Quality is a major factor when it comes to software development. Agile Quality Assurance or QA is a systematic procedure that confirms better excellence in products and services. The team of robust QA elaborates the need to manufacture, develop, and design authentic products and at the same time, it enhances company credibility, client confidence, and the ability to stand in a competitive environment. As a matter of fact, the QA Agile Process starts at the establishment of the life cycle of software development. Moreover, it covers right from the initial design meeting, the development phase, to the hardening and final testing of the application. The whole process is divided into two-week sprints and it is repeated until the project is finished. Let us check out some of the best QA practices in Agile and its related facts are given below. So read further to explore more about it.
 

What is Agile Software Development?
 

It is essential to understand the things involved in the Agile development methodology in order to perceive Agile testing. In fact, it is an umbrella term that encompasses various practices that are actually unique from traditional techniques of development. As the name itself suggests, an Agile framework mainly focuses on responding to change. Currently, there are various frameworks that are used by Agile teams like Kanban or Scrum but as a whole, it is a collaborative approach. Some of the key principles of Agile software development are as follows:
 

• Continuous collaboration with the matters of customers that is more than a fixed contract
• Concentrate on people in place of tools and processes
• Be flexible to change besides sticking to plan
• A working piece of software is much essential than comprehensive documentation
  
   

What is the difference between Agile Software Testing and Traditional Testing Method?
 

The testers keep things away from breaking into the hands of customers by trying to break them first and then get them fixed. When it comes to the traditional waterfall method, the sequence of events goes:

Requirements>System Design>Implementation>Integration and Testing>Deployment of System>Maintenance.

Under this method, the next step does not start until the previous step has been accomplished fully. It simply means that until late in the development cycle, the testing team does not get the product. Now, this might be an actual challenge for an Agile team as any bugs they grab would be costly and complicated to eliminate from the product or application. The testers who get into the process at this point are not able to perform the right tests as well as ask the right questions. It is because they sometimes receive small feedback from customers or other members of the development team (sometimes considered as ‘the enemy’).

Therefore, testers are made to wait for the product or application to get down the assembly line so that they can use a narrow set of skills and techniques to decide if it is required to kick back to a previous step in the software development process. On the other hand, the test plan is placed throughout the agile process. Moreover, a new update is made to the code every time, and thereby testers get their hands on it and hand it to the developers for feedback directly. During the test cycles, automated tests are also encouraged with a small selection of customers.
 

Qualities of an Agile Tester
 

The qualities or characteristics of an Agile Tester are as follows:
 

• A unique and technical-based skillset
• Critical communication skills
• A result-oriented character and personality
• A willingness and power to respond to change
• Well-versed with different test automation and testing tools
• Wide experience in deep testing
• A desire to deliver value in business on time
• A skill to collaborate with everyone from DevOps to business analysts
• An ability to cooperate with others effortlessly
   

Best Practices for Quality Assurance in Agile Process
 

Have a look at a few of the best QA practices in Agile which are as follows:
 

1. Analysis of Risk
 

Risk analysis is a crucial factor in any QA process. It is described as the procedure or technique of recognizing and evaluating potential risks and their influence. The whole process helps enterprises to mitigate and avoid risks. Most of the applications are highly unlikely to be 100% bug-free but it is only possible by a dedicated QA team as he knows how to prevent or remove the most problematic bugs. Perceiving all the possible outputs of a project lets your team implement preventive measures that decrease the chances of occurrence.
 

2. Defining an Agile QA Process
 

Most organizations are relying on the Agile process rather than the traditional waterfall development. Agile testing brings QA into the project to identify issues, write and undertake test cases as early as possible. By dividing the project into iterative stages, the engineers of QA concentrate on the process of software development and render rapid, ongoing feedback. When it is about Sprints, it offers various benefits to the clients by providing valuable software at the right time or earlier. At the same time, they respond to changes, allow course corrections, and offer better estimates in small time rather than getting out of the track completely in the entire project. In addition, the QA team has the right to adopt lessons and improvements learned from old projects to boost the process for future projects.
 

3. Black-Box Vs. White-Box
 

White-box testing allows the QA engineer to form a detailed understanding of the internals of the system. Using this knowledge, the engineer of QA can start testing as early as possible. In fact, the testers require this high level of system understanding in an Agile QA process to prove the features as early as they are formed. Whereas black-box testing is a technique of software testing that describes the performance of an application without peering into its working or internal structures. It only covers the understanding from the perspective of the user what actually it should do.
 

4. Automation
 

Automation is a good approach to optimize the effectiveness of your QA staff. As regression testing can take a large percentage of time of the QA team, automation offers a method to make sure that previous deliverables should continue to operate whereas QA test engineers concentrate on testing of newly developed features. Moreover, it provides your development team with the confidence to bring changes in the system, quick identification of issues, and fixation of issues before the product is delivered to the QA team. However, your team should carry out the prioritization of test cases in order to decide which of them can be automated. Even though you need to spend a lot while implementing automation, it saves a lot of money in the long run by enhancing efficiency between QA and development teams.
 

5. Understand Your Target Audience
 

As a tester, you should try to know your target audience as it will improve the process of Quality Assurance. You can allow your development team to develop value-driving applications by tailoring the QA process and development as per the requirements of the end-users. When you know about the actual requirements of your target audience, you can prioritize the QA process in a better way to save money as well as time.
 

6. Teamwork Makes the Work Successful
 

There is no doubt that it is a team of hard-working professionals behind every high-quality product. They work with dedication and cooperation to keep up the high standard of quality as per the organizational needs. Even though every team should take the responsibility for delivering value, the main responsibility for ensuring quality remains with the QA team. As the team of QA knows what the client actually needs in the system, they can satisfy the requirements of the clients along with the system. With the use of the Agile QA process, the test engineers help the agile team to ensure client confidence, high-quality product delivery, successful product delivery, and company credibility as well.
 

7. Test Often and Test Early
 

The Agile methodology focuses on adopting QA at every stage of the product development to recognize problems as soon as possible. In every sprint, the test engineers of QA test early and often the product with the addition of each new feature. This enables them to confirm that the new features were incorporated as planned and to find out any issues that might have been encountered. This way of testing saves money and time as well. 

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Bottom Line
 

In a team of Agile, each and every member is responsible for delivering value and quality in the business. Of course, this is a time where you can show your skills and ability as a QA engineer. You should work hard and with dedication with your team to bring value into the process of software development. The aim is just to discover defects and bugs and avoid potential risks during the entire development cycle. So you can go through the above-mentioned practices that are effective and help you to deliver a quality product at the right time as per the requirements of your organization.