In our daily work activities, we carry out ordinary tasks with a very simple and natural process, either because they are easy or because they are a common part of our job. When new challenges arise, we sharpen up our knowledge and skills to come up with a solution. In the pursuit of these new solutions, different people have different ways of implementing problem-solving processes. In this article, I’ll discuss my personal methods as a QA Engineer, hoping you find these recommendations helpful.
Problem-solving involves different techniques for identifying, analyzing, and resolving problems, such as critical and creative thinking, the use of trial-and-error methods, collaborative work, root cause analysis performance, and logical reasoning. Different types of problems will require different approaches, and using a combination of these methods could lead you to achieve the most effective results.
The Relationship between Problem-Solving and QA
Problem-solving is a very important skill in virtually all fields, from science and engineering to everyday situations, and of course, the Quality Assurance process is not an exception. In this context, problem-solving plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality and reliability of products and services. QA teams are responsible for identifying and resolving issues, defects, and requirements not completely met in software development, systems, or processes. Generally speaking, these are the most important aspects of how problem-solving and QA interact:
- Defect Identification. A defect is an unintended behavior in a software product, and this identification is done with various testing techniques, such as functional testing, performance testing, and usability testing, to find problems. These skills will help the QA engineer identify and categorize defects, determining their root causes.
- Root Cause Analysis. This is essential for implementing the appropriate corrective actions. This will enable the QA professional to investigate the root cause of defects or failures. Besides, the knowledge gained will help prevent similar issues from appearing and improve the general quality of the product.
- Test Case Design. This is especially important since the quality of the product will depend on the right test case design, which can consider different user scenarios and edge cases to thoroughly validate the functionality, performance, and reliability of the system.
- Problem-solving skills also help QA professionals troubleshoot and isolate the problems, investigate the source of the issue, and propose appropriate fixes or workarounds.
Problem-solving is an integral part of the QA process, and it’s the base foundation to identify, analyze, and resolve issues and ensure the overall quality of the product. Aside from these definitions and problem-solving techniques, I will share with you my own approach by addressing key concerns.
First, let’s dive into problem-solving as a creative process for finding solutions. When we’re trying to come up with innovative ideas to create new processes or new products, I recommend you take these considerations into account:
Clear goals ahead
Should all steps be analyzed before starting to work on the solution to a given problem? Perhaps not. The first thing I do as a QA engineer is to determine if the general goal is achievable. I determine this is based on my experience with similar problems. This is the most important step, since this is the initial point where I will have to decide whether I can move forward or not. We don’t have to be 100% confident that we can find the solution, but we have to be able to estimate that it has a good chance of obtaining satisfactory results.
As long as we know the main goal is achievable, the issues that may arise won’t be significant blockers. This will motivate you, as you see that you’re getting closer to the solution, taking small steps in the right direction. The solution might either turn out as expected or turn into an iterative process where sometimes you have to pause and assess from a different point of view whether you have to make adjustments or not.
Preparing alternate paths
You don’t need to have an alternative solution planned in detail, but you do have to consider a couple of options based on your own experience and be aware of relevant obstacles that could come up and how to handle them. If your original idea didn’t work, it doesn’t mean you have to give up. This is always a possibility, so I always consider a plan B, even if just at a high level. As a QA engineer, I apply this to my day-to-day activities. This is an intuitive way of resolving issues based on the insights of previous events where critical thinking, in combination with creative thinking, played a significant role.
A combination of techniques
Problem-solving at work, in my daily activities as a QA engineer, will involve identifying, isolating, and analyzing issues that cause a malfunction in a system that is working in a production environment. Due to the nature of the processes affected by errors in the system, finding a quick solution might prove to be stressful. However, it’s always important to follow and leverage all of the QA team’s techniques to identify and resolve the problem as soon as possible.
Addressing the Problem: Step by Step
Let’s consider a scenario where a software application is having evident erratic behavior and not working as it should. Users are reporting issues with the stability and sending proof of incorrect calculations on the system. This could be, for example, a payroll processing system that is paying over 20% of the normal calculations on a regular payroll period, and it’s taking too long to finish.
The QA team is responsible for identifying and resolving the problem. They need to investigate the issue, find the root cause, and provide recommendations to the tech team for a solution.
The first thing to do is to accurately describe the problem. It is important that, before coming up with a solution, everyone knows and understands very well what the problem is and avoids incorrect versions of it. It is very common that different people reporting the same issue describe it with very different words and apparently under very different circumstances. It’s also common that the QA team and the development team understand different versions of the problem.
Steps to address the problem include the following:
- Have a clear definition of the problem: the nature, the scope, the number of users affected, and any other relevant aspects.
- Reproduce the issue. It is important to gather all the information regarding the problem by reproducing the reported behavior. This will require recreating the user’s environment, using the same accounts, same data, verifying system logs, etc.
- Perform exhaustive testing to identify the specific conditions or actions that produce the errors. That means executing both automated and manual test cases from the smoke and regression suites designed to quickly test the system’s health. This will also require manually executing the same operations that the users are reporting with the same data.
- Analyze and diagnose. Once the problem is reproduced and identified, the QA team must analyze all available data to determine the root cause of the errors. This may involve investigating business processes and requirements as well as documents or new definitions or regulations that might have affected the functionality of the system.
- Collaborate with the development team. It is important to share the QA findings and work together to resolve the issue by helping the developers understand the problem better and from a different perspective.
- Propose and validate solutions. The QA team can suggest potential solutions since they have made the analysis and discussed the issues with the development team. The QA team may recommend changes or new features to eliminate the errors. All of the implemented changes must be thoroughly tested to ensure that the errors have been addressed and solved.
- Retest the whole system by executing all the available automated and manual smoke and regression tests suites. Sometimes a solution might work well for the specific issue it was designed to solve, but it is always important to verify that it did not impact other functionalities.
- Monitor and follow up. The QA team should monitor that none of the errors reported occur after the implementation of fixes. It will also be required to be on the lookout for any new error after the fixes, either in the affected part of the product or in any of its functionalities.
By following these steps the QA engineers can approach and resolve the errors reported in the system, ensuring the correct functionality and maintaining the quality of the software.
It is important, during the process, not to get stressed with pessimistic ideas about something going hopelessly wrong. These steps will guide you toward a well-structured path and, as long as they are conducted carefully and systematically, you will find that you and your team will get closer to the solution.
Whenever you need to learn and try something new, focus on the outcome and trust in the proven success of these techniques. Even if you fail, you’ll gain experience and insights. This will stimulate your creativity and prepare you with better problem-solving methods for future events. When you’re feeling like you’re running out of time, try not to rush. The solution will come easier if you think of it as a first approach or as a workaround—that is the main basis. From that point on, you will feel more comfortable refining it, improving it, and making it more efficient once you are satisfied with the main problem solved as a general approach. Don’t hesitate to propose temporal solutions to solve a problem.
A Holistic Approach for Problem-Solving
Not everything is always solved with technical skills or years of work experience. An important part of the process has to do with keeping a good state of mind and using some techniques to help us get through with a positive attitude. In this sense, I could say that, regardless of the hard skills or hands-on experience, there will always be additional practices that some members of the team might want to try or adopt.
Breathe
The trick is to keep breathing. Practicing a good breathing technique will always help to keep you calm, not only during work issues but also in everyday life. I can never stop talking about how important it is to breathe and do it with a good technique. Breathing will report benefits not only to your health and your mind but also to your creative process and your ability to make the right decisions in stressful times.
Take a break
Taking a 5- or 10-minute break is a great way to step away from processes that are not leading us anywhere. Sometimes it is even necessary to distance ourselves from the problem for the rest of the day and resume the next day. When you’ve been working several hours trying to solve a problem, you’re experiencing tiredness and frustration. This will usually improve if you rest and continue later with a clear head. You might be surprised to discover that the solution was right in front of you or that you were close but a break was necessary. This happens way more often than one would imagine.
Share the burden
Discussing the problem with someone else might also give you a completely different insight into what must be done. Moving forward with a teamwork mindset will change the way we resolve problems. If you or someone else is in trouble, asking for and offering assistance will help the situation evolve more smoothly. The team will take care of breaking down the problem into smaller pieces so that everyone covers different aspects of it. Someone will review database integrity, and others will check network traffic, services running, backend responses, frontend functionality, broken pages, performance issues, and so on.
Additionally, look up techniques that contribute to sharpening your mind:
- Relax and reduce stress.
- Find ways to learn and be creative.
- Spend time in nature.
- Connect with others.
- Look after your physical health.
- Try to get enough sleep.
Room for improving your skills
When it comes to handling a personal problem, not all work-related methods might fit the requirement, but it’s important to have a creative mindset and focus throughout. For example, if it has to do with creating out-of-the-box solutions, you might follow the path I described, but if the circumstances are very particular, ask for help, look for articles, or search online tutorials that describe how others have succeeded in solving that kind of issue. It is very important not to waste valuable time in finding solutions to specific technical problems that might have already been solved by a large number of people.
Nowadays, there are plenty of internet resources and you can also leverage a lot of newly created tools based on AI to get help with many particular topics you might face. You can use AI-based applications to get new ideas that you had not explored before and that will prevent you from wasting time on investigating something that is already available to you. Acquiring new knowledge and the use of new tools is a great key to success. With so many technologies in the market, it is natural that a QA professional will need to constantly investigate the use of many of these tools, making it crucial to create and keep updated documentation.
I will finish by saying that there are challenges right around the corner, and they can be exciting. So, if my daughter tells me that she needs to build a friendly robot for a school project and asks me for help, then there I go again. I don’t know how, but of course, we will build it, one way or another.
There will always be a set of techniques available to go through a structured path. You will use your experience, your critical thinking, and your state of mind to face a problem with all the required tools that help you succeed. The problem in front of you might seem big and daunting but don’t hesitate to explore; instead, focus and get ready to work on it. The resources I have proposed in this article will always work in your favor.
Juan Carlos Villatoro is a QA Engineer at BairesDev with over 10 years of experience in helping clients exceed quality standards. His meticulous test plans and rigorous testing methodologies have garnered him recognition among clients, who appreciate his precision and commitment to excellence.
