Where Quality Assurance Begins

Most people assume quality assurance (QA) comes at the very end of the process like QA executives have a desk next to the front door and check on products as they leave the facility. That’s not accurate.

There was a time when Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) did live at the end of the manufacturing line. It didn’t make sense to see if a product worked before it was even built. It still works this way in many industries, but not in software development.

In today’s environment, creating mission-critical software for home finance, QA begins at the very beginning of the process.

Making quality the key metric

For many years, the mortgage industry has enjoyed continuous software delivery. New tools and features were rolling off the line at a furious rate, most of them focused purely on speed. After the crash, lenders and their investors realized that speed is nice but it’s not the most important thing.

Today, no mortgage lender can risk compromising loan quality. Long-term success and borrower loyalty depend on flawless technology experiences starting from the very first click.

By embedding QA principles across ideation, design, development and deployment, lenders safeguard customer satisfaction.

All too often, QA gets mistakenly siloed into just testing completed code rather than an overarching culture. The lingering perspective limits quality to end-stage reviews by a separate team rather than a shared responsibility beginning with requirements gathering. That outdated model strains delivery timelines and overlooks critical weaknesses that when uncovered can slow down the development process and can be very expensive to fix.

True QA permeates each phase of technology creation and maintenance. As new concepts emerge, diligent QA reviews practical design decisions and user stories. It stresses component transparency, documentation and performance best practices in development well before testing.

Ongoing scrutiny then continues through release monitoring and issue resolution. This comprehensive oversight hunts for inconsistencies or deficiencies that undermine user experience. It provides guardrails for aligning innovative ideas with business objectives and technical realities.

Avoiding assumptions for better software development

Fundamentally, modern QA stresses constant inquiry, refusing assumptions or status quo rationales. In a space as complex as mortgage lending, subject matter expertise around loan product workflows and regulatory compliance intersects with accessibility standards and security protocols. QA ensures all perspectives get heard.

Unrelenting yet constructive questioning protects against dysfunction or vulnerabilities that endanger market reputation and borrower loyalty. Alignment requires open communication across technology, operations, and executive leadership. QA provides an impartial arbitrator balancing diverse interests.

By QA mentalities into staff from product conception through enhancement, your mortgage technology partner gives you reasons for confidence. People in my part of the business help make sure everything we build works better. And when technology works seamlessly, the lender’s business works better.