How to keep your digital solution economically viable in the long run
Thomas Van Duüren
Tuesday 05 March 2024
Quality is not merely a feature. It's the backbone of every successful project. Crafting digital solutions extends beyond writing code. It involves a deep commitment to Quality Assurance (QA), ensuring that every solution we deliver is not just functional but also robust, user-friendly, and reliable. However, it would be counterproductive and a rather big investment to over-engineer your QA measures from the get-go. Here's how we keep the balance.
The essence of quality in digital solutions
Quality in digital solutions transcends the traditional notion of bug detection. It represents the delivery of a product that meets and exceeds the expectations of its users and stakeholders. In times where software is integral to every aspect of business and daily life, the importance of delivering a product that is not only operable but also efficient, secure, and pleasurable to use, cannot be overstated.
Quality should be seen as a holistic concept, encompassing every aspect of the software development lifecycle.
Long-term efficiency over short-term gains
A crucial aspect of our approach to Quality Assurance is its impact on the long-term cost efficiency of software development projects. In the short term, investing in robust QA processes may seem like an additional expense.
However, this upfront commitment to quality significantly reduces the total cost of ownership over the software's lifecycle.
The biggest advantages of having quality assurance measures in place right from the start are the following:
Reduced maintenance and support costs
By identifying and rectifying issues early in the development cycle, we significantly decrease the need for extensive post-release maintenance and support, a common hidden cost in software development.
Minimising downtime
Software that undergoes rigorous QA testing is less prone to critical failures that can lead to costly downtime. Ensuring stability and reliability from the outset saves costs associated with loss of productivity and customer trust.
Preventing escalating future development costs
Often, issues overlooked in the early stages of development become more complex and expensive to fix later. Our QA process ensures that the codebase remains clean and manageable, reducing the need for expensive overhauls or rewrites.
Enhancing user satisfaction and retention
High-quality software leads to better user experiences, which in turn reduces the churn rate. Satisfied customers are more likely to continue using the product and less likely to switch to competitors, ensuring steady revenue streams.
Best practice: Minimum effective dose
Quality assurance should not be blocking progress of the project as such. Neither should its cost be the blocking factor to gain stakeholder buy-in.
To keep the balance between effectiveness and investment cost, we like to use the term Minimum Effective Dose or MED in this context. This is the "smallest dose of measures" that will produce the desired outcome.
We suggest keeping the following things in mind when applying the principle of MED:
Focus on the vital parts of your solution
Your core functionalities have to work correctly to be of value to your end-users. Create measures to ensure these are always working as expected.
Write tests when implementing a feature
Creating tests during development will structure your code base in a way that is actually testable.
Iterate and increment
Start small and add more measures as you go. Are you adding a new feature? Add unit tests.
Striving for economically viable digital solutions
By integrating Quality Assurance steps into every stage of our software development process, we not only ensure the delivery of superior software products but also contribute to significant cost savings for our partners in the long run. This approach solidifies our commitment to creating not just functional, but economically viable digital solutions.
Needless to say, your digital solution can only grow at a healthy and steady pace if you implement QA measures.
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