Let's talk about Software Testing

... what you enjoy most about working as a Software Test Engineer at kununu.

What I enjoy the most is the collaborative culture that genuinely values the user. There’s a strong sense of community and commitment to continuous improvement, which influences our entire testing approach. Feedback is welcomed and actively sought after, fostering strong partnerships with developers, product owners, and designers. This open dialogue ensures we’re all aligned in delivering an exceptional user experience.

There’s also an emphasis on transparency and openness, that allows the QAs to advocate for effective testing practices, making the role integral to product development from the start. We have the autonomy to explore new testing methodologies and incorporate industry best practices.

How would you describe the working atmosphere within your testing team?

The atmosphere is positive and dynamic, built on trust and respect. Open communication and a supportive environment, makes it easy to share ideas, raise concerns, and seek feedback. We try to leverage each other’s strengths to improve our effectiveness.

Mutual support and collaboration across functions, brings diverse perspectives that enrich our testing process and enhance our understanding of user needs.

Can you share insights on a recent testing project you were involved in?

Recently we experimented a new format, like a “hack week” format, to deliver a product feature where Engineering, Product and Design, worked together to build a feature from scratch based on user feedback. The Competition Insights feature, in terms of concept already exists, but the functionalities were scattered across multiple areas and cover isolated use cases. The idea was to consolidate the tools in a central and modern way, in order to improve user experience, facilitate future developments, and ensure the appeal to both end-users and decision-makers.

Issues and doubts were identified early, so challenges like data consistence, were discussed from the beginning and the test strategy included a wide range of scenarios like data matching, accessibility, interaction and browser compatibility.

In what ways do you collaborate with development teams to ensure quality throughout the software development lifecycle?

By participating in Agile ceremonies, such as the daily stand-up, sprint planning and refinement. This allows us to understand feature implementation across disciplines, discuss priorities and potential challenges. Along the way I provide input on testing strategies, timelines and resources. 

We ensure that acceptance criteria are clear and testable, leading to a shared understanding of feature requirements. This collaboration helps identify issues early, reducing the risk of problems later in the process.

Are there initiatives in place that allow team members to suggest new testing tools, processes, or improvements?

Yes, in kununu we have a strong QA Guild, a community that works together very closely. The QA Guild culture prioritizes collaboration and continuous improvement, creating an innovative environment that enhances our testing efforts. Each member can propose new testing tools and improvements.

For example, when I started at kununu, one of my first proposals was an initiative to improve the current End-To-End Tests: The goal was to have a more valuable, reliable and fast test suite. All stakeholders worked together reevaluating the suite (scoring the tests by value, risk and cost), defining best practices and guidelines (each contributor is now aligned and develops strategies and code following the same basic principles), and then, tests were removed, updated or added according to the previous steps.

What is the next big project you are working on in software testing?

We are finishing a very cool projected related with the modernization of the profile B2B user interface, but it’s not communicated yet, so I can’t share more details, the same with the enhancement of the Competition Insights, that we started work recently. 

But I can share some exciting changes in the QA Guild. With the continuous improvement spirit in mind, we are doing some enhances in the way we work, introducing a formal Head of QA, and start using the objectives and key results methodology. To create even more meaningful impact, we will have 4 main objectives, and I will be the driver of the Test Coverage topic. We are starting the discussions phase to define initiatives, and I’m very excited about it.

What qualities do you think are essential for succeeding as a Software Test Engineer at kununu? Any advice for candidates considering applying?

To succeed as a Software Test Engineer at kununu, I think that key qualities should include curiosity, attention to detail, strong analytical skills, adaptability, willingness to learn, open to collaborate and a user-centric mindset. 

Candidates should demonstrate enthusiasm for testing, highlight relevant experience, express willingness to collaborate. Preparing for technical interviews with a solid grasp of testing concepts and hands-on skills is also crucial.

How does kununu prioritize quality assurance and testing practices within its overall development process?

Quality assurance is integral to our development process. Our commitment ensures that we deliver not just functional software but high-quality products that meet user needs. We adopt Agile methodologies, involve test engineers early, and utilize continuous integration and automated testing to catch defects promptly. This focus results in reduced defect rates, faster release cycles, and ultimately, improved customer satisfaction.

How do you handle regression testing, and what strategies do you use to ensure that existing functionality remains intact after updates?

We maintain a robust automated regression suite in several test levels. For E2E, we prioritize test cases based on critical functionalities and integrate regression testing into our CI pipelines. By combining automated tests with exploratory testing, we ensure existing functionalities remain intact after updates, ultimately safeguarding product quality.

We have a cronjob that runs early in the morning, and a weekly QA on duty that is responsible for monitoring it, so when something fails, we are quickly aware that some issue exists and efforts to understand it and resolved it are immediately triggered.