3 Software Testing mistakes that can kill your mobile app
Designing of mobile web applications involves a lot of effort and creativity as mobile users look for sleeker experience as compared to that of desktop users. With the development of mobile applications evolving constantly and at a rapid pace, developers of mobile app are constantly in a process of learning and continuous brushing up of their skills. Release of smartphones with various new features have acted as a catalyst in coming up with a number of challenges for the progressive developer of mobile web applications.
Development of these apps involves a lot of software testing and other scrutiny processes to remove all errors and launch a smooth and well functioning app. Since issues related to the performance of the mobile application such as hanging, crashing, etc comprise approximately 15% to 30% of the user complaints, carrying out software testing is highly important.
However, there are certain mistakes committed while carrying out the software testing of a mobile app that impact performance as well as leads to negative user experience. This requires the developers to be aware of and alert about these common software testing mistakes to avoid them. Avoiding the mistakes by staying aware and alert also leads to the development of a quality and error free mobile app.
Being Your Own Beta Tester
Being the beta tester oneself, is not recommended in case of software testing of a mobile app. With someone else beta testing the mobile app of a particular company, there are certain benefits that are received as compared to the same being done by the developer himself/herself.
– Beta Testers are important as they offer companies with important outside perspective which helps in catching issues within the app.
– Moreover it is not just the bugs that matter but also certain other factors culminate in giving an edge to the developers.
– Errors can also be the result of unclear communication of the in-app purchases or even inappropriate use of advertisements that lead to the entire experience feel a bit of jarring.
These flaws are serious considerations for the mobile apps that need to be identified for ensuring sound performance. It is hard for a developer to find flaws in his/her own creation. Therefore the role of a Beta Tester becomes essential to pin point the loopholes.
Beta testing is indeed a simple task which should indeed accompany each app development. Beta testing should be carried out in the first phase of the mobile app development process so that it is able to catch the problems in the UI before the developer gets totally involved in the design of the app.
App-analytics tools like Google’s Universal Analytics and Flurry can be used to have a closer look at how the testers are using the app. Larger the number of people beta testing the app, the more prepared will it be to venture out in the real world.
Testing the front end in isolation
A very common mistake that most testers commit is testing the front-end but neglecting the experience of the end-user. The end-user experience is important as it is an amalgamation of the back-end and the front-end behavior along with the communication patterns that usually take place in between.
Intermittent or infrequent regression testing
It has often been noticed that testers during the development process, easily fall into the trap of paying a lot of focus on new tests or new code at the expense of regression testing. This provides an easy method for the problems to be crop up and also go unnoticed and especially so in case of problems that are basically related to the performance of the app. Regression tests are vital to pinpoint the blockages so as to uncover the bugs in the code.
Besides errors related to software testing, mistakes that have been committed by designers in the past also impact the quality as well as affect the popularity of the application. In today’s cut throat competition, a company cannot afford to commit these petty mistakes.
A company always expects a high Return on Investment on the huge investment it has made on the building of the app. With an app that is designed appropriately, there are fewer chances for this.
Source by Tom Wade