What does a QA testers day look like? And who is a QA tester? A quality assurance tester is a person that tests products to make sure they are safe and up to standard. The job requires a combination of both technical knowledge and an understanding of how users will interact with the product. Quality assurance testers typically test all stages of development, from beginning work on paper designs, to translating the design into code and testing it in real-life situations to make sure it works. They also test how well new features interact with existing features as well as older versions of the app.

What Does A QA Testers Day Look Like | A Day in the Life of a QA Tester

8:00 AM
The quality assurance tester gets to the office, greets their co-workers and gets started on the day’s tasks. Quality assurance testers spend a lot of time testing software. In some companies, QA testers also work on creating test plans and reports for projects they’re working on. Testers typically work in teams of two or more people so they can test apps with a fresh perspective.

8:30 AM
The QA tester begins their morning by checking their board to see if there are new tasks for them. The tester also checks email to see if any new bugs were found during the night that need urgent attention. Most companies usually assigns a project manager to each testing team to help manage their workflow and monitor how issues are dealt with and reported.

If there aren’t any new bugs, the tester will go on to the next step of their morning routine.

9:00 AM
Next, the tester will try to reproduce a bug that another developer or designer found over night. If they are unable to reproduce it, they’ll return to checking their email for new bugs or tasks.

When the tester is able to reproduce a bug, they’ll then capture information about it and note what needs fixing and when things were resolved.

9:30 AM
Throughout the day, testers will try to reproduce bugs and report them back to their team manager. The tester will then continue to work on fixing any new issues that were reported from the last version of the application. If they don’t find any bugs they’ll start testing the next features to be added. The tester works hand in hand with developers and designers that they work with to ensure they receive all the bug fixes and feedback they need to complete the day’s tasks.

12:00 PM
For lunch, the quality assurance tester leaves their office and takes a break during this time.

After lunch, the tester will continue to test features and bug fixes from the morning. Alternatively, if there are no bugs to fix or new features being worked on, the tester will do usability testing to see how the app works in real-life situations with real people.

The tester can also update test cases, or create new test cases based on the new features being added.

2:00 PM
Most often, there are sprint planning meetings and retrospectives that take place during the afternoon. These meetings keep the development moving forward and allows testers to know what will be fixed in the next version of a software/app.

3:00 PM
Time is needed for a qa tester to add tests to the test suite. A test suite is a list of test cases that a tester must work through. This can be manually updated as new features, bugs, and fixes are added to the software. A good test suite won’t have the same problems as an uncompleted one.

5:00 pm

The tester will finally end their day after they test all-new features, bugs and fixes that were created in the morning or that were pulled from the backlog. Then they are able to consolidate all issues into a report and submit it for review by the team.

You must be wondering .. is that it??

Well, a day in the life of a QA tester is typically never the same. The tester may be called into meetings or asked to bug test a feature that was completed just a few hours ago. They work in real-time with developers and designers, so they need to understand their processes and how to best work with them. Testers must be able to keep up with the fast pace of ever-changing technology.

Automation testers also perform testing and bug fixing duties. However, they are not involved in conducting the bugs. Automation testers rigorously test a full system (software, hardware and its subsystems), regardless of program source or language.

A typical week in the life of a QA tester – generally

While the previous was a typical day, it doesn’t mean that every day is the same for a QA Tester. Here are some of the major activities found on a weekday for a QA Tester. As you can see, there are similarities in the day to day work. And it can all be pretty exciting! The goal of sharing this is to give you an idea of what QA testers do on a daily basis but is by no means a perfect guide to what happens in all companies. This specifically refers to companies that generally run a sprint-based process.

Day 1  – Receive new builds or follow up on previous work, including any new bugs that have been reported. Reviewers may assign testers to bugs they already know about or suggest some kind of test plan.

Day 2 – Test build all morning. After lunch, review the results of the testing performed on Monday and find new bugs.

Day 3 – Review logs and discuss the results of tests with testers. Design is a collaborative process, so keep in mind that the build is still a work in progress, and everyone is looking for ways to improve it.

Day 4 – Test build all day. Analyze any bugs reported from day 3 testing with help from developers and other testers if needed.

Day 5 – Analyze all bug reports with developers and other testers, including the results of testing on Friday.

Day 6 – Review any test cases that were not done on Thursday or Friday. If there are more issues to be fixed, then work them into the schedule for testing on Thursday or Friday. Test build all day.

Day 7 – Test build all day. Test new builds for any bugs reported from previous days of testing, and fix those that need to be fixed before release.

Day 8 – Release the build. Test for any issues that were reported in previous builds. Report any known issues to developers and other testers.

Conclusion

These days may vary, depending on the project and where it is in its development cycle. Quality assurance testers typically keep their schedules flexible, so they have time to respond to new or critical bugs with proper testing. Testers are also responsible for working closely with developers and other team members to help improve overall product quality.