10 Different Types of QA Testing

It all comes down to one thing – quality, really. What sets apart software that users love from software that users leave? So, how do you ensure that your app or platform is really ready for prime time? That’s where Quality Assurance (QA types of testing) steps in. Think of it as a rigorous checkup for your software, a way to spot issues before the users do, make sure everything works seamlessly, and polish your product to make it stand out.

Testing ranges from testing each separate feature to performing stress tests on the whole system under heavy loads. Each one of the types of quality assurance testing is necessary for creating software that’s functional, reliable, and fun to use. In this article, we walk you through the different types of testing in QA that each team should be aware of.

What is QA Testing?

Quality assurance testing is a well-structured software testing process that aids in ascertaining and reassuring the quality of the software based on predetermined standards of performance. It entails activities targeted at finding bugs systematically, from low-level code bugs to usability problems. It also implies fixing them before the software reaches customers.

Different types of QA testing involve functional, performance, and security testing, among others, and ensure that software is reliable, secure, and user-friendly. QA checks the quality of the software by testing it during development. This greatly cuts down the risk of an error and increases user satisfaction.

10 Main Types of QA Testing

There is a wide array of QA testing types that should be involved in assuring quality software. Each serves a unique role in identifying issues and ensuring the application meets both technical and user standards. We have prepared a comparison table for you and a more detailed look at the top 10 types of QA testing.

Accessibility Testing

Accessibility testing ensures that the application is accessible to people with disabilities. This type of testing involves testing the standards for accessibility, such as WCAG, based on screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, and color contrast. Meeting accessibility standards not only fulfills regulatory standards but opens up the application to a wide range of target groups.

When to use. When creating UI, this would be the final sanity check for accessibility standards during design and development.

Integration Testing

After the individual units have been tested, integration testing examines how they interact. It aims to test how various modules send data to one another as they work as a whole system. Integration tests are necessary for finding data communication defects, such as mismatched input and output data format or mismatched inputs and outputs across components. If the integration of the modules is tested early, this will avoid problems that only appear when the different parts of the system are being integrated.

When to use. After unit testing, whenever modules or components are integrated; most especially after major code integrations.

Performance Testing

Performance testing puts different loads on the behavior of a system. Various metrics, including response time, throughput, and stability under a high volume of traffic or loads regarding data processing, are tested by QA teams. The most important goal of performance testing is to identify bottlenecks with the aim of ensuring that the app resists real-world stress without falling apart or slowing down. Key QA testing types here include load testing, stress testing, and scalability testing.

When to use. Before release, especially for applications expected to handle heavy user traffic or data processing tasks.

Manual Testing

With manual testing, the software is interacted with directly by the human testers themselves, exploring its features and noting any inconsistencies or usability issues. Manual testing is great for capturing those really subtle issues that automated scripts might miss, such as visual alignment issues or flaws in the user experience. It is critical for early design feedback and also useful for exploratory testing, where testers freely navigate the software, looking for unusual bugs.

When to use. During early development, UI/UX testing, exploratory testing, and when no automated test exists for a feature.

Automation Testing

Automation testing utilizes scripts to perform tests that would otherwise be repetitive and require manual effort. By automating such repetitive tasks, QA teams save time, are more accurate, and can run the tests at scale. However, it requires careful planning since automated tests need to be well-maintained and can miss UX issues that require the human eye.

When to use. When performing large-scale, repetitive tests (for example, regression, smoke, or performance testing) on an application at a stable version.

End-to-End Testing

End-to-end testing simulates real-world user scenarios for the validation of the whole application flow. This test ensures that the whole system, from the user interface to the database, works as intended. E2E testing plays an important role in catching issues that appear only during full usage of the system. It includes scenarios such as a user logging in, going through the app, performing certain tasks, and emulating how a user would go through the software.

When to use. Before the release, we need to validate the whole application workflow, especially high-priority user journeys.

Visual Testing

Visual testing involves the verification of an application’s look and feel as per the design. Misalignment of elements, wrong color shades, and font inconsistencies are detected across devices and browsers. This test ensures that on every screen dimension and resolution, the application will be professional-looking. Automation support for visual testing includes screenshot capture tools that make image comparisons against reference images. It can also be manually performed based on the details of the UI review.

When to use. For UI testing, cross-browser testing, or after design updates, in order to check for keeping consistent views with respect to different platforms.

Regression Testing

Regression testing occurs when any code, feature, or functionality is changed to ensure that features that were already working work as they should. It acts mostly like a “safety net” of reassurance to the instances in which the new code inadvertently has an impact on the older parts of the system. Regression testing is quite commonly automated because most of it involves re-running previously completed tests on updated software. This process is quite vital in maintaining the stability and reliability of evolving software.

When to use. After every code change, bug fix, and update in features, this can be used for huge complex applications or applications that are being used by many people.

Unit Testing

Unit testing forms the base of QA and focuses on smaller components or functions within the code. Unit tests are written to show that each “unit” (often a single function or method) behaves as it should in isolation. Testing these small components early catches the bugs in the codebase at their source rather than allowing them to snowball into larger issues later on. Unit testing can be very automated, meaning once tests are written, they can be run very frequently and catch errors immediately when changes to code happen.

When to use. In the Development stage, when adding new functions or methods.

Functional Testing

Functional testing ensures that every feature of the application behaves or works as expected per requirement specification. QA teams send specific input data into the application, observe the output, and confirm the same against the expected results. This type of testing generally verifies that users can complete key actions and critical functions work as expected across a variety of test scenarios. Functional testing can be both manual and automated, each depending on the scope and frequency of tests needed.

When to use. After each milestone of development – in order to confirm critical functionalities, especially critical workflows.

OS-System – Team That Can Help You With All Types of Testing

Turning to OS-System, you acquire a partner that understands the subtleties of all the QA testing types and how to apply those subtleties properly to ensure careful vetting of every part of your software before release:

• Professional-grade QA testing. From unit to integration, from end-to-end to performance testing – we do it all. This multi-layered approach allows the identification of issues at each level to create the real backbone for a stable and robust software application.
• Expertise in Automation and Manual Testing. Automation streamlines the tests and ensures that results are consistent. On the other hand, manual testing allows one to capture the subtle things that human interactions and feedback on usability bring. With OS-System, you get the best of both worlds.
• Specialized testing strategies. Not every application requires the same kind of testing. Whether heavy stress testing is needed for your project, or accessibility compliance and high performance thresholds, our team will shape the testing process to whatever fits your needs best.

With OS-System, you should not worry about the quality of your software. Our pursuit of high-level testing means you can be free and continue to dream big while we ensure each function, feature, and interaction is fine-tuned and ready to go live in the real world.

Conclusions

Each of these types of testing in QA adds something unique to the software: it speaks to a different aspect of quality, usability, and stability. Put together, they make a really robust QA strategy that actually ensures maximum reliability and user satisfaction in the final product. If you need our assistance, you can contact us right now!