{"id":7705,"date":"2026-02-20T08:58:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T07:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/?p=7705"},"modified":"2026-03-20T09:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T08:04:09","slug":"ondrej-ladomirjak-testing-changed-the-way-i-think-about-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/ondrej-ladomirjak-testing-changed-the-way-i-think-about-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Ondrej Ladomirj\u00e1k: Testing changed the way I think about development"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Ondrej first applied to bart, he wanted to work in frontend development. Instead, he started as a tester and spent three years uncovering issues that aren\u2019t obvious at first glance. Looking back, he sees it as the best possible start \u2013 one that taught him to understand products from both the user\u2019s and the developer\u2019s perspective. In this interview, he talks about staying calm in complex projects, the bug that made him laugh, and why good work means more than just code that runs.<\/strong><\/p>

Ondrej, how would you describe yourself?<\/strong><\/p>

Probably as a mix of easygoing and detail-oriented. I tend to stay calm, don\u2019t panic, and try not to create unnecessary stress \u2013 for myself or others. At the same time, I care about getting things right, not just getting them done.<\/p>

Does that show up in your work as well?<\/strong><\/p>

Definitely. It helps me stay focused even when things get more demanding, think in a structured way, and pay attention to details that can have a real impact.<\/p>

How did you end up at bart.sk?<\/strong><\/p>

I kept hearing from people around me that bart is a great company with great people. At the time, there was an open position for students, so I decided to give it a shot. After a few quite demanding but very thorough interview rounds, I joined as a tester.<\/p>

You\u2019ve been here for more than three years now. Do you remember your beginnings?<\/strong><\/p>

Of course. My onboarding was guided mainly by our QA lead, who walked me through everything step by step. He introduced me to Crossuite \u2013 the product I was going to test \u2013 explained how the team works, and showed me best practices in both manual and automated testing.<\/p>

From my second day, I was already writing automated tests, so I got into the project quite naturally. And whenever I got stuck, there was always someone willing to help.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a>
Ondrej with the Crossuite team, working on an international healthcare platform used by clinics across Europe.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

What\u2019s something you couldn\u2019t imagine your workday without?<\/strong><\/p>

Probably Stano\u2019s running commentary \ud83d\ude00 He sits right next to me and jumps into pretty much any topic \u2013 whether it\u2019s work-related or not. It definitely keeps things entertaining.<\/p>

You\u2019re currently working as a tester. What do people usually think that means?<\/strong><\/p>

That I just click around in an app until something breaks. That might be true somewhere, but here the role is much broader. It includes writing automated tests and scenarios, and being part of the entire release process, where we test new features both manually and automatically.<\/p>

So how would you explain the role of a tester?<\/strong><\/p>

To people outside IT, I usually say that a tester is responsible for product quality. That\u2019s what QA \u2013 quality assurance \u2013 is about. We make sure the application works reliably, makes sense to users, and that issues are caught before anything reaches production.<\/p>

Do you enjoy it?<\/strong><\/p>

I do \u2013 especially when I find something that isn\u2019t obvious at all. Or when we catch an issue that could have caused serious problems in production. On the flip side, it can get repetitive when you\u2019re testing the same functionality over and over, or when you\u2019re chasing a bug that\u2019s hard to reproduce.<\/p>

What\u2019s the most absurd bug you\u2019ve seen?<\/strong><\/p>

Hard to describe, but this was happening \ud83d\ude00<\/p>

\"\"<\/a>
Outside of work, Ondrej prefers to stay active \u2013 here with colleagues during the Ko\u0161ice Peace Marathon.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Can you imagine doing something completely different from IT?<\/strong><\/p>

Maybe something in construction. I\u2019ve always liked seeing tangible results \u2013 something that gradually takes shape and has a clear outcome. So maybe a designer or architect.<\/p>

Looking back, what are you most proud of?<\/strong><\/p>

How much I\u2019ve grown. I joined bart.sk with almost no experience in automated testing, and over time I learned it properly. Today, our QA lead says I do the work of three people \ud83d\ude0e<\/p>

At the same time, I\u2019m moving forward in frontend development and continuing to grow as a developer.<\/p>

And now you\u2019re transitioning into a frontend developer role.<\/strong><\/p>

Yes. I actually came into the interview wanting to do frontend, but we agreed it would be better for me to start with testing and get to know the product first. Looking back, it was the right decision.<\/p>

I genuinely enjoyed testing, while also continuing to develop my programming skills. When the opportunity to move into development came up, it felt like a natural next step.<\/p>

From your experience \u2013 does testing make you a better developer?<\/strong><\/p>

Definitely. It teaches you to think about the product from multiple angles. You don\u2019t just look at how something is implemented, but also what can go wrong, how it behaves in edge cases, and how people actually use it.<\/p>

For me, it completely changed how I approach solutions. I think more about consequences, different usage scenarios, and how to design things so they\u2019re not just functional, but reliable.<\/p>

And beyond technical skills?<\/strong><\/p>

I\u2019ve improved a lot in communication and teamwork. I\u2019ve learned how to express ideas more clearly and find common ground. I\u2019ve also become more patient and better at handling stressful situations.<\/p>

I can stay calm when things get intense or don\u2019t go as planned, and approach problems with more perspective.<\/p>

And finally \u2013 what would you say to someone considering a QA role at bart?<\/strong><\/p>

Expect an environment where quality really matters and testing is a core part of development. You\u2019ll work on a variety of things, keep learning, and collaborate with people who want to push things forward, use modern technologies, and are open to new ideas.<\/p>

Thank you.<\/strong><\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Ondrej first applied to bart, he wanted to work in frontend development. Instead, he started as a…","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":7706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":""},"categories":[210],"tags":[1087,1082,269,1081,805,1089,1086,1083,1080,231,1085,1079,1088,1084],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7707,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7705\/revisions\/7707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bart.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}