5 rules for effective quality assurance

We enjoy discussing with our team some hacks they developed during their daily work. Those tips are the most useful, and by the way, it is very similar to one of the Amazon rules, when they do not allow defects to "swim with the flow." Popularizing personal tips of our employees is like a method to eliminate the mistake and not allow scale it to the entire company.

So we asked our Junior QA Engineer, Lelia Vlasenko, to share her insights about the quality assurance engineer position. By the way, Lelia is a switcher; her previous experience was connected with logistics, but last six months, she experienced a new job and each month brought her new rule on how to make her working processes more productive.

- During the first month, nothing will introduce you to the project like writing test cases from the UI part; you immediately dive in and understand where everything is and how it is connected.

- In the second month, there should always be ordered bug reports; even an entirely off-topic person should reproduce what is written and understand what the bug is and what works as per the requirements.

- In the third month, questions and questions again. Asking them and clarifying if the answer is unclear will help them get a response and consider whether this is precisely what the customer wanted.

- In the fourth month, learning how to write a traceability matrix is necessary. It is much easier when you know for sure that test cases cover all functional requirements. It is also important not to exaggerate; for example, no more than 3 test cases for one requirement.

- In the fifth month, write a plan for the day and the week. Be sure to spend an hour learning something new or watch videos from saved bookmarks. Emotionally, it frees your thoughts; you stop being nervous that something will be forgotten, and you follow a convenient plan.

We are sure that these tips can ensure the high quality of the new products and be helpful for those who deal with quality assurance processes.

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New year times brought us new trends in design. We have found TOP-8 changing tendencies and are happy to share them with you.

Dark-Anti Mode

Despite looking more unusual and unique, it increasesreading speed and keeps users longer on your website or app (Developers sayit's easier on the eye for prolonged periods). The technical benefit is DarkMode may also help you save battery life (saves up to 60% battery life, evenwith 100% brightness).

Custom and Animated Cursors

The Mouse cursor is a significant part of every screen, andthe user's interaction with the UI is mainly the same as the usage of cursors.It's trendy to use Custom and Animated cursor. It helps to improve userinteraction.

Mobile First Design / Approach

The Mobile first approach is when we start designing theproduct for the mobile version and end up with a tablet or desktop. Here is areason why:

Mobile internet usage takeover desktop usage, so peoplespend more time on the internet from mobile. As a result, a person is morelikely to first find your site or app from his/her phone.

Advanced Micro-Interactions

Micro-interaction is small, preferably functional animationsthat support the user by giving visual feedback and displaying changes moreclearly. This can highly improve your customer experience of using yourproduct.

90s Retro style

If you are the 60s, 70s, or 80s child heart, you will behappy to know that Retro Design is still alive and popular!

Popular series like Stranger Things appeared in 2019 andbrought 80s nostalgia back into the mainstream, ushering in an era of gothicserifs, neon colors, and vaporwave landscapes. In 2022, the retro comebackfinally landed in the 90s, and it continually smashed on the 2023 products.

Minimalism

Minimalism is achieved using a monochrome color palette, andbold font turns. The product companies choose the severity of the interfaces,emphasizing the static nature, elitism, and the high quality of their servicesand products.

Immersive parallax Scrolling

Parallax effects involve a website's background moving at adifferent speed than the foreground content.

While parallax effects can make websites feel moreinteractive and engaging, it's important to note that excessive movement withinparallax effects can cause harm for those with vestibular disorders ordisorientation.

3D Interactive Objects

Now it's not only static graphics but also animated 3Dgraphics. The movement of objects on the scroll or user action and itsmind-blowing combination of 3D objects in design compositions, the user lovesto see and make them stay longer.

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Psychology plays a big part in a user’s loyalty. By understanding how our designs are perceived, we can make relationships between our product and customer the warmest and grow on the project faster.

▪️ Von Restorff effect

The Von Restorff effect (also known as the isolation effect)means that under several similar objects, the different one from the rest ismost likely to be remembered!

This is the main reason why all call-to-actions (CTAs) lookdifferent from the rest of the action buttons on a site or application!

We want users to be able to differentiate between a simpleaction button and a CTA to clearly understand what the CTA does while alsoremembering it throughout their use of the application or site.

▪️ Serial position effect

The Serial Position Effect is the user’s ability to rememberbetter the first and last items in a series.

This is why most applications nowadays ditch the hamburgermenu and go for a bottom or top bar navigation, placing the most critical useractions to the right or left.

▪️ Cognitive load

“Cognitive load is the amount of thought you need toexercise to complete a specific task.”

There are three types of Cognitive load theory:

• Intrinsic cognitiveload

• Extraneouscognitive load

• Germane cognitiveload

▪️ Hick’s Law

Hick’s Law describes the time it takes a person to decidetheir choices. So if the number of choices increases, the time to determinealso increases.

▪️ Law of Proximity

“The Law of Proximity states that objects that are near, orproximate to each other, tend to be grouped.” to put it in simpler terms, ourbrains can easily associate objects close to each other better than objectsspaced far apart. This clustering occurs because humans naturally tend toorganize and group things.

There is a clear need to group things when designing a UIand the importance of being careful when putting things together since usersmay naturally think they are associated with each other.

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With this question, a visual hierarchy will help us — the arrangement of graphic elements in a design in order of importance of each component. The visual weight defines the significance of a part in a design’s hierarchy, communicating to a viewer’s eyes what to focus on and in what order.

We found TOP-6 necessary steps, following which you’ll get the best design!

1. Size matters

In other words — people read bigger things first.

2. Reading patterns

Z-patterns

apply to ads or websites where information is not necessarily presented in block paragraphs. A reader’s eye first scans the top of the page, where important information is likely to be found, then shoots down to the opposite corner at a diagonal and does the same thing across the lower part of the page

F-patterns

apply to traditional, text-heavy pages like articles or blog posts.

A user reads down the left side of the page, then stops on something exciting and continues reading (to the right). The result looks something like an F (or E, or something with even more horizontal bars, but the “F” term has stuck).

3. Direction

Everything is typically designed according to a grid of vertical and horizontal lines, but we propose you break the rule.

Text that is arranged on a curve or diagonal will automatically stand out against surrounding grid-locked text, taking center stage.

4. Typeface weight and pairing

Font plays a crucial role in the visual hierarchy. Among a typeface’s most important attributes are weight – the width of the strokes that compose its letters – and style, like serif and sans serif. Other modifications like italicization can help too.

5. Color and tint

Bright colors stand out from muted colors or grayscale, while lighter tints appear more “distant” and fall lower on the hierarchy than richer, darker ones.

6. Space and texture

Another way of drawing attention is to give a “room to breathe.” It’s easier to catch the user’s attention when he has enough space to go through. Your design shouldn’t be overloaded with objects because, in this case, it becomes wholly unattractive and difficult to understand.

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One of a UX designer's critical responsibilities is understanding their user's needs, desires, and motivations. The best UX designers use every tool possible to engage their users and empathize with them so they can understand their experience relative to the product they're building.

One of the best tools to achieve this is a journey map.

User journey maps are visual aids that help outline a user's experience with a product, service, or feature. If you genuinely want to understand your users and enhance their experiences with your products, you need to use journey maps.

What is a user journey map?

A user journey map is a visual representation depicting a user's journey to achieve a goal.

Visually, a user journey map typically follows this pattern:

1. At the top, there's a specific persona or user along with the scenario and the goals the persona has for the scenario.

2. The middle includes the user's phases in the scenario and their thoughts and feelings.

3. And at the bottom are the insights and opportunities gleaned from the user journey map.

The user journey mapping process allows product teams to examine every step a user takes through a shared experience. It provides insights into what works and doesn't work from the user's perspective. It's one of the best tools for visualizing a user experience and uncovering pain points and moments of pleasure.

Looking closer at the details, user journey maps provide various qualitative benefits, such as:

· Increasing empathy for the user across teams

· Understanding differences between users as they move through their journeys

· Validating the user's expectations measures against their actual experiences

· Optimizing individual stages in the user journey

Our next station is types of user journey maps.

At their core, journey maps are about understanding the user experience. But because every business is different, the approach each takes to create its maps varies. These variations depend on what they're hoping to understand about their users. And those users' experiences as well as business goals.

Current state journey maps

When people familiar with UX think of journey maps, they probably think of current state maps. The most common kind of map they're all about the experience a user has in the present. They're the current state of a product or service being examined. But they're what users think and feel when they experience something in the here and now.

Current state maps are best for teams looking to improve on established experiences. They examine existing pain points and concerns your users have with your products and services, so they're perfect for identifying and understanding user pain points.

Day in the life journey maps

A day in the life map also focuses on existing experiences your users have, but it takes a more holistic approach. These maps consider the experiences a user has throughout their day — not just with your brand's offerings but with other products, services, and experiences in their daily life.

Future state journey maps

Future state maps concern how users think and feel about a future experience. Compared to other maps, they're more creative and innovative than data-driven and focused more on a user's hopes and desires. Their purpose is more about creating future experiences for the user and understanding how they'll think and feel about those experiences.

Blueprint journey maps

Blueprint maps, sometimes called service blueprints, are more abstract journey maps. They start with simplified versions of other maps and then build on them with systems, policies, processes, and other technologies that impact the user's experience.

Most of the time, they're built on current or future state maps. When built using current state maps, they can provide insights into the root causes of user pain points and concerns. With future maps, they can help you understand what kind of infrastructure of people and technology you'll need to facilitate the goal experience.

How to create a user journey map from scratch

Building a user journey map is different for every team and every situation, so there aren't any one-size-fits-all templates. But some elements common to all journey maps get the ball rolling when you set out to build your own.

You'll need to figure out

· User persona: Who's the focus of this journey map? A journey map should focus on just one perspective

· Scenario: What's the scenario you're looking at? Describe in detail the situation the user is experiencing

· Goals and Expectations: What are the user's goals and expectations? Describe their needs and motivations

‍Define the stages

You'll need to define each stage of the journey you'll map. An excellent way to do this is to flesh out the first and last stages of the experience and then start filling in the gaps.

Be sure each stage you add is meaningful.

Define the actions

Building off of each stage, you can start defining the actions your user takes during each one. Again, focus on meaningful actions. Hone in on your users' steps to progress from stage to stage.

Consider all touchpoints

Be sure to take note of every interaction the user has during their journey, including any people, products, services, or tools they encounter or use. This is important for understanding the user's mental state and identifying opportunities for improving the experience with additional or new offerings.

You'll also want to take note of the channels your users engage on. You can refer back to the user persona for insights on this.

Empathize and categorize

Next, hop into your user's shoes and ask yourself what they think and feel as they take action. You can uncover insights into how your users react during each stage of their experience by creating an empathy map.

At this point, you can begin categorizing different concepts, feelings, and ideas.

Create the map

Journey maps are creative documents. Some are straightforward, while others are more polished. If you need help figuring out where to start design-wise, the Interaction Design Foundation has some free templates to get you moving. So go ahead - register at their website and try them.

Typically though, a journey map has three areas:

· The top section of the map describes the persona and experience on which the map focuses.

· The middle area covers the actions and corresponding thoughts and feelings relevant to each stage of the experience.

· The bottom is reserved for recording insights for each stage of the journey and any other relevant ideas or discoveries

To cut a long story short. The superpower of the user journey map is the ability to understand users deeply and help create experiences that empower them.