What do we know about Crowdtesting and Its Importance?

Within a short span of time, crowdsourced testing or crowdtesting has become a popular trend in software testing.  As the name indicates, crowdtesting involves a group of individuals in the software testing process. Under this distinct form of testing, the enterprises share prototypes of software application with a group of individuals through an online platform for testing purposes.

Thus, a software application is tested under real world conditions by the crowd that includes both software testers and end users. Many businesses opt for crowdtesting to get feedback from a wide variety of individuals, and identify all defects and performance issues in their software. An enterprise can also reap a number of additional benefits by involving more individuals in the software testing process.  

What Make Many Businesses Opt for Crowdtesting?

Flexibility

To test a modern application effectively, the testers must have adequate testing experience and domain expertise. Often enterprises find it challenging to pick the right professionals to test specific software applications.  Crowdtesting makes it easier for enterprises to get the software tested by a group of individuals with varying backgrounds and expertise. Further, most crowdtesters are passionate about identifying bugs in the application and improve its quality.

Reduced Testing Time

Nowadays businesses have to assess all aspects of the software application within a shorter amount of time. So enterprises have to deploy additional testers to complete the required tests on schedule. Often small businesses and start-ups find it daunting to complete an application thoroughly within a shorter amount of time. Crowdtesting helps businesses to identify all critical bugs in the software within a shorter amount of time. As the software is tested by a group of individuals simultaneously, it can be assessed thoroughly without increasing the time to market.

Unbiased Assessment

In an agile environment, testers and programmers work as a single team. Also, the testers have to collaborate with various stakeholders in the project on a continuous basis. That is why; often testers find it difficult to provide unbiased feedback and reports on the software’s quality. Crowdtesting helps businesses to eliminate the intrinsic biasness of in-house testers. As the software is tested by   diverse individuals, an enterprise can easily get more relevant test results and unbiased feedback.

Enhance Test Coverage

The testers must test the software under different environments and condition to assess its quality accurately. But often enterprises find it difficult to test applications across different devices, environments and platforms due to lack of adequate resources. Many businesses opt for crowdtesting to increase test coverage by overcoming the constraints related to resources. When the software is tested by a group of individuals, the business can easily find out all technical issues and bottlenecks affecting its functionality and performance.

Better Compatibility Testing

The modern applications need to deliver quality user experience across a wide variety of devices, platforms and browsers. But it is not possible for businesses to test the software using all devices available in the market. Many enterprises even use emulators to assess the performance of the application across many devices. A business can always share the software with crowdtesters to effectuate compatibility and usability testing. As the testers will assess the software on various devices and platforms, it will be easier for the business to assess the software’s compatibility more accurately.

Cost Effective

Often small enterprises and start-ups find it difficult to maintain an in-house team of software testers. Also, businesses find it difficult to find testers with adequate domain-knowledge to test the application effectively. When an enterprise opts for crowdtesting, it is required to pay to the testers only for the unique and relevant defects or performance issues detected by them.  So it becomes easier for it to get all aspects of the product tested without incurring additional expenses. At the same time, crowdtesting helps businesses to hire experienced testers, project managers and designers.

However, it is also important for the enterprises to make a comprehensive plan to overcome some of the major shortcomings of crowdtesting. The plan must focus on managing confidentiality, facilitating communication with crowdsourced testers, and detecting relevant and impactful bugs. The right strategy will help businesses to overcome these shortcomings, and take advantage of the emerging software testing trend.