As testing was progressing in 2025, this debate was always there should testers instead lean more toward polishing their coding/automation skills, or does having a strong product mindset have more impact?
I would love to hear from the community about how this balance plays out on their teams and projects. What for you has been of more value in your experiences?
Important to who and in what context?
For me itās still the need for flexibility. I could improve my automation skills, but on what product? Thereās too many to be truly skilled on all of them. If Iām able to understand why weāre doing automation, and apply that to whatever tool is in use, then I become useful.
Same with product mindset. Sure there are some very common sets (Azure/AWS spring to mind) but knowing anything in great detail doesnāt give you much flexibility.
Although as I type this I realise Iām looking at it from a contractor point of view, where changes in toolset and product use happen every three to six months. Perhaps it may be different if I was with a single company/project for any length of time?
Teams that are rigidly focused on requirements want people to sit down and write/execute test cases and write and execute automated test scripts. Domain knowledge is important but even more important is knowing how to test. Iād say that in the ideal world, testers would have a strong product focus but in this world, they have little decision-making power, tight deadlines and usually very specific requirements to review! Surely your question just boils down to ādo you want testers with initiativeā? Iām answering this to see what you think!
Iād say both matter but product mindset edges out. You can always build coding skills but without understanding the user and product testing wonāt add real value.
Great question and one I do wonder about regularly. Just a quick disclaimer that I come from a more product and team dynamic focussed position and havenāt seen how automation is used for anything other running checks (as in I donāt know if it can be used for innovating a product, for example).
With that said, for me, product mindset is more important. Automation is important and I can appreciate how it can speed things up while maintaining a level of quality. But, in my view, if you want to push a product forward thatās where a product mindset comes in and it helps with knowing where automation will work best.
So, I guess how I see it in this moment is that coding knowledge and automation help to enable a product to be pushed forward better, but product mindset gives the direction. Itās almost reactive vs proactive as I see it and I like to think I prefer the proactive side of things.
Based on my experience, having a strong product mindset has helped me contribute meaningfully within the companies Iāve worked for. It allowed me to understand user needs, prioritize quality from a business perspective, align closely with product teams, helped me to gain a very positive feedback which I can remember forever, being the go to person for any product needs.
However, when it comes to career growth and job opportunities, especially in the broader market, coding and automation skills seem to take priority. In interviews, the emphasis is often on hands-on experience with automation tools rather than on understanding the product.
Sometimes I feel that despite gaining deep experience and delivering real value, hands-on automation skills limits opportunities. Even in terms of compensation, professionals with stronger coding skills tend to earn more than those with primarily a product-oriented mindset.
So, while both are important, in todayās job market, having a coding mindsetāespecially strong automation skillsāappears to carry more weight.
Yes. This is a very good point. Whatās in demand does seem to be automation skills more than product skills. To the point where Iām considering a career change because the impression is you have to have dev-level skills to progress in QA. Dunno if Iām overblowing it in my head though
Product mindset by a mile.
You are a tester, not a developer. And so, a product mindset is way more important than coding skills.
I echo the comments already stated, coding skills are definitely useful but if you donāt have a product mindset then you are much less useful in a wider breadth of areas.
I would side with someone having coding and āprocessā skills over just great product knowledge.
However I have been schooled in my latest job where I dropped into an industry which is very unique, and where product-domain knowledge really has been the most valuable thing I need.
