Scaling QA alongside Thrive's growing LMS platform
What we delivered
Our outsourced QA gave Thrive Learning the expertise and flexibility to launch its learning platform, without the need to recruit an internal testing team.
Thrive Learning is a learning technology company whose platform helps employers deliver more engaging, personalised learning experiences. Designed to make workplace learning easier to discover, share and use, the platform brings together content, knowledge sharing and development opportunities in one place.
For Thrive, providing a simple, accessible experience across devices is central to keeping learners engaged.
Big ambitions, a small development team
When THRIVE approached us, its learning platform was still in development. The team had ambitious plans for launch, but testing was largely being managed by developers alongside their other responsibilities.
As the platform grew, Thrive needed a more structured approach to quality assurance, with testing capacity that could increase ahead of launch and adapt to changing development priorities.
Recruiting an internal QA team wasn't the right fit. Instead, working with an independent QA partner gave Thrive access to experienced testers who could become part of its development process without adding permanent overhead.
Our implementation was highly ambitious from day one, and we knew that we had a lot to get done with a fairly small team. When it came to QA we needed the experience and resources of a large team without needing to recruit and build that team in-house. Zoonou had a wealth of experience and enabled us to set up a well rounded testing regime within days of their introduction to the team.
A QA team that works like part of Thrive
We established a structured testing process and integrated our testers directly into Thrive's development team. Rather than waiting until features were finished, we became involved in sprint planning and daily stand-ups, helping the team identify issues, prioritise testing and respond as requirements changed.
Our testers built detailed knowledge of the platform, giving THRIVE continuity between releases and access to wider specialist expertise when needed.
Zoonou’s testers work alongside our own technical team as closely as any of our other colleagues. We’ve benefited from the experience they’ve brought, and also their ability to consult with the wider team at Zoonou when complex work has come up. Zoonou’s input is now integral to our development effort and forms our starting point in each stand up every morning.
This approach gave Thrive a consistent QA function that could scale with development activity, without having to manage recruitment or maintain its own testing department.
Keeping the learning experience consistent
For a platform built around workplace learning, quality is about more than whether individual features work. Learners need to be able to find content, share knowledge and access the platform easily, wherever and however they're using it.
We combined functional testing with compatibility testing across browsers, devices and operating systems, drawing on our device library to reflect different ways employees access learning.
Our digital accessibility specialists also supported Thrive's focus on making the platform usable by as many people as possible.
Our vision is to connect people to relevant learning quickly, that can be used to develop and advance their career. To achieve this, the THRIVE platform needs to be simple to use and easy to access by as many people as possible.
Growing the platform with confidence
As Thrive attracted more customers and introduced new functionality, its testing needs continued to evolve. Our testers became a familiar part of the wider technical team, supporting not only development but also the investigation and documentation of customer-reported issues.
This gave Thrive additional expertise across its development and support activities, helping teams understand problems and move towards fixes more efficiently.
Zoonou have helped us to deliver new functionality for customers while also ensuring a high standard in our products. Because their testers integrate directly into our team, the testers have been able to aid us in supporting customers. The support team have particularly benefited from this expertise in being able to quickly diagnose and document issues ready for the developers to fix.
As Thrive continues to grow, our partnership with Zoonou will ensure we have test resource and processes in place to maintain the level of quality our users have come to expect.
For Thrive, the partnership has provided the benefits of an established QA function without the need to build one internally. With testing embedded in development and specialist support available when needed, the team has been able to focus on growing its learning platform and improving the experience for its customers.
Big plans don't always need a bigger team
Bring experienced QA specialists into your development process, with support that adapts as your product grows.
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