Tasks and Allocation Overview

Owned by Mike Deskis
Last updated: Jan 10, 2024
2 min read

This article provides an overview of the tasks and allocation for Quality Assurance (QA) analysts in a project. It lists the various tasks that QA analysts are responsible for, such as functional testing, regression testing, test management, and more. It also explains the expected allocation of QA analysts in a project and sets some general rules and expectations for their role.

QA Tasks

The QA analyst's tasks include functional testing based on user stories, regression testing based on a group of user stories, test management using tools like X-Ray, assisting with user acceptance testing (UAT) and test management for the customer, and conducting basic performance testing and test automation to support development.

Here are some specific QA tasks for a project:

  • Functional testing based on user stories

  • Regression testing based on group of user stories

  • Test management (typically in X-Ray)

  • Helping customer with UAT (tips for less experienced customers)

  • Helping customer with test management (demo of X-Ray)

  • Functional demos for customer

  • Basic performance testing (optional, expected for large project, support from Performance team can be needed for complex scenarios)

  • Test automation for supporting development (optional, based on allocation)

  • Review of Acceptance Criteria

 

Expected Allocation

The expected allocation for QA analysts in a project should cover the entire project timeline, with growing allocation during feature sprints. The allocation should correspond to the number of customer engagements (CEs) on the project, and a lower allocation will result in fewer tasks being performed by the QA analyst.

Example of QA allocation for 5 FS project:

Rules and Expectations

Allocation of QA resources should be proportional to the number of customer engagements (CEs) on the project. A lower allocation for QA will result in fewer tasks being performed by the QA analyst, and we should emphasize the importance of prioritizing tasks for QA to ensure effective utilization of their resource.

  • QA allocation should be during the whole project - from Kick off to UAT, not just during Feature Sprints

  • There should be growing allocation during Feature Sprint

  • QA allocation should correspond to number of CEs on the project

  • Lower allocation for QA will mean less tasks will be done on the project by QA Analyst and tasks for QA should be prioritized

 

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