Celebrate Women In Tech Month

Welcome to our seventh annual Women in Tech Month! Every year during the month of May, we shine the spotlight on exceptional female uTesters and Applause employees to learn more about their journeys in the tech industry. This is a chance for us to applaud the impact that women are having across all aspects of technology… and the bounds of “technology” are expanding by the second. Meet a few of the intelligent and dynamic ladies of the uTest community and Applause Nation!

Saranya Palani, uTest Community Engineer, United Arab Emirates

Saranya joined uTest in 2017 and was eventually brought into the role of community engineer.

Name something you absolutely love about testing.

Testing has been truly a fun journey. Back in 2011, when I was working as a software developer, I did not know that testing would be so thrilling and interesting. It's like discovering the actual bugs in your house to make it clean and neat :). Sometimes it requires you to think out of the box to find errors, this gives you a lot of perception about the software itself. Testing can additionally play a vital role in our mental health as it is a good brain exercise as well.

What do people go to you for help with?

I'm creative and good at editing with simple tools and apps. I love making videos for birthdays and anniversaries of family and relatives to brighten their day.

What is something you think is crucial to a productive work environment for you?

I believe teamwork is very important for a productive work environment. I often reach out to my colleagues when I have any issues or when I need a second opinion. I also believe that a healthy body = healthy mind. Other than that I always make sure to take breaks, do yoga on a daily basis, and drink plenty of water.

What is something you are awesome at outside of your work?

I feel like I'm awesome at learning languages. I learned Japanese a few years ago and would always try to find and explore places where I could test my Japanese skills. I am very happy when I meet people from Japan here in the UAE. I always try to speak to them in their native language, which usually surprises them and also puts a smile on their face. I'm also good at singing, I always sing whenever I find some free time. I never had the opportunity to explore a lot of hobbies as a child, but now, although I have less leisure time as a mother of two children, I have learned that it is never too late to begin doing what you enjoy.

Ranjana Thapalia, Applause Software Engineer II, United States

Ranjana joined the Applause Framingham office in March 2021.

What is your current role and what do you do at Applause?

I am currently Software Engineer II here and am a part of Team Sonic. I spend most of my time here writing code, collaborating with team members, doing research, reviewing code and working closely with the product managers.

Name something you absolutely love about what you do.

I always say debugging is one of my best friends. It’s fun to find the root cause of an issue, it’s like doing a treasure hunt. I also like coding related memes.

What do people go to you for help with?

I think I am good at finding the root cause of issues. Currently I am leading a project and I have created a small automation project to support it. My team members reach out to me regarding those.

What is something you think is crucial to a productive work environment for you?

Having a supportive team, good work ethic and opportunities to learn and explore.

What is something you are awesome at outside of your work?

I am good at dancing to Nepali and Bollywood songs.

Stephanie Andrews, uTest Test Engineer, United Kingdom

Stephanie joined uTest in February 2020 and participated in her first tests in July 2020.

Name something you absolutely love about testing.

Testing has literally become my passion since joining uTest, which was totally unexpected. I just thought I’d join on a whim and have a go. I absolutely love exploring new apps and I LOVE finding bugs. My curiosity helps here, I like to know how things work so it’s really very interesting to me. Knowing that I am helping to stop these bugs reaching normal users — because I find apps that don’t work properly really frustrating — is honestly my favorite thing about it.

What is something you think is crucial to a productive work environment for you?

Teamwork - my testing services manager, the other test engineers and the dedicated testers that I work with absolutely make our project what it is. Without this excellent working relationship, the job might get done but it will take much longer and be far more difficult for everybody involved. We work together very well, and I’m incredibly grateful every day that they had the trust in me to become a test engineer.

In terms of my physical environment I work almost 80% of my time on my phone as a tester, so I don’t have an actual office. I have a testing backpack filled with all my bits of tech that I take everywhere with me so I literally have a mobile testing unit and I can test from anywhere I fancy which is brilliant and for me very productive. I don’t need to sit in front of a computer to test, which is very freeing… How much time do people spend mindlessly scrolling their phone and social media? Well, I can now tell people I get paid for that time!

Tell us about something you have accomplished at uTest that you are very proud of.

I am very proud of all of my achievements on uTest. I moved very quickly from being a dedicated tester in April 2021 to a test engineer for that same project by October 2021. I still can’t quite believe this happened! I also won the Outstanding Tester of the Quarter Award Q4 2021.

I’ve also stopped multiple blocker bugs from reaching app stores across multiple projects (1500+ bugs and counting…).

Finally, I’m very proud of my work on my hardware testing project. I spend a lot of time doing these cycles every weekend and I’ve submitted nearly 550 bugs on these cycles alone. This is a totally new product, not yet on the market, so my work is really valued and appreciated — which is a great feeling!

What is something you are awesome at outside of your work?

I like to make and build things, all kinds of things. I taught myself to crochet from YouTube videos so I now make hats and blankets. I can make quilts and clothes using my sewing machine. I built my kids a climbing frame and a seesaw. I have some more elaborate projects like this planned soon!

Want to join the team? Explore opportunities at Applause or become part of the uTest community.