Testing Best Practices for Web & Mobile Apps During COVID-19

It is more critical than ever to provide exceptional digital experiences. With COVID-19 upending in-person interactions, web and mobile apps are now serving as the primary mode of business for many organizations.

Here, find testing best practices to produce flawless web and mobile apps throughout quarantine.

Testing Best Practices

Set Clear Objectives & KPIs

For successful test automation, you need to set objectives and KPIs. These allow you to measure your success in automation. KPIs can include:

• Speed of testing activities, such as test flakiness and test duration.
• Measurements of application quality, such as escaped defects and MTTD.
• Measurements of pipeline efficiency, such as lab availability.
• Quality cost measurements, such as the cost of defects, hardware, and operations.

Develop a Coverage Strategy

To mitigate risk of escaped defects, a test coverage strategy can help you prioritize the top platforms to test against for your target audience. Get the latest data from Perfecto’s Test Coverage Index. Download the Test Coverage Index here >>

Mix Real & Virtual Devices

Balance testing across real devices, emulators, and simulators. Emulators and simulators are useful for testing early in the cycle. Learn when to test on a simulator vs. emulator, and when you need to bring in real devices. It is a testing best practice to use a mix of all three.

Utilize Your Entire Team

Every persona on the team can participate in testing. In order to test at scale, you will need to involve:

• Business testers — Exploratory and structured manual testing.
• Software developer in testing (SDET) — Functional and non functional code-based test automation.
• Software developer — Unit and build acceptance tests.

Match Testing Tools to Each Skill Set

Different members of the team will cover different types of testing. Utilizing different tools to match their particular skills can help teams achieve higher levels of testing.

• Business testers — Utilize codeless test automation or BDD frameworks, like Quantum.
• Software developer in testing (SDET) and developers — Utilizes test automation frameworks such as Selenium, Appium, XCUITest, Espresso, etc.

Mix Automated Testing With Manual Testing

Strategize which types of test cases to automate, and which ones to do manually. Not all of your tests will be automated. Manual, interactive testing is best for complex test cases, and ones that don’t occur very frequently.

Maintain Test Suites

Test automation suites cannot be neglected. As code changes, so does the testing. Make sure your teams are looking into the test scenarios and updating them whenever it’s required. Commit to reviewing, auditing, maintaining, and refactoring suites when needed.

Test in the Cloud

Cloud-based solutions are more important than ever. During COVID, it’s convenient to connect to the cloud from anywhere. This is especially important for teams working from home right now, who may not have access to the devices they need to test against.

Even without COVID, utilizing a cloud is a testing best practice for web and mobile apps. Cloud test automation offers many benefits.

• Cloud testing helps teams scale automation, because cloud capacity is virtually unlimited.
• It can improve your test coverage.
• It’s the best way to keep up with platform upgrades and new releases.
• It’s more cost effective than DIY.
• It’s more secure and stable than an on-prem solution.
• It increased collaboration among dev, QA, and managers.

Watch: Why Mobile & Web Testing MUST Move to the Cloud

Considerations for New Testing Solutions

If you find yourself needing a new testing infrastructure during this time, here are a few critical features to weigh in your decision.

Important Features to Look For

Task Management

Your testing solution should give you a centralized place for analyzing test results. It should also track all types of test cases — including manual, automated, functional, and non functional tests.

Integration Options

Choosing a testing tool with the flexibility to integrate with your existing workflows will make the transition to automation much easier.

Testing Environments

Be specific about the number and types of technology combinations you’ll need — including the specific hardware/OS/browser combinations that are vital for your testing.

Related Reading: The Buyer's Guide to Web & Mobile Test Automation Tools

Support & Resources

Now think about what type of support you want when you run into problems. Is the help desk open 24/7? Determine whether tickets are created via phone call, mobile apps, live chat, or email. Having a real-life human available to help can boost morale and keep testing running smoothly. And it can accelerate your release delivery.

Budget

Most automation testing tools set their prices according to the number of tests you need to run, the environments you need, and the amount of time you’ll use them. Prices are sometimes adjusted based on the types of integrations you want.

Pricing Considerations

If you’re looking for a testing solution right now, you may be facing budget constraints in your organization. This doesn’t mean that you can’t find an option for your needs. Look for vendors that offer flexible licensing and competitive pricing, so you can get the testing infrastructure you need today and also down the line.

For instance, Perfecto offers customizable testing plans based on devices and user accounts. View subscription plans >>

Bottom Line

Armed with these testing best practices, you can release faster with fewer escaped defects and a better user experience. If you suspect you need a new testing solution during this time, scope out your options. There are plenty of testing solutions that can help you now and in the future.

You also may want to give Perfecto a try. You can get a two-week free trial to experience testing in the cloud and get:

• Instant access to real mobile devices in the cloud.
• Dedicated VMs for cross-browser testing.
• Seamless integrations with Selenium, Appium, and many more tools.
• Built-in test failure analysis and reporting.

Try Perfecto

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• The State of Test Automation in 2020