What is the Need to Test Your Retail Apps Frequently?

It is the age of technology and everything we do is related to technology or dependent on it in some way. The advent of technology has hugely aided the way that people used to buy things. Most people are now hooked on to internet shopping which is conducted online via the numerous mobile shopping apps or retail apps that are present. It allows them to browse and order the things they need sitting at home or at office or on the go and the ordered product gets delivered right at their door step. This helps in saving a lot of time and is convenient for most people who are super busy in their lives or for people who are away from their home and require to deliver the products.

One of the best things about conducting business in an age which is primarily mobile centric is the fact that they have a tool for almost everything that is needed. Be it streamlining certain business opportunities or increasing the productivity of the retail app or creating an easier user interface for your customers to deal with, you get a tool for everything.

However to ensure that your app is up and running it is very important that you need to test your app before launching it so that you can ensure complete satisfaction on the customers’ end. It will also ensure that your app increases the profitability of your business based on the ease and productivity and speed as well as security of using your app. It is not enough to test your app only before you launch it. Retail apps should be tested frequently even after being launched. This is due to the fact that the retail apps are used by a huge number of customers each day which makes it prone to development of bugs which may cause problems in the functionality of the app.

The retail apps are usually multi tier in nature and are connected to payment gateways and banking apps so that the customers can make payment of the products they have bought.  This ensures that your app should have top notch security facilities so that it can avoid any kind of fraud that may cause harm to the customers as well as to your reputation. This is one of the major reasons to keep testing the retail apps frequently so that the security facility of the app is never compromised. It also has to safe keep the personal details filled in by your customers while operating your retail app.

With the advancement of the technology you also need to include more and more features in your retail apps in order to enrich the shopping experience of your customers. This also initiates the process of frequent testing of your retail app to make sure that the prevailing functions are in sync with the new ones and work perfectly with the new functions that are included in the retail app. Also your retail app will have varied amount of traffic on each day which will obviously peak during the holidays and occasions when people are prone to exchanging gifts. Frequent load testing of the retail app will make sure that your app doesn’t snag under pressure and even if it does, it can bounce back to its normal functionality as soon as possible without causing much distress to your customers.

We hope to have clarified the need to test your retail apps frequently. It will help you to maintain a healthy app and a loyal customer base. 

Why is Selenium a Good Weapon to Have in Your Arsenal?

When it comes to software testing, every testing organization seeks the help of automated testing tools as it helps in saving both time and money. Software testing is an important part of the whole software development procedure and the cost of the process affects the whole cost of the project. This is why more and more organizations are opting for open source tools rather than investing in commercial tools which cost a lot of money, ultimately increasing the cost of the whole project.

There are a huge number of automated testing tools available for the purpose of testing the various aspects of the software; however, Selenium tops the list. Selenium is becoming more and more popular each day with the testers and the organizations who specialize in testing both functionality and GUI of the web based applications. It is also effective as far as unit testing is concerned in case of JavaScript. Another important fact behind the popularity of the selenium software is the fact that it is supported by immense number of open source developers who are regularly working on the further development of the tool on a regular basis.

So why is selenium a good weapon to have in your arsenal? Here are some reasons to satiate your query.

1.      Selenium is capable of working on almost all the available operating systems which makes it far more popular than the other available automated testing tools out there.
2.      Being an open source automated testing tool, selenium s far more cost effective that the commercial counterparts which are available in the market.
3.      Selenium supports various languages like such as Python, Pearl, and Ruby, PHP, .NET (C #) and Java pretty well. However, in order to perform your task with the selenium tool, knowing just one of the many languages is more than enough.
4.      Selenium is built in a way where it doesn’t depend on any particular scripting language for its workability which is a huge advantage when it comes to software testing. This provides you with the liberty of writing the automated testing script in any language you wish to or prefer. 
5.      Selenium is easy to work with as it functions with equal ease on all the leading and popular browsers like Opera, Safari, Chrome, IE 6, 7, 8 or Mozilla Firefox.
6.      Supported by Google, Selenium is regularly developed by a team of professional and dedicated developers who are trying to make it better every day.
7.      When you use selenium for automated software testing and detecting various elements on your web based software, it uses robust processes like CSS, Xpath, DOM and so on.
8.      When it comes to exerting of frameworks that revolve around Object oriented programming such as Keyword Driven, Data driven and Hybrid, there are no automated tools which can match up to selenium.
9.      Selenium is very well integrated with various open source frameworks like TestNG, JUnit, NUnit and so on which are popular in the software industry.
10.        Selenium proves to be a huge help when it comes to testing software which involves multiple machines or multiple browsers in different machines at the same time. Selenium helps in saving both time and money as it allows easy workability on various different machines at the same time thus allows you to complete large projects which have a limited period of time for completion.

What are you still waiting for? Get selenium in your arsenal and get all the advantages of this awesome tool to test your web based applications now!

Few Ways to Test Mobile Apps under Real User Conditions

To make a mobile app popular and profitable in the longer run, businesses must get its user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) tested thoroughly. The businesses further need to test the app using real devices and under real user conditions. Most businesses use emulators and simulators to assess the application’s functionality and performance across a variety of devices without investing in real devices. But the emulators often fail to provide detailed information about the application’s performance on a specific device or in a particular user environment. That is why; it has become essential for enterprises to explore ways to test the mobile app under real world conditions using various devices, platforms, users, networks and test configurations.

Exploring Options to Test Your Mobile App under Real User Conditions

Field Testing

The field testing model requires businesses to deploy testers in field. The deployment will enable the testers to assess the mobile app across a wide range of networks and service providers. For instance, the testers can assess the application’s functionality and performance under a number of network connections including 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi and cellular. Likewise, they can test the application with no or poor network connectivity, switch from one network to another, and identify the hot spots and dead spots.

However, the testers have to use user scenarios and mobile persona additionally to effectuate field testing. These two techniques will help testers to make the tests more realistic and obtain more reliable test results. As a fictitious identity, mobile personal represents a group of users who will use the mobile app. When the testers are familiar with the targeted users of the app, it becomes easier for them to simulate their actions and behaviours realistically. Further, they can create a variety of test ideas by keeping in mind the targeted user group.

On the other hand, user scenario, as a narrative, describes the usage of the mobile app, and how it fits into the lifestyle of users. The testers have to identify scenarios according to individual members of the targeted user group. They can further customize the user scenarios based on mobile persona. On the whole, the testers need to combine mobile persona and user scenarios to understand how different users will use the mobile app, and test the app effectively in various contexts.

User Testing

As its name implies, the real world testing model involves real users in the mobile testing process. A business can release the mobile app to diverse users to get it evaluated on a wider variety of devices, platforms, networks and environments. Further, the feedback and suggestion received from real users will help the enterprise to deliver a high quality mobile application. Each business also has option to choose from a number of user testing methods. Some of these methods involve selected end users, whereas others emphasize on in-depth auditing of the application’s usability and user experience.

A business can always save money by getting the application tested by people selected randomly. The randomly selected users will use the application, and share their views and feedback. Despite being informal, the testing technique helps businesses to get relevant test results. Also, an enterprise has option to share the mobile app with diverse users through an online platform, and get the usability testing performed remotely. It can further pay the tester for the bugs identified by him, or provide a detailed survey questionnaire. The developers can evaluate the feedback and suggestions shared by the remote users, and take the required actions to make the mobile app flawless.

A business also has option to get the mobile app testing by a seasoned user testing professional. The professional will audit the application’s usability and user experience thoroughly, and provide his feedback along with identifying the defects. The enterprise can further deploy different user testing professionals to get the app tested based on diverse thought processes.  Alternatively, the business can also invite end users to visit its in-house usability lab and test the mobile application, while being observed by the user testing professional.

Many enterprises nowadays opt for crowd-sourced testing to identify all flaws in an application, with reduced testing time and cost. But a business has to consider several factors while making the application available to real users for testing. It is always important for the business to pick the right real world testing option, and implement a custom strategy by keeping in mind the pros and cons of the option.  

The Role of Software Testing in Healthcare

As technology is advancing, the future is becoming more and more inclined on its use. The case is no different in the healthcare industry where the professionals are becoming more dependent on the use of technology to save data about the patients as well as the various medical staff that are present for serving these patients. More and more technology is being used in healthcare for the purpose of storing information and integrating various data from various resources to ensure that the patients get top service without much hassle. This makes software testing an important part of healthcare software development in order to ensure that the data are safe and software are efficient to handle such huge and complex process.

It is quite obvious that the healthcare industry requires saving a lot of information such as medical plans, enrolments and annual contracts that are required to be recorded for a long period of time and are regularly updated. This requires the healthcare apps to be pretty complex in nature and containing multiple tiers. These can lead to complexities related to data integration which needs to be resolved before providing the software to the professionals to be used without any problems. Here comes the role of software testing in healthcare.

1. Software testing plays a role in the healthcare industry in order to ensure that the huge multi tier system is up and running at all times and does not succumb under pressure. It also guarantees quick comeback of the systems even if it snags.
2. Healthcare industries often have to face a huge surge of traffic inflow in case of any calamities or mishaps which will automatically increase the load on the software system used by it. Software testing ensures that the software performs equally well even in such cases.
3. Healthcare industries often have to face prolonged period of work without any possible break which is at times accompanied by an increased amount of load. This is extended to the software as well. The role of software testing in healthcare is to make sure that the software performs brilliantly during these prolonged work periods.
4. Software testing makes sure that the system integration in the healthcare industry doesn’t cause any major problems. Healthcare industry often requires system integration for the collaboration of data or in order to maintain a constant flow of data between systems so that the records are well maintained and the system runs smoothly.
5. Impacts of cross system on the applications used in the healthcare industry requires software testing for checking.
6. Software testing plays an important role in the healthcare industry by checking the interdependency of the various software which are frequent in the industry to ensure that they are functioning smoothly and causes no problems.
7. Healthcare industry uses software to store a lot of vital and personal information of the patients which if breached and hacked into can give rise to fatal consequences. Software testing helps in maintaining the security of these various systems used.
8. Software testing helps in maintain an easy user interface of the applications used in healthcare so that they can be handles by people who are not pro at the utilization of same.

These are some of the top most methods by which software testing helps the healthcare industry by helping the developers to create apps that are completely secure in nature and will help the professionals to save all the data and integrate the various files which would take a lot of labor if done in a manual manner. 

Exploratory Testing and Business Values Delivered

A gradual increase is being noted in the number of businesses switching from scripted testing to exploratory testing. The conventional scripted testing approach requires the active test cases to be designed in advance, with clearly defined processes and expected results. The predesigned tests are used by testers to compare the actual test results with expected results. So the testers must be provided with adequate information to execute the tests and interpret the test results effectively.

But exploratory testing approach emphasizes on concurrent test designing and execution. It further requires businesses to deploy skilled software testers, and allows testers to become more imaginative and exploratory. While performing exploratory testing, the QA professionals have autonomy to decide what tests to perform next, and how to prioritize tests due to time constraints. So a business can avail a number of benefits by adopting the modern software testing approach.

What Makes Businesses Switch from Scripted Testing to Exploratory Testing?

Defects are Found Quickly

The predesigned test scripts restrict professionals’ imagination and creativity. When the testers have adequate information about the software to be tested and use the predesigned test scripts, they do not come up with fresh and innovative ideas. Exploratory testing requires them to design and execute tests concurrently. So they can learn and improve continuously, while coming up with new ideas and innovative ways to solve problems.

Accommodate Individual Testing Approaches

Exploratory testing approach requires enterprises to deploy skilled and experienced QA professionals. So each tester can analyze the specific problem in a particular way. The members of the team can further suggest various ways to test a particular feature or functionality of the software.  So the same aspect of the application can be tested in a number of ways. The different approaches effectuate testing, and help testers to identify all flaws in the software.

Allow Testers to Control the Testing Process

The scripted testing approach differentiates the process of test design and test execution. So an enterprise has option to deploy different teams to design and execute tests. Also, the testers need adequate product information and detailed business requirements to execute the tests effectively. So the testers fail to execute tests if the test cases are not designed in advance or they are not familiar with the application. But exploratory testing enables testers to design and execute tests concurrently. They can easily gather the required information, and design and test cases in each situation. 

Freedom to Follow Leads

Nowadays testers have to test all aspects of the software within a shorter amount of time. So they find it daunting to read, understand and execute predesigned test scripts. Most modern testers prefer designing and executing tests in parallel without referring to any predesigned test cases. Further, they want to deploy the limited time in finding bugs instead of reading and understanding test cases. The absence of predefined constraints further enables testers to identify bugs in the software by following all promising leads.

Facilitates Agile Testing

Many businesses nowadays adopt agile methodology to reduce software testing time and cost significantly. But the delivery cycles in agile project is extremely short. Further, the developers and testers have to collaborate with each other deliver a flawless software application. So the businesses are no longer required to deploy skilled professionals to make test plans, design test cases, and manage defects in the software. When a business adopts exploratory testing approach, it becomes easier for it to design and execute test cases concurrently without deploying any additional professionals. So exploratory testing helps businesses to reap benefits of agile project management methodologies.

On the whole, the exploratory testing approach is completely different from conventional scripted testing approach. But companies like Microsoft have proved that both testing approaches are compatible with each other, and can also be used on a single project. So a business has option to either adopt exploratory testing model or use both testing models simultaneously. 

Benefits of Hiring a Certified Security Tester for Your Security Testing Needs

Nowadays testers have to perform both functional and non-functional testing to assess all aspects of a software application effectively.  As a type of non-functional testing, security testing is performed to check if the application is vulnerable to security attacks and effective in protecting information and maintain functionality in case of malware attacks. But the testers need adequate skills, experience and domain expertise to effectively check if the application is 100% secure. Many enterprises prefer hiring certified security testing professionals to identify and eliminate critical security threats. A business can always reap a number of benefits by hiring a certified security tester.

5 Reasons Why Businesses Must Hire Certified Security Testers

1) Skill and Experience Level

Normally, security testing certifications can be divided into three broad categories, i.e., entry level, intermediate level, and expert level. Each tester must meet certain requirements to obtain the specific certification. For instance, the tester must know security principles, best practices, test automation tools, and latest technology to obtain entry-level security testing certification. Likewise, he must have adequate security testing knowledge and experience to obtain more advanced certifications. So you can easily determine the tester’s experience, expertise and domain knowledge based on the certification.

2) Comprehensive Training

Each tester further needs to go through a comprehensive credentialing process. As part of the process, he has to undergo a detailed training program that covers all aspects of software security features and testing. Also, the professional has to pass the final examination to obtain the cyber security certification. So the certification indicates that the tester has learned all aspect of security testing, and obtained the certification by clearing the final test. The training and knowledge make the certified security testers score over other software testing professionals.   

3) Up-to-Date Knowledge

 The tester is further required to renew the cyber security certification at regular intervals. Normally, the cyber security certification must be renewed every 3 to 4 years. The tester has to pass a current test to renew his credentials. So it becomes essential for testers to keep their knowledge up-to-date and earn education credits continuously to renew the security testing certification successfully. You can always expect the certified security testers to know the latest trends, tools and best practices in software security testing. 

4) Ability to think like a Hacker

Nowadays, programmers have to address security issues and threats without any delay. So the security testers have to collaborate with the developers consistently to get the security problems fixed as they occur. The certification helps testers to analyze the evolving security threats with the mindset of a hacker. They can further assess the security features of the application during development to eliminate security threats in future. The testers can further perform security tests during various phases of development to identify and eliminate the weaknesses that increases the application’s vulnerability to evolving security threats.

5) In-depth Understanding of Tools used by Cyber Criminals

Nowadays cyber criminals use a variety of advanced tools to attack software applications. The testers must be familiar with the tools used by hackers to effectively eliminate the security threats. The certification program will help testers to understand the tools and techniques used by programmers for criminal purposes. So they can easily identify the source of the security threat, and suggest the best way to eliminate the security threat or prevent the security attack.  They further need to keep track of the latest trends in security testing as part of the certification renewal process.

While outsourcing software testing, each business needs to check a testing service provider deploys certified security testers. It needs to ensure that the security testing is performed by a certified and experienced tester to enhance the software’s reliability and integrity by eliminating all security threats.

5 Top Sins to Avoid in Mobile Testing

Nowadays, the user experience delivered by a mobile app determines its popularity and profitability. While testing a mobile app, the testers need to identify and eliminate all bugs that affect the application’s user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). But testers have to identify and eliminate all defects in a mobile app within a shorter amount of time. That is why; it becomes essential for QA professionals to avoid a number of common but critical mobile app testing mistakes.

5 Mobile App Testing Mistakes Each Tester Must Avoid

1) Not Focusing on Mobile Experience

Many reports have highlighted that most users download mobile apps based on their looks rather than functionality. So the testers must focus on testing the app’s user interface (UI) thoroughly and repeatedly. It is also important for testers to allocate more testing time to UI than other functionality. They must evaluate the UI thoroughly to ensure that the mobile app looks plain and simple, while allowing users to find information or perform an action in a quicker and more convenient way. They can even check if the UI design can save users’ time by providing special features like one-click facility, automatic spelling checks, and infinite scrolling.

2) Ignoring Factors Affecting Cross Browser Compatibility

Each mobile app must deliver quality experience across many devices and browsers to keep the users engaged. But testers often fail to identify the factors that affect the cross browser compatibility of the application. While testing a mobile website, the professionals must try to find out the reason behind such UX bugs. Often the cross browser compatibility of a mobile app is affected due to use of specific scripting language, or add-ons or plug-ins. Likewise, the document object model (DOM) of the application may prevent it from performing seamlessly across many browsers. The testers can always use specialized tool to assess the app’s cross-browser compatibility more efficiently. 

3) Not Assessing Quality of Links

The quality of links will have a huge impact on the user experience of mobile web apps. But testers often forget to assess the quality of links while testing a mobile website. They must remember that there are a number of factors that can make a hyperlink outdated or broken. For instance, changes made to the website’s structure or external resources, any document or old web pages removed from the site, or any changes made to a URL can cause broken links. So the testers must identify the broken or outdated links, and report them along with the root cause. They can even consider using a variety of tools to identify the broken or outdated links more efficiently.

4) Inadequate Usability Testing

Nowadays, each app must deliver richer user experience to become profitable in the longer run. But often testers fail to perform adequate usability testing due to constraints related to time and resources. The inadequate usability testing can have a huge impact on the application’s user experience, hence its popularity and profitability. That is why; the mobile app testing strategy must focus extensively on usability testing. The testers can further use a variety of tools to identify and eliminate the bugs affecting the application’s user experience. Likewise, they must help developers to fix the UX bugs effectively by providing detailed and specific information about the defects.

5) Not Mixing Real Devices and Emulators Properly

The emulators make it easier for testers to assess the mobile app’s functionality and performance across a variety of devices without investing in many real devices. But the emulators cannot provide adequate information about how the app performs on a specific device or a particular carrier network. So the testers still need real devices to gather more relevant information about the application’s quality, performance and user experience. However, it is always important for the testers to maintain a proper balance between real devices and emulators in the testing environment. They can always consider combining the emulators with a load testing tool to assess how the application performs under various loads.

The testers must remember that various mobile apps cannot be tested by implementing a single testing strategy. It is always important for them to make and implement custom test plans according to the type, usage and functionality of the mobile app. The custom mobile app testing strategy will help them to avoid a number of fatal mistakes.