The State of Quality Report 2022 | Key Trends to Thrive in Software Testing

To stay on top of the software testing game, QA teams have to keep up with the industry’s evolution. 

Here are some key findings from The State of Quality Report 2022 that highlight the critical testing trends and practices to test effectively in 2022:

Shift-left and shift-right testing continue to be an emerging trend  

On the way to achieving quality at speed, there are two major roadblocks: frequent requirement changes (reported by 46% of respondents) and the lack of time (according to 39% of respondents). To improve the software quality and overcome challenges, testing teams today tend to apply more shift-left testing by incorporating various QA techniques in their software development life cycle. 

Our report also shows that monitoring and testing in production is surprisingly the third-most-popular technique. Testers are adopting it with most other techniques and consider it the right approach to achieving quality at speed.  

Test automation contributes to high testing ROI 

Testing teams are keeping up with software testing automation trends to deliver a positive return on investment (ROI). From our findings, up to 63% of surveyed QA teams have experienced good testing ROIs, indicating time and cost-efficiency thanks to automation.

Regarding automation testing trends 2022, the report also points out an interesting shift — fewer QA teams are applying open-source tools. Instead, they employ commercial tools such as Katalon and Perfecto to use their time more efficiently on automated testing.  

AI capabilities are expected to advance in the near future 

AI testing is a thing today. However, with less than 50% of our respondents using some AI capabilities for test automation, this technology seems to be in its early stage of application. 

In a few years ahead, AI is expected to advance further and take the automation testing process to the next level. According to our findings, AI will be leveraged in various testing areas, namely planning and management, generation and maintenance, selection and optimization, execution, evaluation and report, and monitoring. 

Recommendations for QA teams to thrive in 2022

As COVID-19 continues to impact our world, QA teams have to look for ways to deal with the inconvenience of testing from home. Our survey participants suggest that testing process enhancement and applying better testing tools will improve mental well-being amidst the pandemic, helping teams test more efficiently. According to the data collected, this year, QA teams plan to apply different strategies to improve their testing processes. It is recommended that teams prioritize the most adopted practices to fall in line with the next most important testing trends in 2022. 

The testing world is evolving at a breakneck speed. For more actionable insights in QA practices and tools, AI testing, and test automation to keep up with this revolution, check out our full report here.