We know how significant a role does testing play in making a high-quality video game. Testers are involved in every stage of the development, detecting flaws and reporting them to the developers to work on them. This communication between developers and testers is of utmost importance as it will directly reflect on the final product. Therefore, test reports must highlight all the important points and present themselves effectively without errors to affect the desired results.
More than acquiring a good defect tracking software, testing firms should focus on hiring intelligent testers who can write a 100% error-free bug reports. Relying completely on the tracking software to get the job done can be a big mistake. Some firms make this trade-off and compromise in testing recruitment and hire fresh candidates with almost no technical interviews. While benefiting from low salaries, these firms lure game development companies by offering huge discounts to survive the stiff competition. Ultimately, the buying party suffers badly with poor-written bug reports. A few well-written grammatically correct sentences are much better than an error-ridden lengthy report, which would end up wasting a lot of developer’s time.
There’s no denying the significance of tracking tools. The point is that you need an equally capable workforce to complement your defect tracking software. Testing is not just about playing games. It’s the tester who’ll determine whether the bug is critical or trivial and it’s his/her job to present the information accurately without creating confusion in the mind of the developer.
Speaking of reporting, it requires a certain set of analytical, communication, and writing skills to think and translate your thoughts into words that can be easily understood. It’s as equally important to fulfill this criterion as of advanced gaming knowledge and passion. Without communicating the flaws effectively to the development can lead to problems. Ultimately, it’s the testing firm that is responsible for a buggy game development. This can have adverse effects on the company’s reputation which is earned after putting years of hard work and perseverance.
Conclusion
Companies should put their efforts in recruiting experienced and skilled testers instead of looking for a “perfect” defect tracking software as an alternative. A well-written bug report can have all the attributes of conveying a message effectively even if it is written in plain text over an MS Word Doc file or Google Docs. Always ask for a free demo or go for a QA trial whenever considering 3rd party QA testing companies to ensure that you are hiring the right and capable QA testers. Even the best defect tracking software in the world will prove to be useless if it’s not put to use in compliance with norms of error-free reporting.
Author Bio:
Ray Parker is an entrepreneur and tech enthusiast who loves to incorporate new technologies to get more efficient outcomes. When he’s not marketing his latest venture, he keeps himself busy in writing technical articles to educate peers and professionals.