Some of the significant challenges in software testing are how to ensure and avoid defect leakage. How to perform quality testing and ensure product is up to the mark as per all of the quality standards.
Well, problem is our perceived way of looking & creating a test strategy. Somehow it leads to heavy Script maintenance if you are doing test automation, defects leakage into production and missing feedback loop which is need of time for any cutting edge products due to heavy competitions. We need to make automation simpler and testing much focused to find defects & save time. That’s the true ROI. We need better and faster quality assurance.
Automated scripts should be adoptable, flexible for any framework and development change.
So what do you mean by Shift Left? Involving Testing team in the initial phase of the project say planning, design sessions and putting Quality/Testing team before traditional SDLC start is the Key and need of time - Shift left from traditional testing life cycle.
Some of the key benefits from Shift Left:
Test early, often with full control.
Engage everyone in the team, more collaboration for any team working in Agile development.
Quality test automation.
Continuous feedback to help product is best in all quality standards in cutting edge competition.
Reducing testing time, efforts & surely the cost with better ROI.
It can help in better resource management.
Better requirement analysis.
Early detection of bugs & faster time to market.
So, what are the things to look for Shift left?
Well, for me one of the key factors is “Mindset”.
We need to have continuous & quality testing mindset with test-driven product development.Focus of testing team has moved from quality gate keeper to development team, operational and business team or more specifically creating user friendly and quality products. And if we talk about Agile – answer is loud and clear 😊
Another interesting thing is Wireframes Testing, check out the below benefits:
Identification of missing requirements in the early stage of the product development
Helping customers with more inputs in the initial phase of requirements
Usability Testing
Testing in terms of business requirements at the early stage of project kick off
Check the skeleton in the initial phase of development and post deployment via BDD
Code Review & Product Analysis
Code review and quality checks are must, start using static code analysis tools and review code. Testing team should be involved in product feedback sessions. It is good to have usability testing which can help for better product understanding.
API Testing:
· API are the backbone for any product and usually independent and ready for testing
· API service testing with different environment for stability check
· Test before UI is ready
Summary:
So with Shift left we are into prevention mode with more controlled testing. It can help to plan better test strategy, test early & plan everything, test continuously and work as “ONE TEAM”.