
Stage 2] PRODUCT GROWTH
- Keep usability and site design central to your testing. Because the more features we add, the cleaner the site should look.
- Perform performance and security testing when a major release has happened.
- Keep in touch with the competition and know the product vision.
- Adapt pair testing, for immediate feedback and fixing.
- Plan for changes and known issues
- Try to get your hands on the customer feedback and check if they can be tracked as enhancement suggestions to keep the growth constant.
Stage 3] PRODUCT MATURITY
At this point, the features don’t change as often; the product team is focused on bringing more business.
Therefore, the testing team can:
- Work on maturing your test strategy.
- Consider customer feedback
- Test Performance and security periodically
- Focus on the finer details. Find even the smallest of the problems that can improve the quality of the system.
- Take into account the new devices, platforms, and browsers that might have come into the market from the last time you tested
- Test User Manual and FAQ pages.
Product testers must have a keen business sense, understanding of fast delivery development models and should be ace testers who are not afraid to experiment with tools and become a bit of coders themselves if need be. These things can have a positive impact on any type of testing.
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