The importance of app testing has risen drastically over the last decade, together with the increase in user expectations. The competitiveness of the market winds up the requirements for being successful. Mobile applications are expected to be perfect throughout. That’s why it is crucial for the developing team to thoroughly test the app before launching. Here are the best practices of doing it.
1. It’s never too early to start
Testing should be an integrated part of the whole developing process, from the very beginning. Experts advice to establish a culture of continuous testing, employed together with the agile methodology. It is very important to keep the communication between the developers and testers flowing smoothly, so that the time between bug detection and bug fixing gets shortened maximally.
All this is crucial not only for the final outcome of the application, but also for the overall cost. According to R. Patton, the author of the book “Software Testing”, the cost of bugs grows exponentially as the development moves to the next phases. This was very accurately illustrated in the image below:
2. Choose what should be tested
Although the applications should be tested thoroughly, it is not possible to test every single combination of operating system, device, updates and user configuration. This is why the planning process for the software should include the main OS and device preferences, which the testing team can focus on.
This can be achieved only by analysing the target group for the app. A research should be conducted to identify patterns in users preferences as well as their purchasing conditions. Should we focus on the newest, high-tech devices or rather a cheaper equivalents of those? Are our customers tech-savvy or simply get by with the basic functions that their phone includes?
After answering those questions make sure to identify the most common combinations of the factors mentioned above and focus your testing on them. It’s better to provide an excellent application to a smaller group of customers rather than an average-quality one for a wide public.
3. Test manually and automatically
Although manual testing cannot be fully replaced by algorithms yet, automated mobile app testing can have huge benefits.
The biggest advantage, obviously, is its speed. Compared to manual testing, it is incomparably faster, and doesn’t necessarily mean trading off the quality. The time saved by testers can be used to widen the scope of prefered combinations, which were mentioned in the previous point. Otherwise, it can allow for conducting more thorough testing of already existing ones. Taking into account the rule that there is never enough testing – automated testing can be very beneficial here. Faster testing, apart from wider possibilities, also means cost reduction. The number of resources needed to conduct it decreases, both in terms of men-hours as well as needed hardware.
Finally, automatic testing allows for repeatability and reusability. That means the application can be tested thoroughly after every change implemented. This way the developers can be sure that no bugs will be omitted, which might have happened in case of manual testing.
4. Enable feedback
Functionality is not the only aspect of the application that should be tested. Usability is as important. This includes not only the layout of the app and its design, but also explanatory texts, intuitiveness and error messages. More about tips for increasing UX can be found here.
However, not all of those factors can be tested by the development team. Users’ expectations can differ from the perception of the tester. That’s why the best practice in terms of usability is to let your customers give you suggestions in the form of feedback. Make contact to your team easily available for the users and you will be given a handful of useful, first-hand advices about the app. Remember to never underestimate the opinion of your customers. After all the success of your app depends on them.
Next step
Your development team still doesn’t include a dedicated, professional tester? Are you looking for additional guidance regarding the mobile application testing? Contact us here and make use of Areus vast experience and high expertise to make sure you release a flawless, successful app.
