88""Yb 888888 db 8888b. Yb dP 888888 dP"Yb 888888 888888 .dP"Y8 888888
88__dP 88__ dPYb 8I Yb YbdP 88 dP Yb 88 88__ `Ybo." 88
88"Yb 88"" dP__Yb 8I dY 8P 88 Yb dP 88 88"" o.`Y8b 88
88 Yb 888888 dP""""Yb 8888Y" dP 88 YbodP 88 888888 8bodP' 88
Software QA and Support ★ Automation ★ Manual Testing
Current Date & Time (Pacific) ★
------------------------------------------------------------------------
QA Bottleneck
philosophy.htm ⮐
QA can be seen as the bottleneck mainly because of when and
how QA gets involved, usually at the end of the development
cycle. Here's why that perception sticks.
If QA is the last step before release... when bugs or issues
come up at that point, it feels like QA is holding everything up,
even though they're just highlighting problems that existed
earlier.
Deadlines create pressure to deliver fast, so any delay at the
end feels magnified. QA's thorough testing uncovers gaps and
rework needed, which can slow down the release schedule, making
QA appear responsible.
Lack of early collaboration means QA is left to catch unfinished
or unclear work. Since these issues weren't caught earlier, QA's
testing phase becomes longer and more complex.
Misunderstanding of QA's role. Many people see QA as "just
testers" who find bugs, rather than as partners in quality who
should be involved from the start to prevent issues. The role
is often reduced to someone going through a checklist and
marking pass/fail.
✨ This idea of catching issues sooner is called "shift-left"
testing. It's about moving quality efforts earlier in the dev
cycle so you catch things when they're easier (and cheaper)
to fix. IBM has a write-up on the concept
here,
if you want to
dig into it more.
Handoffs feel like checkpoints where QA "approves" or "blocks"
progress, reinforcing the bottleneck image.
QA brings issues to the surface. They're not causing the delays.
The real problem is discovering those issues too late. QA just
exposes what should've been caught earlier. Involving QA early
helps prevent the bottleneck.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top ⇧