The most important thing when it comes to testing your software is not being afraid to ask questions.
South Wales-headquartered software testing company TestLodge allows its users to document and manage their tests.
The company’s tool is primarily used by start-ups, internal IT departments, product and design agencies and quality assurance teams looking for an easy-to-use programme to test the functionality of their software.
“Too many testers are afraid to look silly or like they don’t understand what they do – after all, they are meant to be the experts,” founder Scott Sherwood told BusinessCloud.
“But every case is different, and by not asking questions and gaining a full grasp of the task at hand you are only serving to limit the scope of your knowledge.”
It is also important to understand what you are testing and why – and have a solid plan in place beforehand, Sherwood says.
“It’s all well and good running as many tests as you can on a piece of software you are building,” he continued.
“But if you don’t have a clear plan and procedure for what to test for and when you will end up with a stack of errors and no clear way to go about fixing them.”
The company currently supports thousands of users across more than 112 countries and is valuable for any company that relies on software in any capacity, he says.
“If you are using a computer, you are using software,” he said. “When that software is crucial to your business – be it a digital tool you’re building or just software that you use – you need to make sure it works properly.
“TestLodge enables a user to build a schedule of different tests, run them and then list the errors, issues or bugs in the software.
“The work that then needs to be done to fix the issues can be assigned to other users though its integration with organisational applications like Basecamp or Trello.”
In the coming months TestLodge plans to focus on providing excellent service.
“We will continue listening to the feedback of our user base, but we will slow down how quickly we add new features to the tool,” he said.
“TestLodge has reached a point where it is incredibly stable and user-friendly, and we feel that if we continue to add new features at the previous rate, we may risk destabilising it.
“We will add new features, but they will be far more fleshed out and added at sensible intervals.
“We have also recently started working with a UX (user experience) expert who will be doing a full review of the tool so that we can look at how to improve further, as we want to make sure we continue to be one of the global leaders of a flexible, productive and easy to use test management tool.”