QA/Execution/Web Testing/Support Levels

Purpose: This page intends to outline the varying support levels for web-application testing; it is meant to be a guide when discussing QA's role in a project, and can (and probably should) be customized per-project.

Level 1

(Example sites: AMO, Mozilla.com, SUMO)

• End-to-end testing support, consisting of:
  • Devising a test plan
  • Executing the test plan
    • Full browser-compatibility testing
    • JavaScript-disabled testing
    • Doctype validation (XHTML 1.0 Strict, etc.)
  • Creating and running automation scripts (such as Selenium)

Level 2

(Example sites: SpreadFirefox [production, redesign is a Level 1])

• Provide basic functionality/sanity test/smoke/integration testing on a high-level basis
• Help devising a test plan
• More milestone-based testing support (QA tests at various checkpoints)
  • Can be a specific set of bugs, or time-based
  • (Or a combination of the above, customized)

Level 3

(Example sites: Personas/Labs)

• Provide guidance on test approaches/best practices
• Provide as-needed test assistance to the development team, who should do the majority of the bug verifications
• Typically don't attend triage meetings
  • "Testing when we can fit it in"