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Does Your Startup Need Software Testing?

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Testscenario Testing Team

30/11/2019
Does Your Startup Need Software Testing?

Being a startup, you need to travel a lot before reaching the endpoint or a point where you would actually feel content with your business. However, not all startups reach the desired place and stumble down long before. Have you ever wondered why? 

According to research, sloppiness is one of the reasons that cause startups to fail. Now, this might sound a bit strange but the fact is – this is true. Poor software quality often pushes startups towards failure, followed by a complete shutdown of their business.

Whether you build a product, service, or app, it is highly important to assure quality before pitching it to the end-users. An exceptional idea can fail if not implemented qualitatively. 

While this might still seem vague given that you have a team of skilled developer’s who own the knack to create authentic products. I mean why would you need to have an additional Q/A testing team to look after the final product? 

What is Software Testing?

Software testing is basically the process of evaluating and verifying that the software product behaves as it is supposed to. It ensures stability, reliability, and user experience for the product.

Why Software Testing?

Software giants are versed in the need for software testing and some even hire a separate department to take care of it. However, startups or the new in industry are budget-restricted and considering the importance of all other aspects in the Software development life cycle, surpassing Q/A testing appears to be an ideal way out. But this is no way is a smart move.

Apart from questions on the integrity and credibility of the software developed, fixing a bug long after the product has been released incurs tremendous overheads. You need to spend more, you need to redesign again and of course, it begs question of customer trust. As a matter of fact, bugs are 30 times more expensive to fix post-release as compared to early phase evaluation. Integrating frequent and early software testing mechanisms not only assures better product quality but serves beneficial in terms of creating user trust and brand loyalty.

What Are the Main Software Testing Approaches for Startups?

Agile and DevOps-based testing methodologies are the best approach for startups wanting a quick release of software with good quality. Also, it is essential for startups to integrate testing early in the stage, which would allow for rapid feedback, find issues faster, and resolve them. 

  • Agile Testing: In agile testing, the work is broken into small, perceivable pieces, often using the term “sprints.” Testing is done during each sprint, not at the end when most development is complete.
  • DevOps Testing: DevOps focuses on collaboration between development and operations to deliver high-quality software rapidly. Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) pipelines are central to DevOps, thus enabling your automated testing at every stage of the pipelines. With CI/CD, the code is always automatically tested after changes, which allows the startups to find bugs and fix bugs without waiting for a dedicated testing phase.

Manual Testing vs. Automated Testing for Startups

In a startup environment, both manual and automated testing have specific advantages, each one fitting best for different testing purposes. The decision is usually based on the complexity of the project, budget, and nature of the product.

  • Manual Testing: In this, software testing is done with the use of human testers who will imitate user behaviors. It is particularly useful in exploratory testing, where testers interact with the software in real time to find out unexpected problems; and usability testing, which assesses the product’s usability and intuitiveness. Manual testing is particularly important for evaluation of design, layout, and user experience since human insights are more accurate than automated scripts at finding UI flaws and user experience inconsistencies.
  • Automated Testing: Automation scripts and tools execute repetitive and time-consuming tests, such as regression testing. This ensures that new code changes have not damaged the functionality. With automation testing you can run hundreds of test cases simultaneously and continuously, hence it is ideal for big projects which have need for frequent and iterative testing. Small startups may struggle to invest in testing tools and script development for automation. Despite this, automated testing reduces human errors, manages huge test volumes, therefore being cost-effective over time.

Developers as Testers? 

Using your developers as long-standing testers might sound a good idea but that’s a big no. How can you expect someone to find flaws in their own design? The developers have themselves developed the product and according to them, that piece is the best solution and of course without breaks or glitches. Even if you ask them to perform some kind of testing, they would always come clean stating the product is final. 

A developer can never test like a tester or for that matter, a user. He/she will always have a fixed mindset and fail to go beyond the limits to test the application. Given the above, it is obligatory that you hire team of testers who are aware of the role and can stretch beyond bounds to test the credibility of the application, just like random users. A tester has a different skill set and it is best for him to do the job.

Types of Software Testing Relevant for Startups

Here are some types of testing that are particularly relevant to any startup:

Unit Testing and Integration Testing

  • Unit Testing: This testing approach focuses on individual components or “units” of code, typically functions or methods. By isolating individual components, unit testing allows developers to identify and fix issues at their source, reducing the complexity and cost of debugging larger, integrated systems.
  • Integration Testing: Once individual units are verified, integration testing evaluates how these components work together. Integration tests assess the interactions between modules to ensure they function seamlessly as a cohesive system. 

Usability Testing for Customer Experience

In Usability testing real users or testers simulate customer actions, investigate factors such as navigation, layout and user satisfaction. This kind of testing is crucial in apps and websites, where user engagement depends heavily on an intuitive and pleasant design.

With Usability testing a startup can gather actionable feedback on pain points within the user journey. Which would help enhance an overall design for a more user-friendly and customer-expectation-worthy product.

Performance and Load Testing

By performance and load testing, a smooth experience during high-traffic periods is ensured.

  • Performance Testing: This testing evaluates the responsiveness, speed, and stability of the software in normal working conditions. It checks how fast the pages load, how quickly or effortlessly the app responds to each action, or how consistently it performs.
  • Load Testing: In this testing that analyzes the respective system’s potential working at peak or high demand conditions. The startup can stay away from some of the costly problems through the help of load testing, which includes system crashes and slow performances of the website that may affect customer experience and revenue.

Hire A Tester? In-house or Outsource? 

Having a team of testers is no doubt the best way to be sure of the quality of the developed product but even after you have come up to the conclusion of hiring a tester, the next question that you need to deal with is whether you employ an in-house team or simply outsource the project. 

Acknowledging the fact that being a startup you are yet to explore and does not have many resources to map the cost of in-house hiring, outsourcing is an ideal way. 

Not only does that provide you with quality service but also cuts down on the added cost of hiring. Outsourcing agencies own specific skills required for testing, they cost less and further go beyond the desired features to test the software quality. 

When Should Startups Think About Outsource Software Testing?

  1. Lack of Expertise: Specialized testing (security, compliance, etc.) requires skills beyond an in-house team’s scope. 
  2. Tight Deadlines: Outsourcing reduces time to market by giving faster access to skilled testers. 
  3. Budget Constraints: A startup can evade fixed costs of building an in-house team by hiring resources whenever required. 
  4. Scalability Needs: Outsourcing makes resources easy to scale and it match them with project demands without long-term commitments. 

In many cases, outsourcing the testing is flexible and cost-effective for many of the startups.

If you too are a startup and looking for a QA team to outsource your project, we are here happy to help. Testscenario is one of the fastest-growing firms that help you with software testing and quality assurance so as to assure that the final product is as per the industrial norms. We have a team of dedicated testers who not only perform different software tests but also care to know about the system as a whole and then test it as required. By hiring us, you would cut down costs, enhance the quality and also boost the time to market. So, let us take care of the quality while you focus on the development process.

FAQs

What are the main types of software testing for startups?

Unit testing, usability testing, and performance testing are the key types for startups,  because they focus on the core functionality and user experience.

Is software testing necessary for all types of startups?

Yes, all startups benefit from the testing process, especially those that are involved in digital products or services.

How do startups with limited budgets afford testing?

By prioritizing high-impact tests and utilizing free tools, startups can build a strong testing foundation without high costs.

When should a startup automate its testing process?

When repetitive tasks or regression tests become time-consuming, automation can provide efficiency in it.

What are the risks involved in skipping software testing?

Unfixed bugs uneasily can stack up and eventually begin to trigger customers into dissatisfaction, increased support costs, and sometimes reputational damage.

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