QA Onboarding · Short Version · ~18 min

Think Like
a Tester

We test all of it: we confirm it works,
and we hunt for the ways it breaks — before a customer finds them.

The job

Developers test the tip.
You test the whole iceberg.

  • Two questions, every feature: “does it work normally?” and “what happens when I don’t behave?”
  • Bugs are good news — each one you find is an angry customer that never happens. Facts, never blame.

“Testing shows the presence of bugs, never their absence.” — Dijkstra · so we say “here’s what I found”, never “it’s perfect”.

Principles · ISTQB

Seven rules of the craft

1 · No “zero bugs”say “here’s what I found” — never “it’s perfect”
2 · Can’t test everythingbiggest risks first: money, private data, first impressions
3 · Test earlytoday it costs minutes; found by a customer — days + trust
4 · Bugs live in groupsfound one? dig in the same place
5 · Old tests wear outrepeating the same steps finds nothing new — vary your route
6 · Know what matters herewrong totals and privacy leaks beat a pixel that’s off
7 · Zero bugs ≠ good producta confusing screen is broken too
Technique

Bugs hide at the edges

“Bugs lurk in corners and congregate at boundaries.” — Beizer

Technique

One feature, seven angles

1 · Happy pathconfirm the normal flow — half the job
2 · Negativedo what’s “not allowed” — the “no” cases get forgotten
3 · Boundaries0, 1, max, max+1, empty, enormous
4 · Permissionstry to see what your role must not see — leaks are critical
5 · Interruptionsrefresh mid-save, double-click, back button, two tabs
6 · Data statesempty new account vs. 500 orders — devs only saw 3 rows
7 · Stranger’s eyesconfusing = broken; confusion is a bug
The UX eye

“Broken” is not the only bug

Hard to use = friction ticket

  • It worked… but took 9 clicks
  • I wasn’t sure which button to press
  • 20 things on screen, I needed 3

Three spot-checks

  • Count the clicks for a core task
  • Squint: if everything shouts, nothing does
  • Ask: if this element vanished, would anyone miss it?

“Perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.” — Saint-Exupéry · removing 30–50% of a page often makes it better.

Our setup

You three are the company

A · Company Owner

Users, roles, permissions, plan limits. “Can my people do too much?”

B · Buyer

Projects, RFQs, quotes, messages — the core money path, end to end.

C · The Outsider

Second company + admin app. Company 2 must never see Company 1’s data.

Sign up→ Company + roles→ Suppliers→ Project→ RFQ→ Quotes→ Compare & award→ Delivery

Play your part of the story — and poke the fences. Story breaks anywhere → that’s a bug.

Reporting

A bug badly reported doesn’t exist

✓ Gets fixed same day 
Title: [Orders] "Send" stays
disabled after CSV import

1. Buyer, Company A, staging
2. Project → New order
3. Import items via CSV (attached)

Expected: Send enabled
Actual: greyed out (screenshot)
Chrome 138/macOS · 3 of 3 tries

The rules

  • Title: [Where] What + when
  • Steps, expected vs actual, environment, evidence
  • One bug per ticket · search duplicates first
  • Severity = impact (yours) · priority = schedule (lead’s)
  • You verify the fix before it closes

Why: replayable in 2 minutes → fixed today. Not replayable → waits forever.

Toolbox + homework

Tools and homework

Three tools

  • Jira + our bug template
  • Jam (jam.dev) — one click captures video, console, network → straight to Jira
  • DevTools (F12) — red in Console or Network? Screenshot it.

Watch this week

  • Exploratory testing intro youtube.com/watch?v=tiPBh_0Z6J8
  • How to write a defect report youtube.com/watch?v=ZVwCRSRxH_c
  • “Don’t Make Me Think” in 14 min youtube.com/watch?v=79pRcSjwpcY

After each: post one idea you’ll try tomorrow.

Kickoff

Your first week

“Quality is everyone’s responsibility.” — Deming · and it starts with what you three find.

Questions?

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