What is quality assurance (QA)?
Definition: Quality assurance (QA) is a process used to ensure that products, services, or processes meet predefined standards and requirements.
QA focuses on preventing defects, errors, or inconsistencies by implementing controls, procedures, and best practices throughout the production or service delivery process.
Quality assurance allows you to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction by consistently delivering products or services that meet their expectations.
Quality assurance methods
- Statistical Process Control (SPC): Uses statistical tools to monitor and control the quality of products or services during production or service delivery.
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA): A proactive method of identifying potential defects or failures in products or services and developing measures to prevent or mitigate them.
- Testing: Testing products or services to check if they meet functional, performance, and reliability requirements.
- Auditing: Conducting audits to assess the effectiveness of quality management systems, identify areas for improvement, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
Example of quality assurance process
Here’s an example of QA in software development.
The first step is establishing quality standards, such as functionality, user experience, and security.
Then you can conduct unit testing, integration testing, and acceptance testing, to ensure that the software meets functional requirements and operates as intended.
You can also implement measures to ensure the software is secure, such as penetration testing and vulnerability scanning.
Another good thing to do is implement code review processes to ensure that code is written according to established standards and best practices.
The quality assurance process doesn’t just help you to create a product that works well and meets users’ expectations but to also cut costs on fixing defects and errors.
