Test Automation with TestProject

In my previous article, I promised to write more about the free test automation platform TestProject. With this post, I will introduce you to the TestProject platform, the setup process of the so-called agent, the rich feature set and more things that make TestProject a special single test automation solution.

Sign-Up and First Steps

Let’s start from the beginning. The sign-up process is easy and takes no more than one minute after you created your account. Right after the first sign in, a wizard offers you a quick five minute tutorial where the initial setup of the TestProject agent is happening. In the first step you need to download the TestProject agent for your operating system. TestProject supports Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

While the download is running, the wizard is providing a short YouTube video, where the next steps are explained once the agent is installed.

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Once the TestProject agent is installed, the wizard asks you to register your local agent by giving it an alias. The alias will be checked and registered. The setup takes some minutes and then the TestProject dashboard is presented. Read more

September 2, 2019

Testing Mobile Apps with a Single Automation Solution

My summer vacation is over and I am back at writing :). In my last article, I compared test automation frameworks with pros and cons. Today’s article is focusing on the important topic of testing mobile apps. Especially with a focus on mobile test automation and how this can be done with a single automation solution.

Most organizations support both mobile platforms for their product, Android as well as iOS. Both platforms together have a world-wide market share of 98% and therefore it is essential to develop and release the own mobile product on both systems. Sure, there might be products, markets and services that are used more on one of the platforms, but for the majority of companies both platforms are critical for their business.

For those software testers working already in the field of mobile testing hopefully know that both platforms have similarities as well as differences. In both cases this knowledge is key to success, especially when you want focus on the field of mobile test automation. If you don’t know the key differences of the mobile platforms and apps, I recommend to take a look at my book Hands-On Mobile App Testing or at my mobile testing online course A Beginners Guide To Mobile Testing.

Why Mobile Test Automation is Important?

According to user surveys conducted by Arctouch and TechBeacon, more than 50% of mobile app users will uninstall an app after the first usage. One of the main reasons for the uninstallation is an app crash or freeze at the first launch. Furthermore, the surveys found out that mobile users have a much higher expectation to mobile apps than to any other software products. Up to 80% of mobile users will delete an app after the first usage if the design is bad, the app has a poor user experience or is not fast enough. Read more

July 15, 2019

Comparison of Test Automation Platforms

Test automation, being it web or mobile test automation should be part of every software development team. However, this is still not the case for most of the companies on the market. Whenever I talked to developers, testers or product managers e.g. on conferences the majority of people mention the lack of knowledge, infrastructure or time pressure are the biggest hurdles for them to start with automation. But starting with test automation can be much easier when using a test automation platform*. Test automation platforms usually offer e.g. the infrastructure, a list of supported test automation tools and a setup guide.

Test Automation Platforms

In this article, I want to briefly introduce you to test automation platforms with their pros and cons. For the comparison I picked the following platforms:

Depending on the own software development cycle, the used programming languages and toolchain a test automation platform must fulfill different requirements in order to be used most efficiently. Read more

June 25, 2019

Including User Feedback to Future Roadmap Planning

Receiving user feedback for digital products can be very painful for companies and especially for the teams developing the product. With the rise of smartphones and mobile apps, mobile users having much higher expectations to the overall product quality and features. According to Google, more than 50% of the customers will leave a web product if the page doesn’t load within 3 seconds. Similar numbers have been revealed by techbeacon for mobile applications.

Leaving bad reviews and rating was never easier than before, as you can see on the image before. For most products, it’s just finger tap away to leave a bad review or feedback. However, companies and software development teams can turnaround the bad and negative feedback and use it to improve the product and to make the customers more happy.

Selecting User Feedback The Right Way

Companies have several ways to collect user feedback inside a product or service. Here is an overview of things that companies can do: Read more

June 21, 2019

Mobile Testing – Online Course

In the beginning of 2019, I launched my mobile testing course in cooperation with Ministry of Testing. In case you haven’t heard about it, this short blog post will give you an idea what to expect from the course which is available on the Dojo from Ministry of Testing. The course name is: A Beginners Guide to Mobile Testing and was made for software testers who are new to mobile testing or want to switch from another industry field to mobile. The course teaches you the foundations and will cover all the basics of mobile testing and have even sprinkled in some quick, fun tasks throughout to help you develop new mobile related use cases to implement at your company.

This 9-part course will take you through the fundamentals of testing mobile applications and help you kick start your activities.

The Course Content

The course will cover:

The different mobile data networks including the pros and cons.
The technical specifications of mobile devices including the architecture as well as the built-in sensors which are used by millions of mobile apps.
The different mobile app types and how they can affect your testing activities.
The different business models behind apps to aid you in defining a solid mobile testing strategy.
The different mobile app stores focusing on Apple and Google.

Beginners Guide to Mobile Testing is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes long and packed with around 3 hours worth of tasks for you to try out as well as extra resources to support you.

Course Resources

There are lots of open resources suggested in the individual Lesson Resources sections, as well as, links to The Club forum where you can share your progress and findings from the authentic testing tasks recommended throughout this course.

In addition, you can take a look at my book “Hands-On Mobile App Testing” which can be used to support your learnings while taking this course.

Prerequisites

It would be advantageous if you have a basic understanding of software testing, but no mobile skills are required.

If you want to checkout the course, take a look at the introduction video here.

#HappyTesting