Implementing QA testing seems straightforward. However, implementing a comprehensive QA strategy can be a complex process. To ensure that your product, app, or website is bug free when it hits production, here are 7 QA tests you should be running.

1. Getting Ready to Deploy?
7 Tests for your QA Checklist

2. QA seems straight forward…
but implementing a comprehensive QA strategy is a complex process. You’re
testing:
Major headline failures
Regression bugs
Extreme edge cases
…and everything in between
On top of that, you’re looking to anticipate potential problems before they
actually become problems. So, what to do?
To increase your coverage and ensure that your product is bug-free and
ready to ship, here are 7 QA tests you should be running.

3. Unit Tests
aka: white box testing, transparent box testing
Unit testing tests the smallesttestable
segments (“units”) of code, usually as they are
written. These tests are normally written by
software developers, or in Testing Driving
Development (TDD) environments before the
code is written.
Unit tests should be implemented regardless of
company size or funding cycle. As the company
grows, they should implementautomated
scripts to run unit tests.
An unreliable core product discourages users
from becoming long-term customers (and stunt
any potential company growth!) so it’s really
important to be doing unit testing to make sure
this doesn’t happen.

4. Integration Testing
aka: functional testing, black box testing
Integration testing ensures that any new
code written compiles smoothly with
your existing codebase, application,or
feature, and takes place after unit
testing. Usually done at the modular
level, tests that two separate pieces work
together properly.
Automated integration testing should be
implemented as your product grows and
new features are added alongside
existing software. This is essential for
Series A levels of funding and beyond, for
both B2B and B2C companies.

5. Acceptance
Testing
aka: end user testing
User acceptance testing is a form of
QA that tests whether an application
or feature works in the “real world,”
with respect to the end users’ needs
and requirements. These tests are
executed by the end user or a
business representative.
These tests are especially important
for mature products, assessing the
major uses of your product, and to
address issues before they reach
production.

6. Exploratory
Testing
aka: informal testing
Exploratory or informal testing is
non-structured testing to find
unexpected issues or problems. This
method needs to be carried out by
skilled testers and is difficultto
automate, mainly because there are
often no clear, concrete objectives
for these test cases.
Exploratory testing not only
discovers how the software works,
but creating new test cases to find
defects and isolate problems that
more formal, automated methods
might miss.

7. Penetration Testing
aka: pen testing
Penetration testing tests for security
vulnerabilities,and helps develops discoverany
weaknesses or breaches in their software or
application. Penetration tests can be automated
or manual, and involves identifying possible weak
points and attempting to break in.

8. Load Testing
aka: volume testing, stress testing
Load testing ensures that an application
and its infrastructure can handle a large
number of users simultaneously.
Varying loads are placed on a specified
area of the app to simulate users, traffic,
etc., to see how it functions.
This becomes important in the later
funding stages of your company. For
B2B companies, this may be required at
seed-funding stage, while B2C may be
able to wait to worry about this type of
automated testing .Most B2C companies
don’t have to worry about load testing
until they’re more mature, as they’re not
yet likely to encounter traffic that breaks
their software.

9. Dogfooding
aka: eating your own dog food
Dogfooding is the practice of using
your own product or app to test
and uncover any issues. This not
only allows you to see what the UX
of their app is like, but also test
their application in a real-world
situation.
Dogfooding uncovers both big
problems, as well as small issues
like interface bugs that affect speed
and accuracy. Overall, it helps your
developers think like the customers
who will be using your product,
ensuring a better UX.

10. Designing Testing
Schemes to Move
Fast
QA-testing strategies and testing types
should be implemented based on
company life cycle. Comprehensive
testing strategies are essential for
satisfying end users and maintaining
the quality of your product or app (or
individual features). Most importantly,
you should continue to evaluate your
QA-testing needs, since the scope of
your testing strategy will change as
you grow.

11. So what tests
should you run?
The challenge is figuring out how
much QA is needed to meet
customer expectations without
wasting resources.
Download our whitepaper to
learn:
• How to create the perfect testing
stack
• How to choose between test
coverage options
• What tests you should be
running based on your
customers, competitors, and
funding cycle
Download the Whitepaper

12. About Rainforest QA
The Rainforest Continuous QA Platform provides on-demand manual QA-as-
a-Service so that agile and continuous deployment teams can develop
software quickly without compromising quality.
Powered by 50,000 qualified testers, the platform serves as a management
tool for writing, running and getting manual QA results is less than 30
minutes so that companies can focus on building quality software, not
managing individual testers. Full feature access is available via API to
seamless incorporate the platform into your existing development workflow.
Learn more about Rainforest here