Web and app Testing
With millions of websites and phone applications available in the world today and many more being developed on a daily basis, it is important that the end product be both functional and usable to the end user. According to Google, by June 2016, Android had about 2.2 million mobile apps and Apple had about 2 million mobile apps from their app stores.
On the same note, there are over 1 billion websites in the world today and many more being developed as well. With these statistics what comes to mind, “how can my website or mobile application be the best in the world” With this reality and school of thought , this is where testing of websites and mobile applications comes in.
A developer will only develop the platforms and give you the end product to launch into the market. What you will not get from him or her is the aspect of usability and functionality of the platforms. If you take the product and launch it into the market and by any chance the product has design and other underlying issues then, you will have just made a platform that is half dead and half alive.
Well, the main question is “what is the user experience {ux} of my app or web to the end users”? The world is getting busier by the day and with 2.2 million apps on Android store and over 1 billion websites then, what is the chance that your platform will be among the best and have a five star rating from your users,and be ranked high on search engines?
To answer this, how long does it take to download, open, log in and perform certain functions within the platforms? How fast a client does this without problems and in the least time possible is the key to having one of the best websites or phone applications.
Time is of the essence when it comes to using an app or a website. The user experience is the difference between a good functional platform and a bad dysfunctional platform. If a client tries to perform a task and is not able then, he will decide to close the app or web and proceed to another app or web.
Manual QA testing is the process of having the user experience using an app or web. The testing is done in various ways all geared towards achieving the same result. The various ways are using different browsers to see the usability and functional experience on each browser. There are 3 main areas that as a tester one has to look into deeply and comprehensively.
The three are.
a. Bug testing
b. Functionality testing
c. Usability testing
The three can be tested simultaneously because a tester will come across any issue when performing various functions within the app or website. The only difference is that a website is mainly tested on pc while an app is tested on a phone. Well, a website has to be mobile responsive to allow clients have access using their mobile devices.
Bugs are the main threats when it comes to apps and webs and they contribute much on the negative attributes. They can be classified as
a. Severe
b. High
c. Medium
d. Low
e. Usability
Testing involves making a comprehensive and detailed report on any negative issues affecting the working of the platform and the positive attributes as well. Other issues like design, arrangement of menus or any additional information on the platform can be reported here as well.
The report should be accompanied by screen shots and or videos where necessary. The report in case of bugs should be written clearly so that the developer has ease reproducing the problems and sorting them out.
Having a platform that is devoid of any of the above mentioned issues is the key to having a great user experience and in return higher business returns. It is imperative to have your platform tested now more than ever.