For so many years, the companies have relied on a group of people for quality assurance &#8211; Testers, QA Engineers, etc., to be vigilant and help software development teams to deliver high-quality applications. We spent our days testing, reporting defects, debating business requirements, and wondering if it was a feature instead of a bug.&nbsp;



Perhaps the world is changing; we understand this new era requires different approaches, breaking the silos and collaborating more. Still, Are we prepared to see a world without <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/quality-engineering-discussions-5-questions-with-george-ukkuru/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Quality Assurance Engineers</a>? Unfortunately, some companies do think so and are merging the QA roles with the development roles.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/-gNZbX7kOuM3oWAVkic2dYPC_VmymdF94AlJ4Fcmv1zWUgPTSg6utVukTHfBJfmpDw0csUTqkGho1roVc_qQDGRyx_Fz_1o9gc57_90zPrVq-dvu053LSV1vtYEDOpYu_zV6sFfO_1748948972.png" alt="QA Engineers Not Needed" width="400" height="400" /></figure></div>



<a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-do-some-companies-not-have-software-QA-positions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Under the same way of thinking</a>, many companies are switching from &#8220;trying to test everything&#8221; to &#8220;test as fast as you can, and deliver quickly.&#8221; Currently, we have seen several companies minimizing the importance of QA and increasing the adoption of DevOps. Perhaps, it is time to rethink if we want to focus on speed instead of Quality as a core value. Even in Agile, Testing activities can be a big challenge because proper Testing can take time.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Everybody_wants_to_build_something">1 Everybody wants to build something.</a></li><li><a href="#We_all_Have_QA_responsibilities">2 We all Have QA responsibilities.</a></li><li><a href="#The_Importance_of_Quality_and_the_Rise_of_QA_Heroes">3 The Importance of Quality and the Rise of QA Heroes</a></li><li><a href="#Bonus_8211_QA_Roles_are_still_relevant">4 Bonus &#8211; QA Roles are still relevant</a></li><li><a href="#Final_Thoughts">5 Final Thoughts</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="everybody-wants-to-build-something">Everybody wants to build something.</h2>



Everybody wants to build something; it feels incredible creating a piece of software or a fantastic application. Still, when we make something for ourselves, we expect some Quality work, even perfection. As Vonnegut Jr mentioned in his quote, another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build, and nobody wants to do maintenance. The same applies to software development and the high cost of Quality and Maintenance.



 <blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;My name is Ozymandias, king of kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!&#8221; Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.&#8221; <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Extract of </a><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias">Percy Shelley&#8217;s &#8220;Ozymandias&#8221;</a></blockquote> 



In my experience, I&#8217;ve seen several startups trying to deliver their Minimal Value Product (MVP) faster. Still, it becomes a nightmare when they try to implement a Quality process later, or even worse, postponing some critical features because some complex bugs are found. So my suggestion for those starting a new project or a new application is that you must consider quality earlier; perhaps later, it could be costly.



<h2 id="we-all-have-qa-responsibilities">We all Have QA responsibilities.</h2>



Indeed, we all have QA responsibilities, and sometimes it is worth repeating it out loud.



There are moments in our software development life cycle when we are perfectly aware of what we are building and have some idea of what we need to validate, exactly when and where we need it the most. Still, there is a sort of uncertainty if we are validating correctly. It should maintain a balance between what we are building and what we are validating. Everything must be working perfectly.



But then there are circumstances when we are almost totally blind about our actual capabilities and strengths related to quality. Our quality mindset is literally on vacation. Although the teams understand why quality assurance is needed, still, some guidance is required; we feel that everything is off track. It is relatively easy to lose track in this new world where everyone is responsible for Quality, and none is responsible for that.



Don&#8217;t get me wrong; every person within the Agile teams has to consider Quality at every stage in our projects. However, a group of people cannot just own it (As the role of Tester/QA Engineer doesn&#8217;t exist anymore in some companies.), nowadays, in this new era of the world without QA Engineers, who should be the ones helping us to embrace Quality as a core value and encouraging us to follow best QA practices?



<h2 id="the-importance-of-quality-and-the-rise-of-qa-heroes">The Importance of Quality and the Rise of QA Heroes</h2>



The good news is that most organizations understand why quality assurance is still needed. They fill the gap using the developers and DevOps staff playing an even more active role in QA operations. I have seen those teams working more closely. However, instead of just communicating and cooperating with quality assurance engineers, they will need to get more hands-on with software testing and quality optimization.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/jxw6kt0GS0yxt90poDcXIokG_Hi4du9sYtSp59s0XMPMZHDbvlt-HoSi5HncucmPhCGjmxd14p-RZ49e8C26wWuTnclTxdl09kyNZ25B3uBM35Ic56kMvajQN4gh-JYFRqx8MDuS_1748948971.jpg" alt="Importance of Quality" width="400" height="400" /><figcaption>Enrique A Decoss</figcaption></figure></div>



Let&#8217;s be frank; it could be challenging for developers and DevOps engineers to own QA if it means more work and time. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s critical to empower them with tools, training, and coaching to make QA activities efficient.That&#8217;s why we need QA (Quality Assurance) Heroes, those who can help the scrum teams to develop strategies and practices and embrace a Quality mindset, even for those who have no prior experience in QA.




Key points to consider:



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Educating about Quality. Developers already know how to code; it&#8217;s what they do, so learning an automated testing framework and writing tests is not a massive issue. Still, in order to improve quality insurance, we need to train the team to increase their product knowledge and make them better testers. In addition, we should be focusing on the add value part of testing and customer perspective scenarios; we must offer ad-hoc advice related to Quality and make recommendations to create better Test Scripts. QA Heroes can be helpful in all of the areas above.</li></ul>



For example, here are some&nbsp; tools that team members should know about to improve their knowledge:



1. Free and <a href="https://testsigma.com/open-source-contribution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Open Source Test Automation Tools: The open source tools are a unique opportunity to contribute</a> to the testing community. Contribution can be in terms of improving the quality of the code, or adding new enhancements and features that could help improve the test automation efficiency for you and teams worldwide.



The top 3 open source tools that deserve a try are:



i. Testsigma: A no-code <a href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">test automation</a> tool that lets anyone automate for web, mobile and APIs from the same placel. The github repository is here: <a href="https://github.com/testsigmahq/testsigma" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://github.com/testsigmahq/testsigma</a>



<button class="btn bg-primary cta-btn" style="margin: auto"><a href="https://github.com/testsigmahq" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:#fff">Start with Testsigma Opensource</a></button>



ii. Selenium: This tool is&nbsp; to automate web browser specific workflows. This is no-code for beginners and is compatible with &#8211; JavaScript (Node. js), Python, Ruby, Java, Kotlin (programming language), and C#. The github repository is here: <a href="https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium</a> iii. Appium: This tool is to automate mobile specific workflows. This is built upon Selenium and is compatible with &#8211; Java, Python, Ruby, C#, JavaScript, and PHP or any language that supports Selenium. The github repository is here: <a href="https://github.com/appium/appium" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://github.com/appium/appium</a>



2. Premium Test Automation Tools: These tools are mentioned here: <a href="https://testsigma.com/mobile-testing-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://testsigma.com/mobile-testing-tools</a>



3. Tools for other day-to-day activities for Testers: Mentioned here: <a href="https://testsigma.com/mobile-testing-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://testsigma.com/mobile-testing-tools</a>



<ul class="list_style_disc"><li>Continuous feedback. In order to meet the quality assurance needs, the whole team should be aware of testing activities and understand high-quality standards. QA Heroes can help the team to define testing activities, and organize testing sessions. It&#8217;s essential to establish a continuous feedback loop directly between scrum teams so that each group can discuss Quality issues with the other group.</li> <li>Everyone is responsible for Quality. Every developer and DevOps engineer should share ownership over software quality from a cultural perspective. In the absence of QA engineers, there is no one whose primary job is software testing; as a result, it falls to the whole team to own Quality Assurance completely. Each team has its context and is expected to do experiments and adapt the Quality process to deliver high-quality applications.</li> <li>Reinforcing Quality. If we don&#8217;t verify and adapt in case of a glitch, the risk of quality problems will go up. QA Heroes can help the team get into the swing of things. Since their role is to guide and provide advice related to Quality, the whole team should not rely on the QA Heroes to test their work.</li></ul>



Last but not least, the teams should be&nbsp; encouraged&nbsp; to focus on prevention rather than detection.



<h2 id="bonus-qa-roles-are-still-relevant">Bonus &#8211; QA Roles are still relevant</h2>



As we noticed, Quality Assurance is still critical in delivering the best experiences possible to today&#8217;s demanding customers. Consumers worldwide expect their digital products to improve over time, and with each new update, their expectations rise. If they are unhappy, the cost of switching software is zero.&nbsp;



Moreover, there is no room for critical errors; companies are still requesting QA Engineers to automate testing, identify real-world scenarios, and implement different testing approaches. So the QA roles must ensure they can keep high-quality even as development moves faster.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/blog-assets-production.testsigma.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/migrated_images/zy4OYDL12arQbiCsKGKNJbuP_4f2B-ZM9aPmbp0FH5bAQJrGLLxf-EVh510DwtZOsjTAzKufYiibaB5Cj99gl91YDeAqLik22FWyWD5eqjZfsPgi6_9QnvsA0e3DPqtDdM9WaClI_1748948973.png" alt="QA Roles are still relevant" width="600" height="600" /><figcaption><a href="https://www.recruiter.com/careers/software-quality-assurance-engineers-and-testers/outlook/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Outlook for Quality Assurance Engineers</a></figcaption></figure></div>



The overall job outlook for QA Engineers has been positive since 2019. Vacancies for this career have increased by 4.97 percent in the US, with an average growth of 4.97 percent per year. As a result, demand for Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers is expected to increase, with 308,390 new jobs filled by 2029. It represents an annual increase of 2.32 percent over the next few years.



<h2 id="final-thoughts">Final Thoughts</h2>



Quality is not trying to slow down innovation in scrum teams. However, it must be seen as a critical part of software development to deliver more innovative applications. In the real world, many organizations don&#8217;t have QA teams at all or are large enough to handle all QA obligations on their own. So that&#8217;s another reason why making QA the responsibility of everyone involved in the Agile projects is critical.



Agile may be killing traditional QA roles. But that doesn&#8217;t mean all QA roles are disappearing. It could be possible for certain companies to move forward without a dedicated QA team. I genuinely believe that approach can be demanding for developers and DevOps Engineers. Giving agile teams additional resources that quickly scale, each testing approach keeps developers moving faster and adjusting to customers&#8217; high demands.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">As QA heroes, we must always positively impact our testing landscape.&#8221; &#8211; Enrique A Decoss</blockquote>



Happy Bug Hunting!






 
SDET VS QA 
https://testsigma.com/blog/sdet-vs-qa/ 
 
 
Quality Assurance 
https://testsigma.com/guides/quality-assurance/ 
 
 
QA Process 
https://testsigma.com/guides/qa-process/

Why The World Doesn't Need QA Engineers (But still requires quality assurance)

Why are QA Engineers Not Needed (But Still Requires QA)

The world is entering a new age of technology. Low-code/no-code tools are already becoming a mainstay for many global teams. By going no-code/low-code, teams can now fill in the gap between the accelerating demands of application delivery and team skill sets. While these tools are nicely on their way to becoming mainstream for development, similar ones for test automation are pushing their way into the market.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/7quM7iRgYklsMudYtgXRhKvPfz9oYH0PVeXVmUJmtfoP_8Ju55j9z-4GkpHBVqXAhLplgf9gLd9QVMdiXkl1-rAWhT0KGJ7GSPv8zDWgA8HqV0Z6XvApGCb6yWxCLuKdLtnS9a0P" alt="Testsigma - Test automation platform" width="300" height="300"/><figcaption>credits: me 🙂</figcaption></figure></div>



No-code automation tools are believed to solve the challenge of simplifying Testing for Agile QA teams at different levels, plus handling the growing complexity of the software itself. In addition, the adoption of CI/CD and continuous testing practices in the Agile world has changed how product development teams deal with their updates in many ways: release more and release faster than before.&nbsp;



Therefore, test automation solutions today need to make testing accessible to those with a certain level of coding skills and those without coding skills.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Agile_Testing_and_the_challenge_of_going_faster">1 Agile Testing and the challenge of going faster</a></li><li><a href="#No-code_testing_tools_helping_Agile_Teams">2 No-code testing tools helping Agile Teams</a></li><li><a href="#The_Future_of_Agile_Teams_and_no-code_automation_testing_tools">3 The Future of Agile Teams and no-code automation testing tools</a><ul><li><a href="#User_Acceptance_Testing">3.1 User Acceptance Testing</a></li><li><a href="#Exploratory_Testing_in_Agile">3.2 Exploratory Testing in Agile</a></li><li><a href="#Behavior-Driven_Development">3.3 Behavior-Driven Development</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="#Final_Thoughts">4 Final Thoughts</a></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="agile-testing-and-the-challenge-of-going-faster">Agile Testing and the challenge of going faster</h2>



Agile teams are constantly asked to do more with less and release faster without sacrificing the quality or increased spending. As a result, many Agile teams look to test automation to meet these demands from internal clients and end-users.



But, as we already know, traditional test automation comes with its fair share of challenges.



Many companies have invested a lot of time and resources into automation and those further behind in their automation maturity and strategy. As part of the current state of test automation, many companies have minimal levels of test automation today, mentioning that the reason for that is they don&#8217;t have the necessary resources to support it. One reason is a lack of skilled and/or experienced test automation resources.



Agile Teams that have achieved higher levels of test automation encounter a much more diverse group of challenges. For example, companies that have invested heavily in Test Automation believe they progress too slowly, and do not notice the expected level of coverage from it.



The challenges appear to be inhibiting the effectiveness and adoption of Test Automation. According to Forrester&#8217;s State of Agile reports, the percentage of automated test cases is barely growing. In 2015, <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/ApplauseMarketing/automate-qa-testing-easily-with-codeless-tools#10" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">49% of respondents</a> communicated they always tested manually. That number dropped to 46% in the 2017 version of the report but hit a plateau in 2019, where it remained at 46%.



<h2 id="no-code-testing-tools-helping-agile-teams">No-code testing tools helping Agile Teams</h2>



As we are aware, traditional automation requires experts in coding to script tests at the outset and maintain them over time. In addition, the complexity and need for different tools for automation like Appium, Selenium, element locator, locator strategies, and so on add to the complexity of traditional Test Automation and the need for specific expertise.&nbsp;<gwmw style="display:none;"></gwmw>



Some companies are misleading the QA teams and moving into development roles, which usually indicates that test automation projects get stuck midway through and are not fully completed, resulting in a massive waste of time, money, and people.



The value of no-code/low-code test automation tools, on the other hand, is that anyone can do it. With a no-code/low-code solution, a user moves through a test case, and the testing tools can transcribe that experience into an automation script. In addition, no-code/low-code testing tools were initially addressed only for web applications.&nbsp;



<button class="btn bg-primary cta-btn" style="display: block;
 margin: auto;"><a href="https://testsigma.com/codeless-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:#fff">Read in detail about Codeless Testing</a></button>



Today, many more tools offer the ability to run sessions and create test automation scripts on mobile (Android and iOS), API Testing, and some functional testing areas.



Although developing with no-code often accelerates the development process and enables more straightforward enhancements, DevOps teams should still perform testing and configuration reviews.



Using a no-code testing platform, we can significantly reduce the time and cost involved while also decreasing our dependence on test automation engineers. In addition, regular coders and even non-coders can now generate test scripts.



Finally, Testers can now focus on the business needs of the software, ensure customer-centric scenarios, and perhaps more test coverage.



Ideally, traditional automation and no-code testing tools should maximize the speed and quality of software delivered to end-users.



Still, I genuinely believe modern automation should use no-code testing and deliver high-quality applications faster.



<h2 id="the-future-of-agile-teams-and-no-code-automation-testing-tools">The Future of Agile Teams and no-code automation testing tools</h2>



Technology is constantly changing, but at this moment, there are no tools to build software tests that perfectly run and identify bugs automatically with a single click. However, we can&#8217;t deny that it&#8217;s easier than ever to run automated software tests faster with no-code automation tools using advanced AI and ML techniques.



<button class="btn bg-primary cta-btn" style="display: block;
 margin: auto;"><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-automated-testing-is-not-the-same-as-record-and-playback/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color:#fff"> Check out various codeless testing tools available now!
</a></button>



Agile Testing approaches that we need to include in our Scrum Teams:



<h3 id="user-acceptance-testing">User Acceptance Testing</h3>



Agile brought user acceptance testing into all stages of the software development process. Proper user acceptance testing goes beyond asking business stakeholders to explore the application, try out new features, and find issues. Instead, a successful UAT requires thorough planning and execution, just like any other test.



Keeping UAT in sync with specifications is challenging in Agile projects where changes happen frequently. In addition, due to its heavy focus on end-user Testing, UAT also overlaps with UI testing, which tends to be less change-proof.&nbsp;



One of the critical advantages of no-code/low-code testing tools is the speed you can create and edit tests. In addition, the speed boost you get from not having to code your tests makes it possible to cover new features with tests quickly.



<h3 id="exploratory-testing-in-agile">Exploratory Testing in Agile</h3>



Exploratory Testing is a cyclical method, progressing from design &gt; execution &gt; analysis &gt; learning before beginning the loop again. As we already know, Exploratory Testing can&#8217;t be automated; instead, Agile testers must create the exploratory testing session on the go, requiring the tester to use their unique skill set fully.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/YjpdAv10_MMATB2vN_vgKNkso4lP3RbHqhFJVdNIjqPCSIjIec1qLhjyCxXii6AWhoPckNdqp-9PGTjdtQqvs0yD0hL9RVV0fTXGoYIL_nJHfGD9HAWP4UJkkpbyFxEQh65dt1kv" alt="Testsigma - Test automation platform" width="400" height="400"/><figcaption>credits: me 🙂</figcaption></figure></div>



Exploratory Testing is the closest testers get to interact with an application. It&#8217;s a great way to find out if you have some working application quickly, and allow testers to identify bugs that would not be found through other testing methodologies. No-code/low-code testing tools can free up Agile tester&#8217;s time to perform Exploratory Testing sessions every sprint.



<h3 id="behavior-driven-development">Behavior-Driven Development</h3>



BDD is a collaborative approach that creates a shared understanding of requirements between the business and the Agile teams. Its purpose is to help guide development, reduce rework, and increase flow. BDD tests are customer-facing scenarios that try to describe the behavior of a Story, Feature, or Capability from a user&#8217;s perspective.&nbsp;



BDD facilitates the shift from functional Testing to automated Testing thanks to an understandable language that eliminates complex test script syntax (TDD).



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://testsigma.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/NLP.png" alt="NLP(Natural language processing)" class="wp-image-17881" width="800" height="400"/></figure></div>



Many no-code/low-code testing tools facilitate the BDD approach providing a <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/natural-language-processing-nlp-based-test-automation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Natural Language</a> processor; if the test cases are created using Natural Language, they are understandable for users at all levels. Including Product Owners, TPMs, QA Managers, stakeholders, etc. It means any team member can look at the test cases and review them if needed.



In today&#8217;s Agile world, we can recognize teams who don&#8217;t want to use no-code/low-code automation tools and other groups willing to learn about those tools and apply them in their scrum teams.



A few years ago, I witnessed the same pattern between people who knew how to use Agile methodologies and those reluctant to switch from waterfall methodology (<a href="https://hbr.org/2019/09/when-waterfall-principles-sneak-back-into-agile-workflows" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AgileFall</a>).



<h2 id="final-thoughts">Final Thoughts</h2>



The greatest thing that can be done to ensure the success of <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/the-unpleasant-phenomenon-in-agile-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agile Testing</a> for an application is to hire people who have the essential characteristics of an Agile tester and build a culture of self-organization and independent thinking in the entire organization.



Members of an Agile team need to learn and adapt different technologies and business practices in today&#8217;s Agile world. In addition, they need to know new tools and skills to be more productive and successful.



Agile testers must possess vast knowledge in different areas such as technical-based skillset, communication skills, collaboration with others effortlessly, experience in exploratory testing, and familiarity with various non-code/low code automation testing tools.



Last but not least, modern Agile Teams need to embrace a quality mindset. Therefore, we need to maintain &#8220;Quality&#8221; as a core value and take real advantage of the no-code/low-code automation testing tools to deliver high-quality applications faster.



Happy Bug Hunting!PC: <a href="https://www.freepik.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Freepik</a>

Role of No-code/Low-code testing tools for Modern Agile QA teams

Testsigma Blog

Enrique De Coss