Lean Testing Specification Template for Product Managers

In my first formal Product Manager job, I was responsible for building and releasing a meditation app, and when I say it was a crash course in all things product, I’m not exaggerating.

The start-up was a small but ambitious team; for my app, my product team consisted of myself and one mobile developer. I had guidance from the founders, of course, and was able to work with external graphic and UX designers, however, it was a lot of figuring out how to do all the things that are necessary for releasing an app as someone who had never done this before with limited time, experience, and resources.

That’s why I want to focus on one of the final hurdles in the release experience — testing! I had a week planned for testing, and had originally hoped to have myself and my sole developer sit in a room and go through the whole experience systematically would be enough to iron out all the bugs and make sure everything was seamless.

Things rarely go to plan — my developer was pulled into work for another product. While some others were able to offer informal feedback, all quality assurance and testing became my responsibility.

So for any newer Product Managers in a lean situation, here’s what I learned. There’s a template at the end for a testing specification too that you’re welcome to copy. I’d also love to hear about your experiences with testing in this kind of situation!

What’s the purpose of QA testing?

As a Product Manager, here’s what we want to look out for. Yes, high-level and by no means comprehensive, but we’re keeping things simple here.

Functionality — does it work? Are there any bugs? Are you able to sign up, reset your password, and do all the actions you are supposed to? Do screens load too slowly? Are you able to make in-app purchases? Make sure everything is working as expected, or you’re going to have some very frustrated users.

Experience — can I use it for what it’s intended? In my case with my meditation app, I wanted to make sure I could quickly customise and start a meditation session to have 10 minutes of mindful relaxation. If I paid, I wanted access to more courses. It should be clear where to do the customisation, where to find the courses — even how to change my password. Being able to do these things with ease comprises a successful experience.