10 Critical Quality Assurance Traps

From the Quality Techniques Newsletter QTN May 2005 Issue:

Seems obvious but great companies with great products fall into these traps.

1. Unclear ownership of product quality.
2. No overall test program design or goals.
3. Non-existent or ill-defined test plans and cases.
4. Testing that focuses narrowly on functional cases.
5. No ad hoc, stress or boundary testing.
6. Use of inconsistent or incorrect testing methodology.
7. Relying on inexperienced testers.
8. Improper use of tools and automation, resulting in lost time and reduced ROI.
9. No meaningful metrics for tracking bugs and driving quality back into development.
10. Incomplete regression cycle before software release.

To avoid these traps, it is important to incorporate best practices into your quality assurance process. The process should include an evaluation of where you are with quality assurance today, what your QA goals are, what the gaps are in the process, and finally you should build a roadmap to obtain your goals. Only after these steps have been taken can you avoid these quality assurance traps.

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