Quality assurance and testing at Dept

I joined Quality Assurance (QA) Team at DEPT® Design & Technology nearly 4 years ago (time flies!), and during my time here I have worked on a variety of projects for clients including Butlin’s, Warner Leisure Hotels and Celebrity Cruises.

QA Consultancy

Recently, my role has evolved to incorporate QA consultancy for clients that are seeking to enhance their own internal QA processes/procedures, or to provide advice on how to plan, co-ordinate and execute QA activities.

I have just returned from a two-day, on-site consultation where I worked with a client’s QA Team to review their working practices. This particular client has multiple workstreams in development, using a continuous delivery method with releases happening every two weeks.

Each workstream has a different Development and QA team, and so it is important to try and maintain a consistent QA approach across all teams. I worked with the testers across the different teams to align the approach. Establishing this consistent approach benefits the testers as it means they are able to transition easily across the different workstreams/teams.

Identify and discuss

Over the course of the two days, we identified and discussed aspects of the QA process where the teams felt they needed some advice. These included things such as estimating, test planning, test scripting and test execution.

We also discussed the rationale behind implementing and maintaining a ‘key functionality’ checklist, which can be run at the end of each QA cycle to catch any regressions which may have occurred throughout the build phase. This idea was well received and they are now looking to automate as many of the checks as possible.

Tridion test tips

The team also has some specific requirements around Tridion, and how best to test, so we went through a review of Tridion components and talked over some key testing points.

I put together a ‘Tridion Test Tips’ document for them to use as a starting point when thinking about how to plan/script their testing. These fell into five key areas: Tridion; forms; search; general and Jira.

DEPT®’s QA expertise

The DEPT® QA Team is made up of highly experienced digital testers, who are all certified by the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB). The team specialise in testing CMS-driven enterprise solutions, with particular expertise in responsive design and multi-lingual websites and tools.

We conduct both functional and non-functional system testing, as well as providing ongoing testing services, including verifying updates, roadmap enhancements, re-designs, mobile sites and bespoke applications.

Our testing services ensure our clients deliver a significantly better end-product, with a reduced risk of multiple bugs negatively impacting on performance, customer experience and conversion. Our testing service aims to be as flexible as possible, as each client’s QA needs can vary. As such, we offer a mixture of on-site and remote support.