Agile Testing: What’s Next?

For the past month, we have been highlighting the current agile testing methods at play in the software development industry. From the user-focused Behavioral Driven Development (BDD) method, to the perception-based Acceptance Test Driven Development (ATDD) method, agile testing has proved to be the collaborative and flexible approach needed to keep pace with rapid agile development. But what’s next for agile testing? Are there other trends that are going to emerge in the future?

As we see more businesses move towards DevOp environments and testing automation, testers need to learn to adapt and embrace the change instead of holding on to the old ways of testing. Automation doesn’t replace testing – it’s simply a tool that executes pre-scripted tests for companies with limited testing resources. But even though the process isn’t going away, the role of the tester is changing. Testers will need to embrace as well as offset the continuous delivery and development that automation brings with a more well-rounded, managerial approach. Testers need to not only do the manual work of testing an app but also perform complex test design, hone their technical skills to better understand automation and improve the holistic quality of the app.

There are three key trends I see being implemented across the industry that you need to apply in your organization (if you haven’t already) to keep pace with where the future of agile testing is going:

Communicate and Collaborate

Testers are no longer the heads-down workers they used to be, churning out code and running test scripts from their desks. Testers are integrated members of the team and need to be able to successfully communicate and collaborate just as well as the developers or managers to act as champions of quality within their organizations.

Diversity of Skills

In the past, most testing roles were specialized – a tester would only focus on testing one or two specific parts of the application. But functional testers need to be well-versed in the different testing methods, like manual, automated and exploratory, as well as be able to fully understand all facets of the application and become the go-to subject matter expert.

Business Value

These days, testers need to focus beyond the bugs in order to provide a higher level of business value. Most simple to find functional bugs will be exposed through the use of automated regression and unit testing. One of the key tenets of agile is making sure the customer is getting the most value out of the application being built, and testers play as much of a part in that story as any other agile team member.

Here at QASymphony, we’re working to help testers migrate away from simple execution to a more forward-thinking, collaborative role within the organization that drives value and improves the quality of the application. qMap, QASymphony’s new software development visualization tool, provides the level of exposure testers need to gain a high level overview of the progress of testing efforts as they relate to product delivery. Testers, along with product owners, product managers and executives, can where they are succeeding with the app as well as where the gaps are and collaborate on ways they can improve.

We’re excited about where the future of agile testing is headed. With the rise of innovations in areas like mobile development, the Internet of Things and responsive design, it is clear that applications are becoming increasingly complex, and all the while consumers are demanding quality now more than ever. It’s important that testers, developers, managers and the like collaborate together to create a product that customers love to use and can quickly implement in their day-to-day. QASymphony is just in the beginning stages of adapting to these ever-growing and changing trends…and the best is yet to come.