February has its own rhythm. The year is fully in motion, routines are settling in, and there’s a renewed appetite to do more — to move, connect, and show up. At BTL, we’re leaning hard into that energy, with a packed slate of activities coming your way this month.

This edition is a special one for us. Our main feature is a conversation with Nithin SS, Head of QA at Lodgify and founder of the QA community Synapse. We talk about the role community plays in shaping young professionals, what leadership looks like in growing ecosystems, and why showing up for others matters just as much as individual growth.

We hope this issue leaves you feeling inspired to participate — on the field, in conversations, and within the community.

Nithin SS is currently based out of Spain, but much of his impact has been felt thousands of kilometres away — in Southeast Asia. As the founder of Synapse QA, he’s helped bring testers across countries under one roof, giving them access to learning, mentorship, and something often missing in the QA world: belief.

We spoke to Nithin about testing, automation, community, and what testers often get wrong about growth.

Mathew: You’ve worked hands-on in QA, led teams, and then gone on to build Synapse QA. What was the moment where you realised testing had become more than just a job for you?

Nithin:
When I started out, there was no real support system for testers. You learned by doing, by watching seniors, and by making mistakes.

Over time, I started noticing how testing was perceived — even by people close to me in development. It was always framed as, “you’re just finding faults in my work.” That bothered me.

It made me realise that the craft of testing wasn’t understood, and worse, it wasn’t respected. That’s when I started leaning into the community space — first to learn, then to connect, and eventually to contribute.

Testing stopped being just a role for me. It became about people.

Mathew: What was the problem you felt was missing in the QA ecosystem that pushed you to start Synapse QA?

Nithin:
When I moved to Malaysia, the gap became very obvious.

Developers had meetups, conferences, communities. Testers didn’t.

Learning was expensive. Mentorship wasn’t accessible. And in Southeast Asia especially, testers are often paid less — so paying for high-priced training or conferences just wasn’t realistic.

Synapse started with a very simple intent:
make learning affordable, accessible, and available.

Everything we’ve done — free meetups, sponsor-driven events, low-cost conferences — comes from that one belief.

Mathew: What’s one mistake you see growing QA teams repeatedly make when they try to scale automation or processes?

Nithin:
They treat automation like a magic solution.

Many teams think, “let’s automate everything and all our problems will go away.” That almost always fails.

What I’ve seen is this handoff model:

When automation becomes just code, you lose empathy.

Automation should start with understanding the product and user behaviour — not design patterns. Code comes later. Critical thinking comes first.

Mathew: How do you balance speed versus quality in fast-moving product teams, especially when business pressure is high?

Nithin:
Speed isn’t the real problem. Communication is.

Testers are great at explaining bugs, but not always great at connecting them to business outcomes.

If you say, “there’s a bug in signup,” it sounds minor.
If you say, “this can lead to customer churn,” people pay attention.

When testers frame quality issues in business terms, decisions happen faster — not slower.

Also, testers need to be involved early. If you bring QA into discovery instead of just before release, you eliminate assumptions. That saves time downstream.

Mathew: You’ve invested a lot of time and energy into community building. Why do you think communities matter so much for testers today?

Nithin:
Two reasons.

First, testing is undervalued.
Second, awareness of the craft is low.

Part of this is on the industry. But part of it is on us as testers too.

We sometimes chase tools without mastering fundamentals. AI doesn’t fix bad thinking — it amplifies it. Garbage in, garbage out.

Communities create safe spaces:

At Synapse, we intentionally worked with people who had never spoken on stage or written publicly. Today, many of them are conference speakers and industry writers.

That transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in community.

Mathew: As a QA leader, what’s one habit you intentionally practice to build trust with developers and product teams?

Nithin:
Listening first.

Before changing any process, I try to understand what quality means to different stakeholders. Developers, product managers, business teams — everyone sees quality differently.

When we ran quality transformations, we interviewed people, gathered feedback, and co-created the vision together.

When people help build something, they feel ownership. And ownership builds trust.

Mathew: What’s one skill you wish every early-career tester started building from Day 1?

Nithin:
Self-advocacy.

Not bragging — but making sure the right people understand the impact you’re creating.

You can be technically strong, but if no one sees your value, growth becomes slow and frustrating. Learning how to communicate your impact is just as important as learning tools.

Mathew: Is there a belief about testing you’ve changed your mind about over the years?

Nithin:
Earlier, I believed that great testing was mostly about finding issues.

Now I see it as enabling outcomes.

Testing isn’t about catching bugs. It’s about helping teams make better decisions — earlier and faster. Once that mindset shifts, everything changes.

Mathew: If you could leave the QA community with one sentence to remember, what would it be?

Nithin:
Testing is not about tools or test cases — it’s about people, thinking, and the courage to advocate for quality.

This conversation reminded us why communities like Synapse QA — and spaces like Break The Loop — matter.

Nithin is on the Review Committee for Tokyo Test Fest. The Call for Papers for the same is now open. If you're passionate about quality and love sharing your experience with a diverse and enthusiastic testing community, submit your talk here.

Upcoming events

We’ve got exciting updates, fresh faces, and some serious fun ahead. If you’re not in the group yet, join us at moolya.com/breaktheloop to find out more!

Check out the photos from last month’s chill sessions! We went riding, eating and pickleball-ing!

Want to participate, volunteer, or co-organize our trip?

We’re having a Pre-Valentines Night at Moolya Cafe and we’d love for you to join us! We’re keeping the Guest-list to a maximum of 30 people so RSVP at the earliest!

Amit Vyas runs a WhatsApp group dedicated to sharing relevant job openings for testers — across experience levels and domains.

If you’re actively exploring or just want to stay informed, this is a great space to be part of.

Thanks for taking the time to read this edition of the BTL Newsletter. We’re grateful for this growing community and for everyone who shows up — on the field, at events, and for each other. We’ll see you soon at one of our February activities.

And if you haven’t yet, subscribe to the BTL Rundown for more interesting tidbits from the QA world.