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What if I told you that most of your software bugs could be avoided before they even happen? In this episode of QA in a Box, host Chris Ryan and our ever-curious CTO, break down Design by Contract (DbC)—a game-changing approach to software reliability. Learn how defining clear co...

Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with QA in a Box as we explore the Shamrock Rule of Testing! 🍀 A great test case has three essential parts: Input, Process, and Output—just like a lucky shamrock. Join

Join host Chris Ryan and CTO on QA in a Box as they explore the surprising benefits of allowing failure in automated testing. Learn how frameworks like Playwright use soft assertions to keep your tests running—and discover Pytest alternatives like the pytest-soft-assert plugin. Uncover how capturing multiple failures in one go can lead to deeper insights, stronger QA culture, and more robus...

Dive into this episode of "QA in a Box" with host Chris Ryan as he reveals the unexpected link between the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770, and Software Quality Assurance. Explore how miscommunication sparked a historical disaster and learn how it mirrors the chaos of unclear software requirements. From structured testing processes to automation and regression testing, this fun, engaging discussion delivers practical QA lessons wi...

Welcome to another exciting episode of QA in a Box, hosted by Chris Ryan, where we dive into the core fundamentals of Quality Assurance that stand strong, even in the age of Automation and AI. Discover why critical thinking, user empathy, and manual exploratory testing remain timeless pillars of QA, despite rapidly evolving software testing tools and techniques.

“No matter how advanced AI gets, the human element remains a cornersto...

Post-release issues can derail a smooth deployment. In this episode of QA in a Box, host Chris Ryan breaks down the Release Engineering Queue Boss – the key role ensuring stability after a software release. Learn how this rotating responsibility minimizes downtime, accelerates bug resolution, and fosters engineering accountability.

📌 Key Takeaways:
✔️ What the Queue Boss does and why it’s essential
✔️ How to determine if a bug is ...

Are you still testing at the end of your development cycle? It’s time to Shift Left! In this episode of QA in a Box, host Chris Ryan explores how Shift Left Testing is transforming software development by embedding quality earlier in the process. Learn how automation, continuous testing, and predictive analytics can help prevent defects, shorten test cycles, and increase accountability. Featuring insights from industry leaders, thi...

Podcast Name: QA in a Box
Episode Title: What is QA? Unpacking Quality Assurance One Bug at a Time
Host: Chris Ryan
Website: www.cryan.com/Podcast
Release Date: February 20, 2025  

Description:
Welcome to QA in a Box, the podcast where we unpack the wild and wonderful world of Quality Assurance—one bug at a time! I’m your host, Chris Ryan, and on Day 24 of our podcast journey, we’re tackling a big question: What is QA?  

This episo...

🎙️ Host: Chris Ryan
🌐 Website: www.cryan.com/Podcast

Would you trust a $10 haircut? Probably not—because experience teaches us that cheap doesn’t always mean good. In this episode of QA in a Box, we dive into the classic story of "We Fix $10 Haircuts" and what it means for software testing and QA.

Companies often chase the cheapest or fastest testing solutions, only to realize later that cutting corners comes at a cost—bug fixes,...

Before you escalate a bug, are you really sure it’s a bug? In this episode of QA in a Box, host Chris Ryan shares a real-life QA investigation where a reported issue in Google AdWords turned out to be caused by an experimental feature, not a system-wide failure. By digging deeper before escalating, Chris saved the development team from chasing a ghost bug and ensured the issue was properly documented for future cases.

Join us as we...

What happens when the lights go out on the biggest stage in sports?

In this episode of QA in a Box, we’re rewinding to SuperBowl 47, aka The Blackout Bowl—when the Superdome went dark for 34 minutes in the middle of the game. The Baltimore Ravens were dominating, the 49ers were on the ropes, and then... BOOM! Half the stadium lost power.

For football fans, it was a shocking moment. But for QA professionals, it was a real-world case...

Welcome to QA in a Box, the podcast where software testing meets real-world chaos, unexpected bugs, and the all-too-familiar last-minute production patches!

In this episode, host Chris Ryan dives into a QA horror story: the $100K Bug that turned into a $1M catastrophe—all because of a quick fix that wasn't quite "fixed" enough.

🔍 Key Takeaways:
✅ Why "patching fast" isn’t always "patching right"
✅ The importance of root cause anal...

Welcome back to QA in a Box—the podcast where we don’t just react to technology trends, we get ahead of them!

This week, we’re diving into the AI breakthrough that’s taking the world by storm—DeepSeek.

You may have just started hearing about it, but here’s the kicker: the signs were there months ago. And just like in Quality Assurance, the difference between knowing in advance and finding out too late can make or break everything.

...

What do Scooby-Doo and Quality Assurance have in common? More than you might think!

In this fascinating episode of QA in a Box, host Chris Ryan draws unexpected but brilliant parallels between the beloved Mystery Machine crew and successful QA professionals. Just as Scooby and the gang collaborate to solve mysteries, effective QA teams need curiosity, persistence, and strong teamwork to uncover software bugs and issues.

Ryan clever...

If you grew up in Massachusetts in the 70s and 80s, you likely heard the name Tip O’Neil. A legendary figure in American politics, O’Neil served as the 47th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987. Among his most famous sayings was, “All politics is local,” a phrase that captured the essence of addressing the unique concerns of individual communities.

In this episode of "QA ...

Welcome back to QA in a Box—your favorite spot for quality assurance insights and a hefty dose of inspiration! I'm your host, Chris Ryan, and this week, we're celebrating a monumental milestone in tech history: the 41st anniversary of Apple's iconic Macintosh Computer.

Join us as we dive deep into the orchard of innovation, resilience, and sheer determination that has defined Apple's journey over the past four decades. From the hum...

Welcome to QA in a Box, the official podcast of Chris Ryan's renowned Cryan.com Blog. This month marks nine incredible years since we launched our blog on January 3rd, 2016, and we’re excited to celebrate this milestone with you!

About the Podcast: Join host Chris Ryan as he takes you behind the scenes of Cryan.com’s journey from its humble beginnings—created as a creative solution for Google Ads advertising—to becoming a trusted r...

In this week’s episode of QA in a Box, host Chris Ryan dives into a remarkable moment in tech history: Steve Jobs’ inspiring commentary on the state of the economy at MacWorld 2002. Despite challenging times in the tech industry, Jobs’ unwavering optimism and vision for the future of personal computing continue to resonate.

Explore how Apple’s innovative mindset, driven by a commitment to “Think Different,” served as a beacon of ho...

Seventeen years ago, the world changed forever with the introduction of the iPhone—a revolutionary device that redefined technology, communication, and our daily lives. In this week’s episode, Chris Ryan takes you on a journey through time to explore how the iPhone’s announcement sparked a mobile QA revolution.

From the simplicity of testing one device in 2007 to today’s complex landscape of countless models, OS versions, and confi...