This article highlights the list of crucial metrics to measure software quality and the benefits of using the parameters to improve it.
A small bug can cause software failure, which could ruin the end-user experience and can affect sales. In this changing software industry, it is imperative to deliver high-quality software to cater to end-user demands.
Software quality is of utmost importance, and many teams find it challenging to find the correct parameters to measure quality. A QA strategy builds on the right QA metrics is effective and helps to release great software.
Why do we need quality metrics?
We need quality metrics to improve your software quality framework, which also helps in estimating the schedule and cost of future projects. The main aim is to use the data.
The quality metrics should have the following features:
- Measurable
- Actionable
- Trackable over time
- Maintained and updated regularly
- Mapped to business goals
The quality assurance process can be time-consuming, which hinders the deployment of the software. The critical metrics for the QA process identifies where the team’s time and budget are allocated. The software quality measures the efficiency of the testing process and its effectiveness in finding the bugs. It also prevents leakage of bugs. The bugs which slip through the testing process can leave a negative impact on your product. QA analysts also invest in using effective quality assurance software to deliver quality and high-performing software.
There are critical parameters which should be defined in your QA strategy :
These test metrics help in improving software quality and improving team efficiency.
1. Test coverage
This includes the number of test cases spread across the codebase, and this provides details about the resources being used. Test coverage helps in understanding the areas which need more testing. The areas where the team needs to focus more.
2. Unreliable test cases
This metric checks unreliable, a flaky test that fails to provide any useful feedback; instead, it consumes more time and resources. The metric helps in analyzing poorly written test cases, human errors, intermittently fail or pass test cases.
3. Time to test
This metric measures the time required to run, execute, and report the results of the test cases. The process helps testers to understand the efficiency of the current test cases. It helps in time management for smoke and regression testing for the upcoming build.
4. Time to fix
This metric helps in evaluating the time consumed in fixing bugs. It also gives information on the communication levels between developer and tester. The effectiveness of resolving bugs.
5. Escaped Bugs
This metric is the direct indicator of software quality. It helps in reporting the number of leaked bugs that are reported by end-users. It measures the number of defects that reached production, the number of customers impacted, production area, and time consumed to fix it.
6. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
NPS is a useful quality indicator that defines the probability of a current user to refer the product to others. The only challenge is to map to specific quality issues. It helps assess end-user satisfaction and product performance.
Conclusion
The software quality metrics are a great help in taking decisions to improve quality with time. It helps the project manager in gaining insights about teams’ productivity and efficiency. Decisions based on quality metrics save time and effort and improves the quality of the end product.
Software Quality Assurance Testing has become a highly critical practice to determine the goodness of a developed software as a whole.
Without the right testing procedures in place, unearthing bugs in the software can prove to be very difficult and time-consuming.You will be surprised to hear that most of the software glitches can be eradicated right in the preliminary stages only, by identifying their issues early on.
Among these early testing methods, smoke testing is one of the best methods for the early identification of bugs strategically.Read on to find out all that’s to know about Smoke Testing further on.What is Smoke Testing in Software Quality Assurance?Smoke testing in software quality assurance is a type of software testing where it assists in verifying if the software builds that has been deployed displays stability or not.
It’s a step before the actual software testing and provides the QA team with a good enough idea about whether to proceed ahead with further testing procedures or not.After a smoke test verifies the software build, it is then considered ready for further development and testing.
A good software build consists of data files, libraries, various engineering components, along with the different modules.To consider all these functions, we take a look at some of the important features of Smoke Testing.Smoke Testing- FeaturesThere are a plethora of unique features that make Smoke Testing different from other kinds of testing.
Mentioned below are some of the features of Smoke Testing-- Smoke Testing is also known as Build Verification Testing, where a build is verified through proper feature testing and then sent ahead for further testing based on observations.- Smoke Tests are flexible and can be both- automated as well as manual, depending on the requirements of testing.- Smoke Tests apply to all kinds of testing phases, like system testing, integration testing, acceptance testing, and more.The number of test cases in Smoke Testing is very limited.The Utility of Smoke TestingSoftware testing and quality assurance services employ smoke testing whenever there’s a need for new functionalities in an existing software build that’s been deployed in a QA ecosystem.
To ensure that only the best is made available for users, every software undergoes several tests to make it as seamless in its first profile as possible.Thanks to the increased use of Agile methodology in Quality Assurance, different tools are coming up to further streamline the software testing procedures.
While there is no way to ensure 100% automated testing, the right tool can help in maximizing the degree of automation to a large extent.
Categories of QA Testing ToolsQA testing tools consist of the following categories-Automation TestingAutomation testing tools refer to those tools that are responsible for setting up objectives and then analyzing the outcome based on what was expected in the first place.
Similarly, Agile testing also runs the testing process in similar steps, where the testing simultaneously happens with the development of features.Functional TestingAs far as functional testing tools go, they are responsible for identifying issues just before a product is released in the market.
Have a look at some of them-1- SeleniumSelenium is a top-notch tool that streamlines various web browsers to automate the created web apps for the purpose of testing.
It is a focal point through which multiple ecosystems can be managed without too much trouble.
