How to Create Software Quality Assurance Plan
In the tech-advanced world, you must keep up with the trend and maintain software quality never runs out of trend. There is a dire need for an SQA plan to cater to effective communication, online buying/selling of products, or on-demand apps. Once you define the SQA plan, it ensures a blueprint that outlines processes, methodologies, and resources, which are tried and tested with optimum quality.
In this article, we will discuss steps to create a software quality assurance plan that not only offers how to mitigate risk but also foster a culture of continuous improvement throughout SDLC.
Table of Contents
6 Steps Create A Quality Assurance Plan
Define Quality Assurance Objectives
For any task, there should be specific objectives or outcome expectations. The same goes for quality assurance, for which there is a specific formula called “SMART,” which means Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Realistic, and Timely.
The objective should be measurable and clear. Besides, it should be realistic and achievable in a defined time.
And these quality goals must match your customer’s expectations. It all starts with how well you maintain your software product quality; if it deters, you will lose customers. Moreover, you must check for government regulations and abide by them for swift entry into the market.
Define Roles & Responsibilities
Implementing a Quality Assurance plan has several ways; large companies have a dedicated QA team, while growing companies outsource or assign additional work to in-house employees. As a result, existing staff would be upskilled. A team at the place can detect software issues proactively before letting the product go live. This results in the elimination of errors & bugs while ensuring the software meets customer requirements.
Execute Quality Assurance Plan
Once you have created a software quality assurance plan, it’s time to execute it. Before executing, you must ensure your staff is properly trained and well-versed in the plan. Plus, you must ensure your team is well-equipped with the resources the Assurance plan requires to achieve goals.
The plan should be straightforward to understand. Besides, it should answer everyone’s questions so that none of your team or customers will remain confused.
Monitor the Results
Now that you executed Quality Assurance Plan, you must consider it as a document easily adjustable to the requirement. The plan should even meet the team’s goals, and if it doesn’t work out, you must consider iterations. Listen to the requirements and then evaluate.
Iterate & Check
Iterations take place if the original plan fails to meet expectations. There can be an audit every two months or earlier if required because it is important to detect flaws early rather than waiting for them to accumulate and put a dent in your monetary resource. It is crucial to fix problems, deliver enhanced UX, drive sales, and generate revenue.
Keep Every Concerned Person
Since the QA team is dedicated to executing and iterating, they must be well informed. If their approach has delivered desired results, they should be rewarded. Their recognition motivates them to go and beyond. Therefore, always give them positive and constructive feedback rather than demotivating them.
Things to Remember While Creating Quality Assurance Plan
These QA best practices will help in the swift execution of the QA plan. So, do not miss out on any of them:
Defining Policies
When you define processes and regulations, your team abides by them, which helps in setting up expectations and meeting quality standards. As a result, everyone stays on the same page and strives to achieve a single objective.
Set Up Roles
When everyone’s roles and responsibilities are defined, the tasks are also scheduled accordingly. This way, there will be a smooth execution of the quality assurance plan.
Document Everything
Document every single development or modification you make to your project so that everyone gets to know what changes are made. Plus, everyone would learn and ensure optimal use of available resources.
Perform Auditing
Make sure you perform an audit of every QA initiative and assess quality checks to ensure both align with their respective objectives. The audit ensures the strategies you implement are functioning as expected or do they require iterations.
Test the Product
You must keep a habit of testing products from time to time. This way, you would not even test your products or services but also ensure that it meets your customer’s expectations.
Troubleshoot
Troubleshooting the process of evaluating
Training & Risk Management
Identifying threats and vulnerabilities and implementing preventive measures ensures safety against cyberattacks. Risk mitigation steps should always be defined to ensure the maintenance of a high-quality testing process.
Conclusion
No matter which industry you fall under, a quality assurance plan should be made to maintain product quality. The QA team ensures that no stones are left unturned to maintain product quality, but only if there is a proper quality assurance plan.
This plan is crucial to deliver promises to customers through the software application. Creating a Software Quality Assurance plan is crucial since it includes the deadline for the project to be made available to the customers. On-time product delivery satisfies customers because they get a product when they badly want it. You can hire a dedicated software development team for your project and transform ideas into reality.
Author Bio:
Chandresh Patel is a CEO, Agile coach, and founder of Bacancy Technology. His truly entrepreneurial spirit, skillful expertise, and extensive knowledge in Agile software development services have helped the organization to achieve new heights of success. Chandresh is fronting the organization into global markets in a systematic, innovative, and collaborative way to fulfill custom software development needs and provide optimum quality.