QA makeover for a digital bank: 50% increase in team performance

Innowise conducted rigorous software testing in financial services and introduced automation to ensure timely and high-quality updates are released.

Customer

Industry

Finance

Region

Client since

2022

Our client is a startup neobank that provides B2B and B2C digital payment services.

Detailed information about the client cannot be disclosed under the terms of the NDA.

Challenge

Overcoming QA hurdles in neobank app development

While developing web and mobile apps for iOS and Android, our client faced multiple hurdles regarding proper QA processes.

Primary pain point: The lack of a dedicated QA role forced developers and project managers to juggle testing tasks alongside their primary duties. Multitasking diluted their focus, adversely affecting testing quality and, by extension, the product itself.

Secondary challenges: The project’s oversight of critical testing phases, such as integration and systemic testing, allowed numerous defects to slip through undetected until later, escalating correction costs. Moreover, the absence of regular regression testing and automation compounded these issues, resulting in frequent release delays, increased technical debt, and unsustainable lifecycle costs.

Faced with these challenges, our client sought a partner to overhaul their QA processes. They expected robust, scalable solutions to streamline the development workflow, enhance product quality, and ensure financial viability.

Solution

Revamping QA processes to enhance product quality.

At Innowise, we got to work and created a custom solution to address the bank’s specific challenges directly. With our rich background in QA services, we set out on a mission to completely revamp QA practices.

Building a strategic QA process blueprint

At the core of our strategy was aligning QA goals with the client’s overarching business objectives. We conducted an in-depth system analysis to pinpoint improvement opportunities, ensuring it could evolve alongside the dynamic banking sector. This analysis led to the creation of a custom QA blueprint designed for enhanced efficiency and flexibility. It incorporated proactive risk management to preempt and mitigate potential setbacks, thus fortifying the project against unforeseen challenges.

QA team integration into the development lifecycle

We embedded 1-2 QA engineers into each of our client’s seven development teams to integrate QA practices seamlessly into the development cycle. We defined their responsibilities and set up a robust backup process. This approach greatly enhanced effective communication, so that teams were synchronized and could collaborate more efficiently. Additionally, our team of experts created comprehensive QA documentation that covered the defect lifecycle, test methodologies, and provided guidelines for seamless coordination across the project.

Test automation deployment

An AQA Lead Architect joined the project and, within just 2-4 weeks, rolled out a test automation architecture, seamlessly integrating it into the overall development cycle. This step was crucial as it helped us organize the quality assurance process from start to finish — beginning with the tiniest components and ending with a thorough system-wide check. This solid foundation prepared the ground for several key testing stages:

Unit testing

Unit testing was the first step, focusing on the smallest parts of the application, such as individual elements. We automated unit tests to catch and fix any issues early on, reducing complexity and cost of later bug fixes. This attention to detail at the unit level made certain that each component worked perfectly.

Integration testing

After integrating all the components into the software, we tested them as a cohesive unit. This was essential to assess how different parts of the application functioned together, ensuring they interacted properly. Additionally, our QA team automated the integration testing process, which greatly accelerated the testing phase and allowed us to allocate resources to other tasks more efficiently.

System testing

To examine the entire application and ensure it meets all requirements, we conducted automated system testing. Here, we automated tests to simulate real-world use cases, checking application operation and performance. This step was key to confirming that the application was functional, reliable, and secure, meeting the high standards of the banking industry.

Regression testing

To ensure that new updates didn’t disrupt existing functions, we conducted thorough regression testing. This involved automatically re-testing the whole application after each update, a critical process in our agile development environment where changes are frequent.

Through a layered approach that included unit, integration, system, and regression testing, we achieved comprehensive coverage. By rigorously checking and confirming software quality at every stage, we delivered a high-quality product.

Expanding the AQA team

Recognizing the complexity and scale of automation required, Innowise added four more AQA team members. This expansion focused on bringing in specialists with a proven track record in automated testing. They also had a deep understanding of the tools and technologies that form the backbone of our automation architecture. These new team members were not just additional hands, they brought fresh perspectives and expertise that were instrumental in refining our automation strategies, developing more sophisticated test scripts, and ensuring that our automation efforts were aligned with the latest industry standards and best practices.The expanded AQA team worked closely with the development and operations teams, fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. By embedding QA automation specialists within the development process, we ensured that automated tests were developed in parallel with new features and updates, significantly reducing the time from development to deployment.

Ongoing support and enhancement of product development

The deployment of the test automation architecture marked an important milestone in our project. However, our work did not stop there. Our QA team continues to participate in the development cycle, adapting to new challenges and requirements as the project evolves. This includes integrating new tools and technologies, optimizing test environments, and continuously monitoring the effectiveness of our automated tests. The automation phase also opened up opportunities for implementing advanced testing techniques such as data-driven testing, performance testing, and security testing. These efforts not only enhanced the quality and security of the product but also contributed to a more robust and resilient QA process.

Technologies

Test automation

TypeScript, WebDriverIO, Appium, Axios, Fiddler, Postman, Azure DevOps, Allure

Process

In our project process, we embraced a SAFe methodology to facilitate better coordination and alignment between various teams, fostering a collaborative and efficient work environment. Our QA team utilized Google Meet for seamless, real-time interaction among team members and stakeholders, ensuring everyone remained on the same page throughout the project lifecycle. Jira was instrumental in our task management, allowing us to meticulously track our sprints, backlogs, and issues, maintaining a high level of organization and visibility into our progress.

Team

QA Lead

AQA Lead

AQA

Results

50% increase in each team performance and 80% reduction in production bugs achieved

Innowise’s intervention to revamp a client’s QA processes for web and mobile app development has led to substantial improvements. Our custom QA blueprint paved the way for seamless QA practices integration into the development lifecycle.The impact of these changes is quantitatively evident in several key performance metrics:

Team performance: there was a 50% increase in efficiency, with teams now executing 33-35 story points per iteration, a notable jump from the initial 22-24;
Bug reduction: production bugs saw an 80% reduction, with major severity bugs eliminated entirely, leaving only 10-15 minor and average severity bugs per release;
Faster bug resolution: bug fixing became three times faster, allowing the support team to pivot towards accommodating end-user change requests more promptly;
Cost savings: defect fixing cost plummeted by 70%, thanks to immediate defect identification and correction post-changes.

These operational efficiencies translated into significant financial benefits for the client. The revenue generated by the product now exceeds the combined costs of support and development by 1.5 times, indicating a robust return on investment. Moreover, the automated testing framework ensured the timely release of features, with 100% of “must-have”, 80-90% of “should-have”, and 50-60% of “could-have” features included in releases, demonstrating the project’s ability to deliver a comprehensive, high-quality product to the market.

Project duration

May 2022 - Ongoing

50%

increase in team performance

80%

reduction in production bugs

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