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QA Scoring tracks how many QA cycles a client’s work typically requires before passing. This helps the system suggest more accurate time allocations for QA-related subtasks.

What is QA Scoring?

QA Scoring provides data-driven insights into each client’s QA performance:
  • First-Pass Rate: Percentage of tasks that pass QA on the first review
  • Average Cycles: How many QA review cycles a client typically needs
  • QA Score: A multiplier used to adjust QA time estimates
These metrics help PMs schedule realistic time for QA activities.

Understanding QA Scores

Score Values

A QA score of 1.0 means tasks typically pass on the first QA review:
ScoreFirst-Pass RateMeaning
1.0~100%Work passes first time (ideal)
1.5~60%Often needs one round of fixes
2.0~30%Usually needs multiple QA cycles

How It’s Calculated

The QA score is based on:
  1. First-Pass Rate: What percentage of tasks pass QA on the first review
  2. Average Cycles: The mean number of review cycles needed before passing
  3. Sample Size: More completed QA reviews = higher confidence
Only tasks with completed QA reviews contribute to the score. In-progress tasks don’t affect calculations until QA is complete.

Confidence Levels

Like deliverability scores, QA scores have confidence levels:
ConfidenceReviewsReliability
LowFewer than 5Limited data - use with caution
Medium5-15Reasonable confidence
High15+Reliable data for scheduling

How QA Scores Affect Scheduling

T-Shirt Size Suggestions

When Alan suggests a t-shirt size for a development task, it considers the client’s QA score:
  • High QA scores (>1.5) may trigger a recommendation to bump up the size
  • The reasoning explains if QA overhead influenced the suggestion

Subtask Time Estimates

When a quote is approved and converted to a task:
  1. Subtasks are created with pre-calculated AI suggestions
  2. QA review subtasks get adjusted estimates based on QA score
  3. Higher QA scores = more time suggested for QA activities
The schedule dialog shows “Alan suggests: Xh Ym” with an explanation when the QA score influenced the estimate.

Example

For a client with QA score of 1.8:
  • Standard QA allocation: 30 minutes
  • Adjusted suggestion: ~54 minutes (30 x 1.8, rounded to 15 min)
  • Reasoning: “Adjusted for high QA cycles (1.8x avg)“

Viewing QA Scores

QA scores are displayed in the Client Intelligence section of each client’s detail page.

What You’ll See

  • QA Score: The multiplier (e.g., 1.5)
  • First-Pass Rate: Percentage (e.g., 60%)
  • Average Cycles: Mean review cycles (e.g., 1.5)
  • Confidence: Based on sample size
  • Sample Size: Number of completed reviews

Interpreting the Data

Score near 1.0, first-pass rate above 80%What it means:
  • This client’s work typically passes QA on first review
  • Requirements are usually clear and well-understood
  • Developer work is consistently high quality
Action:
  • Standard QA time allocations are appropriate
  • Consider this client’s positive pattern

QA Event Tracking

What’s Recorded

Each QA subtask completion records:
  • Task and Requirement: What was reviewed
  • Cycle Number: Which review round (1st, 2nd, etc.)
  • Pass/Fail: Whether QA passed or failed
  • Developer: Who did the development work
  • Reviewer: Who performed the QA review
  • BugHerd Points: Number of issues found (if applicable)

Automatic Score Updates

After each QA completion:
  1. The QA event is recorded
  2. Client’s QA score is recalculated
  3. Score history is updated (if change > 0.1)

Resetting QA Scores

Only admins can reset QA scores. This should be done rarely and with good reason.

When to Reset

Consider resetting when:
  • The client’s development processes have fundamentally changed
  • New team members have significantly improved quality
  • Historical data is no longer representative

How to Reset

Use the API endpoint or admin interface to reset:
  • Score returns to 1.0 (neutral)
  • Sample size resets to 0
  • Reset is logged in score history

Impact on AI Suggestions

QA scores influence AI in two ways:

1. T-Shirt Size Suggestions

When generating size suggestions for quotes:
  • QA metrics are included in the AI prompt
  • High QA scores may trigger recommendations to size up
  • Reasoning explains if QA overhead was a factor

2. Subtask Time Suggestions

When tasks are created from approved quotes:
  • Each subtask gets a pre-calculated AI suggestion
  • QA subtasks are adjusted by the QA score
  • Suggestions appear in the schedule dialog

Client Intelligence

Overview of all client scoring systems

Subtasks

Understanding subtask types and scheduling

T-Shirt Sizing

How time estimates work

Task Phases

QA phase in the task lifecycle