Quality assurance and testing are probably two of the most important things we can do to deliver great work. This document is a living guideline of how we can deliver exceptional work every time.
The name of the game with quality assurance is communication and teamwork. Clear communication, our developers and designers can articulate not only the desired outcome of a change, but also any opportunity costs along the way. Teamwork is at the heart of everything we do, working together will achieve the most well executed design and development for our clients.
Development will always present opportunities for tidying and making designs more consistent (we're going from Sketch to Code afterall). Throughout development, designers and developers should maintain a high level of chatter when there are opportunities for small tweaks that will improve the overall experience of the design.
Developer Take ownership of the QA card in Asana and construct lists that make sense to you. After the round of QA it's up to you to implement the discussed changes, so this is super important. Work with the designer to achieve solutions and workarounds that provide the best outcome within time and budget, it's our job to not just explain what's possible, but what we consider the best implementation of a design concept.
Designer The QA stage is all about the experience and implementation of a static design into a dynamic environment. Work creatively and laterally to ensure your vision is going to meet the expectations of users in the wild! Ask questions and don't be afraid to take extra time to liaise with the client or revisit a concept for a new solution if the current one is not working!
QA is constant! But, there are times when doing full top to bottom, structured reviews, are helpful. Ideally developers have enough time to structure a couple of key components, made a number of on-the-fly changes in collaboration with the designer, and kick the tires of the design. The ideal number of structured QA iterations should be between 2 - 3 rounds and there should always be a clear end goal in sight.
If you are beyond round 3, it's probably a good time for a pow-wow with the wider team to discuss the project's unique challenges.
- Don't panic 😃
- Set a time to review the design/development together (preferably in person, but screensharing is also great) - it is super important that the review is done together!
- Start a QA card in Asana with the round number (e.g. "QA 1" - organize this card however you think will work best)
- Review each component on mobile, tablet and desktop before moving onto other components (e.g. do not do all desktop, then all mobile, we design and develop by component, our QA process should be the same).
- Create tasks and notes for each issue as you see fit — making ⚡ changes here is also a great move and avoids creating tasks for minor changes
- Set a time to catchup and review the work from this round of QA
- Complete the tasks from the QA Round
- Review the round of QA together, ironing out any kinks or questions
- Rinse and Repeat: the QA review should form the basis of whether an additional round of QA is required, if you require another round, use this meeting to setup the required tasks. If you are both happy with the results, grab a 🍻!