What is QA?
Quality Assurance (QA) is the process used to determine whether functionality in the app has been completed as expected and as detailed in the designs. Some examples include: when I put my information in the login I’m able to use the app; when I press the button the thing I was expecting happens; when I make a selection, the color of the button changes, etc.
A “bug” is an anomaly in the app functionality, as in something is not working as expected. So, some examples may be: when I log in, I cannot see my information; when I press the button nothing happens; when I make a selection, the color of the button does not change, etc.
What does not qualify as a bug is changing your mind on how you want something to work — that’s a feature, and is outside the scope of this project. For example, if you press the button and want a modal to pop up (pop-up screen) and ask the user if they are sure they want something to happen — that’s new, that’s something different, that will be something we can discuss upon completion of the current project.
The QA done by Tercera will be limited to the scope of our current project, as guided by the designs submitted to us by you, and will be limited almost exclusively to mobile simulators and emulators on a computer screen. That means that the computer will generate a phone and run the app on that phone, so while we will test to the best of our ability, we cannot guarantee that what works on the computer will work the same on the phone. If you’d like to add more substantial QA that’s an add on service we can discuss.
QA Tips + Tricks
- Create a new user account in the application to log in.
- Try the app on WiFi, off WiFi, in a place where you get bad cell reception
- Ask your friends, children, family to take a look and see what they think — and share any problems they may find
- Try rotating the app
- Try it on as many devices as you can, including your computer and tablet PCs.
- Try doing things in different order (tap a, b then b, a, etc.)
- Try tapping things quickly, scrolling quickly, etc.
- Give the app to your friends and family without telling them anything about it and see what they say.
- Try increasing the size of the text on your phone settings
- Try to rotate the app
- Try the app on various phones
- Try the app with daytime mode and nighttime mode to ensure the images and visuals show up clearly.
- Especially if an API or third party tool is in use, ensure there is adequate character support for things like diacritical marks, or kanji characters.
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