After 13+ years in Quality Assurance - leading teams, building automation from scratch -> one truth keeps surfacing: automation is only as good as the mind behind it.
In many enterprises, automation engineers simply script already-written test cases. But startups? Thatโs a different universe.
In a fast-paced startup environment, you're not just writing tests. Youโre:
- Manually validating new features before there's any test plan.
- Automating from intuition and collaboration, not specs.
- Running performance benchmarks.
- Raising critical usability issues missed in product reviews.
So hereโs my question to the QA community:
๐ How do you maintain the right balance between sharp manual testing instincts and deep automation focus?
Personally, I believe a strong manual testing mindset isn't optional - itโs what empowers automation to be meaningful, context-aware, and truly valuable.
Would love to hear your thoughts. How do you keep both sides sharp in your QA practice?