Interview: Precision in digital marketing with QA engineering

This blog discusses the pivotal role of a SW QA Engineer in ensuring error-free software for marketing purposes, particularly in marketing CRM systems. It emphasizes the importance of QA engineers' competencies in achieving successful application implementation. By analyzing functional specifications and providing feedback, these professionals play a critical role in maintaining software quality. The blog also touches upon the need for early testing, effective communication, and the use of tools like Jira in project management. Overall, it underscores the significance of SW QA engineers in the marketing technology landscape.

Service quality expectations in each industry play a crucial role in determining ultimate customer satisfaction within the service itself. Modern business-to-business markets, irrespective of industry segmentation, have revealed significant similarities in software demand. Whether it's a CRM built on top of an ERP system that helps analyze pricing patterns and manage KPIs or other marketing systems integrated with corporate goals, a company should prioritize quality maintenance before releasing a software product.

Developed software for marketing purposes that facilitates interaction with customers and provides the company with a best-in-class comparison of marketing techniques will only be effective if it is error-free.

Examining influential companies, such as VISA in the online banking industry, reveals that, as part of their digital marketing system, they have provided web-based applications that define and implement automation solutions in the customer experience. Another example is FedEx, a multinational logistics company that digitized its services to integrate functional business areas and bridge gaps across the supply chain. In both cases, to achieve today's results, companies face the challenge of ensuring consistency in software quality, providing critical analysis of documentation, and clarifying test scenarios before development begins.

To maintain this approach, companies must conduct diligent work, primarily focusing on QA engineering. A company aiming for long-term customer loyalty results cannot afford to release unproven marketing software. In an era where innovation propels the rapid growth of connected ecommerce on any device, the IT business is shifting its attention to better business process management, which starts with quality engineering.

We're tracking the trend of digital marketing solutions in B2B, exploring one of the greatest meanings in digital business for its successful integration and release to the market. We took the opportunity to talk to Karolina Blok, a QA Engineer with nearly 8 years of work experience in international IT companies. Alongside our speaker, we will provide an outlook on quality in software development and the significant role of women in the IT industry.

There might be many things that can be challenging for QA Engineers, but through the years, along with experience, you have to be prepared for anything. Usually, QA teams are faced with an unstable environment or modules in the application, which may happen very often, especially when the development team is big. Another problem that may happen is that tools, languages, or frameworks are being forced to use by the customer that we are working with.

Above all, the most common challenge I face is tight deadlines. There are instances when I have a limited amount of time for feature verification, requiring me to prioritize tasks based on their queue order and overall significance.

QA Engineers wield a significant influence on the overall success of application implementation for various reasons. A profound understanding of the product and the ability to test it from the user's perspective are essential aspects of our role. The optimal approach involves integrating QA professionals into the early stages of feature development, enabling them to contribute suggestions from diverse perspectives. This proactive involvement not only results in fewer defects later in the process but also translates to considerable savings in terms of both time and money.

Furthermore, it is crucial to underscore that QA Engineers bear the responsibility of ensuring that code is written in a secure manner. This focus on security aims to minimize the risk of cyberattacks or data leakage, emphasizing the crucial role QA plays in safeguarding the integrity and reliability of the application.

Yes, of course, as a QA Engineer, you're not only responsible for reporting issues in the platform or writing automation tests. There are situations where something should work according to the documentation but in fact won't be user-friendly, or some paths weren't well-thought-out in the design phase. We can say that it's our duty to take care of good user experience as we have to take the role of a final user and we suggest the best solution to the product owner or development team.

Everything happens at a very early development process because when we start testing as soon as it is possible, the bigger chance is to deliver a very good product. Testing in the early phase reduces the money spent on bug fixing because the defect which will cost your company for example 1.000$ on requirements phase, it could cost much more in the product implementation stage or production stage if it wasn't found before. It's also essential to test on different browsers or devices because the same issue may not be happening on different devices or browsers. 

There are a lot of tools that can be used instead of Jira, but it's still one of the most popular for the Agile project management approach. A good project management system can help automate the Agile process and provide the business with much better insights on what's happening in the project and what are the biggest issues or blockers in each feature. Having such software today is a must-have because we track our goals, and the business knows "where we are." I had an opportunity to work with different tools through the years, like Trello, which utilizes Kanban boards, lists, and cards, which gives you a flexible overview of tasks, the same with Active Collab. But I have to admit that, except for Jira, the best tool for such management is Azure DevOps because it has a lot of great features, and it brings together developers, managers, and contributors to develop and maintain the software. What is better? I think I would vote for Azure DevOps because of the fact that Jira is broadly used for problem tracking and project management, whereas Azure DevOps has a complete software development cycle. 

Before we start the testing process, it's good to have a test strategy because every project is different and its needs separate approach. We have to enlist responsibilities, recognize risks in the project, and we have to get to know the resources that we have. 

In Agile development and testing, many activities occur concurrently. Testing is not a separate phase, and both developers and testers must work closely together. This is in contrast to the known Waterfall methodology, where testers may not be involved in the requirements phase and begin testing only after the completion of development. Agile testing is preferable because everyone stays up-to-date with the same requirements. This ensures that the product meets all requirements, and the final product will be satisfying for both the customer and end users.

In my opinion, everything is in the marketing and human resources hands. They are responsible for creating a friendly atmosphere in the company. First of all, if we don't see a problem, we will never find a solution. The most important is to understand bias and reflect on our own underlying assumptions. It's also a good practice to create mentoring programs or apprenticeships. I have a feeling that most women have a lack of confidence. They don't know how powerful they are and how much they can achieve in that industry because there's still that opinion that IT is a boy's zone which is not true. Luckily, the number of women in IT is still growing and growing.

The same "methods" for supporting women in IT can also be used to support other groups, including people historically marginalized based on culture, religion, disabilities, etc.