Zoonou provides software testing and QA consultancy and we have been working with them since 2019. Our first driver to outsource our QA was on the Heathrow Airport Expansion Consultation in 2019.
Testing for the Heathrow Expansion Consultation
The Heathrow Airport Expansion Consultation site needed to be very secure, have 99.9% uptime and be able to cope with traffic spikes. Plus, we wanted to ensure an optimum experience for people to complete the consultation on a wide range of devices.
To do this we needed to test the site on a wide variety of devices and browsers and conduct load testing. This raised several challenges.
- Timing was paramount as we only had a short timescale to deliver.
- Testing could potentially raise a high volume of issues.
- Bug-fixing could be time-consuming if the issues were not well described.
We didn’t have the capacity in-house to do this, so we decided to find a test partner.
Finding a test partner
We are part of a network of agencies, and we asked if anyone could recommend a test partner that they had worked with before. We approached two companies with the project brief and timeline and asked them to submit a proposal on how they would approach the project.
Zoonou already came highly recommended, but their proposal was easy to follow and well thought-through. As we had not worked with a test partner before, Zoonou’s advice on how best to use their services to fit in with our project schedule was invaluable. It demonstrated their understanding of our project and how they could support it.
They addressed all of our concerns in their approach to the project, from putting multiple people on the project over a few short days to meet the timeline, to sharing an example of their detailed bug reports, to being able to log bug reports in our instance of JIRA with priorities flagged.
A successful project launch
When you launch a new, complex website, it is almost inevitable that in the first few weeks a few support tickets are raised. As people start to use the site, sometimes in unforeseen ways, issues can be spotted. However, on the launch of the Heathrow Consultation, there were no support tickets in the first few weeks related to the site build. A great success!
With a long history of mobilising effective QA solutions efficiently, and with minimal fuss, we help Studio24 by augmenting their capabilities and extending their capacity. We’re extremely proud to be Studio24’s test partner and it’s great to see the relationship go from strength to strength.
The benefits to clients
When we propose Zoonou as a testing partner for our clients there are generally two things they want to know:
- Will we deliver high-quality work?
- Is it within budget?
We can answer those questions confidently.
- With Zoonou on board, testing is in a safe pair of hands (or several pairs of hands). We know that if there is a bug, they will find it.
- We include test costs up-front in our overall project budget, so there are no additional costs.
For some clients, it is important that Zoonou has signed a specific NDA and Zoonou’s ISO 9001 & 27001, CREST, and Cyber Essential Plus credentials are also a mark of their commitment to quality assurance and data security.
The importance of working as partners
Our advice to other agencies looking to outsource their QA and testing is:
- Discuss your project with your test partner as soon as possible so you can work out the best approach to testing together.
- Outsourcing can deliver a better product for your clients for example when you need to extend your team’s capacity in busy periods, or when a project has complex test needs you don’t normally cater to.
- To make the most of the relationship, see your test partner as an extension of your own team, invite them to stand-ups and get them working directly with developers.
We have seen a real benefit from our open and collaborative working relationship and Zoonou has become a key partner for helping us to deliver quality digital products to our clients.
You can read more about how Studio 24 and Zoonou work together in this case study.