Why Is Quality So Important? (And How Can You Be a Leader in Quality?)

After the greatly anticipated recent book launch by Global App testing Leading Quality: How Great Leaders Deliver High Quality Software & Accelerate Growth, we are pleased to feature a blog by Co-Founder of Global App Testing Ronald Cummings-John on why quality is so important to them.

After launching our original tech startup in 2011, we soon came face to face with one of the greatest problems facing app development teams. Every time we fixed a software bug, 5 more arrived, each one bigger, more impactful, and more difficult to solve than the last. Bad reviews began to flood in, and customers started to leave at an alarming rate. It was at that point we realised we couldn’t be the only ones facing these issues. That’s when we changed directions and founded Global App Testing.

So what was going wrong?

Often, with a growing to-do list of tasks, it can be easy to forget to focus on the most important part of any enterprise: quality. The product we were delivering was not the quality product we had envisioned. In fact, our vision of quality was drastically different across the team, with no common understanding of its true value. 

This is because every individual in your workplace often has their own definition of what ‘quality’ means. Your team could be working towards what they individually consider to be ‘high-quality’, whether this means creating a product that is slick and looks great, or one that is easy to use and fit for purpose. But if these definitions of quality are not aligned, and your team isn’t working towards the same goals, this can lead to the kind of problems we were facing back in 2011.

The importance of quality. 

We realised that, if quality was central to the success of any company, maybe it was time to share our own experiences, and the formative experience of others, to develop the ultimate guide for quality leaders. Our newly released book Leading Quality: How Great Leaders Deliver High Quality Software & Accelerate Growth, was born out of this idea. We interviewed over 120 thought leaders from around the world for Leading Quality, from companies like Airbnb, Dell, Etsy, Reddit, eBay. The stories they shared showed that by shifting the focus of your plan, campaign, or idea, towards a shared vision of quality, your customers will be happier, and your goals will become clearer. 

Leading Quality recently went on to become a global Amazon best-seller, and is the first and only book that teaches why quality is important and how to incorporate it within the workspace. The book showcases the techniques that successful leaders use to make their strategic decisions, and provides the tools to ensure that your team can achieve common goals. It contains real-world examples of how companies have become quality leaders by adjusting their quality narrative. We think you will really like it!

By rethinking your strategy, and realigning your quality narrative so that the whole team is working towards a singular vision, you will see a dramatic improvement in the products you are delivering. The conclusion is clear: by influencing and aligning your company’s definition of quality, you can deliver the best possible user experience, and deliver quality. To become a leader of quality, you must place your definition of it at the very centre of everything you do.

Ronald Cummings-John
Leading Quality is the software testing industry’s first comprehensive guide to becoming a leader of quality, mastering strategic decisions and accelerating growth. Global App Testing tests in over 105 countries with 25,000 vetted professionals using real devices in real environments. Find out more at https://www.globalapptesting.com