Honoring #IconsOfQuality: Corina Pip, QA Lead

To celebrate the relentless passion of testers, BrowserStack is honoring some of the icons in the testing space—those who push the industry forward by sharing their knowledge with the community at large through their thought leadership.

Some of the most effective leaders in testing are the master craftspeople—the ones who not only use the tools but build the entire workshop from the ground up. Corina Pip is one such leader. As a QA and automation enthusiast, international speaker, and author behind the popular blog, "I'm a little tester," she has built a reputation for her deep technical expertise and her passion for creating robust, effective automation solutions from scratch. With a pragmatic and fundamentals-first approach, she is a deeply respected voice in the testing community, sharing her knowledge through articles, tutorials, and conference talks around the world.

We spoke with Corina about the challenge and thrill of building new solutions, her pragmatic take on trends, and why a solid foundation is the most critical asset a tester can have.

What are the most exciting aspects of your role as a QA Lead?

From time to time I have the chance of jumping onto a project where the automation process needs to be started from scratch. That initial phase of discovering the requirements, and creating an automation solution to suit those requirements is challenging in a good way. I like seeing how those initial ideas morph into a working testing product, and how the newly created testing artifacts help support the quality of the product I am working on.

What’s a testing trend/innovation that’s got you excited these days?

I think trends are different depending on what domain or area of testing you are working in. And it also depends when a trend reaches your domain of activity. For example I hear a lot about shift left testing as being something new, however to me that is not really the case, as I have been using this approach for a long time. Being focused on automation, I like seeing types or areas of testing that were previously difficult or impossible to automate, now having this option unlocked due to advancements in technology.

What's your hot take on AI in testing?

I think, like with many other things, you need to properly understand how to use it so that it can be a useful tool for you. I think before using any tool for testing you need to be proficient in testing itself, so that you understand: what you need, what you need to ask for, and what is the best solution to pick when multiple ones are provided.

What's one piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting their career in testing?

Start off by learning the basics. Make sure you have a solid foundation before moving on to more complex or specialized aspects of testing. This can be various things for various testing roles (for example, your role could be focused on performance testing, accessibility, or automation, to name a few). For each of these, there is a set of foundation concepts you need to master before anything else. If we talk about automation, which is what I specialize in, apart from the general testing aspects, the basics of the programming language or tool you are using are a must. Take your time to set that solid foundation, so that you can get great results in the future.

How do you keep up with all the new trends and tools in software testing?

It's difficult to be aware of all the new things coming out in our profession, as it is so complex and varied. Therefore, I have more focused interests, let's say, and I follow some official sources for the information I need. Luckily, there are some really good testing professionals, blogs, newsletters, and conferences out there that share information I find useful, and I set aside some time weekly to browse through those.

What are the things you wish you knew about testing when you started your career?

Back when I started my career, testing was a fairly new thing, which has evolved quite a lot since then. I got into automation about 4 years later, and I guess it would have been good to start learning programming earlier, so that I was more prepared for that leap. But as I said, back then, testing looked a bit different from what it is today.

Outside of the tech world, what's a hobby or activity you're really passionate about?

I have quite a lot of these, and I think some of them are seasonal. For now, I am quite into making sweets and baking cakes.

(Responses may have been edited for clarity.)