What are the Responsibilities of a Software Tester?

If you are considering hiring a software testing team or partnering with a software testing company but are still unsure, take a look at this article. Find out what the responsibilities of a software tester are.

It is only through continuous testing that we can control quality and build better software. In this sense, it’s crucial not to leave software testing just to the end of development, nor to leave it up to developers. 

Why not? Because you won’t reach the same level of quality. Developers and testers should always work collaboratively on projects, each in their specific role.

Which are the responsibilities of a software testing team?

Roger Abelenda, Chief Technology Officer at Abstracta, explained what the responsibilities of a software tester are: “The main responsibility is to improve the quality of the delivered software, which implies a wide range of knowledge and involvement in different stages of development.” 

“Depending on the software tester and the type of software developed, the tasks may vary. Also, the tasks depend on the testers’ expertise. In some cases, they are focused more on functional aspects, in different business verticals. And in others on non-functional aspects: performance, security, accessibility, and so on.”

Jorge Lira, Senior Functional Tester at Abstracta, specified: “As testers, we adapt to the needs of the projects in which we participate. We develop test cases and test that the software and hardware requirements are met. We are attentive to identifying gaps in the quality of both the product and the processes with which they are built. And we suggest improvements.”

And he continued: “In case we are not clear on how to improve, we suggest meetings with people who can help us find solutions. We communicate these qualitative shortcomings respectfully, objectively, and constructively, if possible accompanied by some initial idea.”

So there you have it, the responsibilities of a software tester. In the voice of Roger Abelenda, based on his experience developing and leading development teams for testing products, JMeter plugins, and so on.

1️⃣Project onboarding

It is time to start. At this moment, software testers may: 

✔️Define a correct testing strategy according to the criticality of the product, the type of product, the conformation of the team, the emphasis and culture of the company, and the product to be developed. Also the target audience/types of users of the product.

✔️ Define stack and framework for test automation in collaboration with the development team.

✔️Define with the team the release process and the different environments, access, and test data to be used in each one.

✔️Participate in the definition of the testing process, revisions, and releases of the product.

✔️Encourage from the beginning the collaboration and communication in the team. Integrate as part of the team, and not as a separate one. And promote the perception that the tester is there to help, as any team member should, in whatever they can. Promote the perception that we are all roles trying to get the best product out and in the fastest and most efficient way possible.

✔️Adapt to the mechanics and culture of the team, raising points of improvement but properly evaluating trade-offs and avoiding adding weight to the team. Help things go better not only in quality but also in improving the efficiency of the process.

✔️Always be attentive to propose improvements in the development process, team communication, tool usage, and so on. Be a proactive member of the team.

✔️Be attentive to the right balance between security and usability. 

✔️Estimate efforts to implement the functionalities giving weight to testing activities: automation, exploratory testing, documentation review, and so on.

2️⃣ In-depth analysis: All in

When a collaboration has already started, testers must make a requirements analysis, in consideration of the numerous tasks involved and the needs of the project. With the aim of achieving this goal, they should: 

✔️Put special emphasis on the consistency of functionality and product vision

identification of edge cases, acceptance criteria, and define test plan.

✔️Defend the interests of users, with emphasis on user experience.

✔️Take into account accessibility, scalability, performance, and other non-functional aspects that can be contributed to the team.

✔️Understand the added value of the functionality and question the functionality within the overall product vision.

3️⃣During feature development

Here we go! Whether we are at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a development, tests must be done. Software testing never ends! So these are the main responsibilities of a software tester at this point in the cycle: 

✔️Drive test automation to make test execution and results review more efficient and avoid regression bugs.

✔️Advocate for the correct management and implementation of automated tests. How? Reviewing them, checking the time invested in their execution, keeping the automation agile, and having the shortest possible feedback loop since a functionality is developed and possible deviations are detected.

✔️Do exploratory testing reviewing edge cases, integration, and consistency with other functionalities, accessibility, and UX aspects, security, performance, and accuracy of the documentation provided.

✔️Properly report deviations and maintain fluid communication with the team focused on collaboration. Facilitate the consumption of such reports, facilitating the identification and reproducibility of the report. Adequately categorize each deviation by raising potential risks and making them visible to a potential release.

✔️Ensure the correct documentation of the findings, making the value of the testing and the quality of the product transparent to different stakeholders.

4️⃣Release of functionalities

✔️Take care of the use of data from different environments and the management of user information.

✔️Support the continuous improvement of the release pipeline and product review.

✔️Provide and manage objective and visible information about the tests executed and the risks associated with each release. Why is this important? To help in the decision-making process at the time of release. It is essential to provide visibility not only to the team but also to areas and stakeholders outside the team.

5️⃣Feature support

Many of the responsibilities at this point are based on relieving bugs/issues reported by users or problems that may arise in production. In this sense, the tasks are in many cases the same as in the case of requirements analysis. But with a special emphasis on trying to understand what the user reports, and trying to reproduce the scenario to provide more information to the development team to solve the problem. 

In addition, it will be necessary to help properly categorize and prioritize the reported issue according to whether it is a bug, a new feature request, or simply an application design decision that does not require any change.

6️⃣At the end of the project or project exit

Mainly it is necessary that the product is left in a state that can be continued in the future either by the same team or by another team. It may even involve the knowledge transfer to another team. Testing does have to continue! It is also important to make the work achieved transparent and give a clear perspective of the quality of the product.

Did this article help you to understand what are the responsibilities of a tester software? Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

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