What Should Be Included in a QA Status Update?
A good QA status update should answer five questions:
1. What was tested?
Example:
Login, checkout, payment, order creation, and critical APIs tested.
2. What passed?
Example:
Critical workflows are passing.
3. What failed?
Example:
Two medium-severity defects remain open.
4. What wasn’t tested?
Example:
Full regression and Safari testing are incomplete.
5. What is the risk?
Example:
There is residual risk in browser compatibility and secondary workflows.
This is much more useful than simply saying:
“Testing is in progress.”
Sample QA Status Update for an Unrealistic Deadline
You can use a message like this:
QA Status Update
Testing is currently in progress. Due to the shortened testing window, I have prioritized the critical business workflows first.
Completed:
✅ Smoke testing
✅ Login
✅ Core business workflow
✅ Critical API validation
✅ Critical defect retesting
Pending:
⏳ Full regression
⏳ Cross-browser testing
⏳ Low-priority scenarios
Current Risk:
The critical workflows have been validated, but the areas listed above have not received complete coverage.
Recommendation:
We can continue with the critical-flow validation and make the release decision based on the remaining risks. If full regression and cross-browser coverage are required, additional testing time would be recommended.
Conclusion:
Ultimately, unrealistic testing deadlines should not result in silent compromises to quality. A professional QA engineer makes the remaining risk visible and helps stakeholders make an informed release decision.
Great share at one place. Documented nicely. Very helpfull.Thanks a lot.Keep sharing …….
Thank you so much, Nitin! Glad you found it helpful. This is just the beginning , we are working on bringing more practical, easy-to-use resources for IT professionals. Keep visiting, there is more valuable content coming your way!