5 Ways Crowdtesting Enhances User Acceptance Testing

Crowdtesting & User Acceptance Testing

Crowdtesting, the execution of quality assurance (QA) tests using a community of freelance, professional testers, can bring tremendous value to user acceptance testing (UAT) thanks to its versatility as a QA resource.

For brands or organizations looking to develop consumer-facing web or mobile applications, software testing plays a huge role in uncovering bugs or anomalies that can threaten these platforms.

UAT, also known as end-user testing, is executed to determine whether or not a digital service like an application or website functions as expected. Since UAT is the last stage of testing before a web or mobile application, for example, is released to the public, it is a fundamental way for brands to ensure they offer the highest quality service possible.

Below, discover 5 ways in which crowdtesting can enhance UAT campaigns. 

1. Gain time during the UAT phase

It is not uncommon for projects to run behind schedule as unexpected problems arise. When this happens, time constraints can force your QA team to execute test campaigns in a shorter amount of time or to postpone certain tests to meet fast-approaching deadlines.

These constraints can make it rather difficult to properly execute tests, which can lead to a breakdown in the quality of the web or mobile application.

Crowdtesting makes it possible to test web and mobile applications via a community of freelance, professional testers to assist understaffed or overloaded QA teams. Crowdtesting can also be used to carry out an entire UAT, which is great for organizations that lack a dedicated team of QA testers and analysts. 

Crowdtesting even enables organizations to test their applications, websites, and more when needed including outside of regular business hours to make up for lost time or meet upcoming deadlines.

As testing professionals, crowdtesters possess the know-how required to properly and efficiently test different digital services. Often, test campaigns can be planned and executed very quickly.

The time gained or saved as a result of crowdtesting can be used to further the development of your web or mobile applications or begin working on bug fixes uncovered during the test.

2. Expand UAT coverage to account for mobile fragmentation

In a mobile-first world, UAT needs a large test coverage to account for the fragmentation of the smartphone market.

Luckily, crowdtesting can expand test coverage to account for the fragmentation of the smartphone market. Although fragmentation has improved over the last 5 years, it is still vital for UAT to account for the various screen sizes, operating systems versions, browsers, etc., within the smartphone market.

During a crowdtesting campaign, the community of testers executes the test using their own mobiles, tablets, or computers. As a result, the UAT are not only carried out using a wide range of real testing devices and configurations, but also the same configurations used within specific markets. 

An expanded test coverage along with real testing devices makes it easier to uncover functional bugs as well as other anomalies that influence more subjective aspects of an application or website like its speed, responsiveness, navigation, ergonomics, and feel.

By expanding the test coverage, you can be more confident in the quality of their web or mobile applications before they are launched.

3. Test according to the needs of the project

Choosing the right test strategy is key to preserving the overall quality of web and mobile applications. What crowdtesting provides is the flexibility to execute UAT with the strategy that is most appropriate. This includes testing websites and apps using exploratory testing or scenario testing.

Crowdtesting is well suited for exploratory testing, which can help you perform much-needed testing following updates to an application or website or the iOS and Android operating systems.

Exploratory testing brings a ton of value by allowing crowdtesters to explore an app or site in an "unscripted" manner, which is great for finding random bugs that are difficult to uncover when following a test case.

Unlike exploratory testing, scenario testing drives crowdtesters to validate specific functionalities in a very precise and scripted manner. Scenario testing can be used to test multiple functionalities along pathways or processes that require multiple steps or actions on the part of the end-user.

In the tourism industry, for example, testing functionalities along important user pathways.

One of the benefits of scenario testing is its ability to uncover bugs that could be disastrous for any web or mobile application and provide a clear and objective assessment of the most critical functionalities.

Whether using exploratory testing or scenario testing, a community of freelance, professional testers can provide the flexibility needed for a more thorough UAT.

4. Enhancing regression testing

While it might be a stretch to talk about regression testing in the context of user acceptance testing, it nonetheless has a significant impact on the quality of digital services. Regardless, regression testing can be optimized with crowdtesting.

Commonly performed following changes made to the code or software, regression testing is designed to find bugs that were unintentionally introduced as a result of these changes. These changes are normal and can include everything from minor bug fixes to major software updates. 

Today, it is not uncommon to execute regression tests using an automated testing script. Automated testing is well suited to test existing functionalities to uncover any regressions.

Automated testing is not, however, as well suited to assess more subjective aspects of an app or website that can be affected by regressions.

Want to learn more about Automated Testing? Download our guide below!

Crowdtesting, on the other hand, is perfect for uncovering bugs that negatively affect the navigation, ergonomics, and other subtle aspects of an app or website that have a major influence on the user experience.

When executed alongside an automated testing script, crowdtesting can find a wide range of bugs that affect more than just functionalities allowing developers to create a better user experience.

Additionally, crowdtesting can also be used in conjunction with automated testing to reduce regression testing costs while also increasing its effectiveness.

Automated testing scripts require a significant amount of time to build and maintain to prevent them from breaking. Unfortunately, the process of building and maintaining automated tests is rather painful and can ultimately end in failure while also driving up QA costs.

Crowdtesting can boost regression testing by covering more complex functionalities or general test cases that would be too expensive or hard to automate. Crowdtesting can even be used to replace automated test suites that are very costly or complicated to maintain.

By incorporating crowdtesting into your regression testing process, you can greatly improve your ability to uncover more bugs and elevate the quality of the web and mobile applications.

5. Executing non-functional tests

Last but not least, crowdtesting can bring additional value to your UAT phases by executing non-functional tests. Falling into this category includes usability testing as well as multilingual testing.

Having a web or mobile application that is easy and enjoyable to use is rather essential given the enormous amount of choice users have. Crowdtesting provides organizations with a community of testers who can assess the usability of an app or website in order to highlight issues or flaws that will likely annoy the end-user and diminish the user experience. 

The ability to test an app or site using testers in specific markets is also a great advantage for crowdtesting. Here, the cultural perspective of the testers can reveal flaws as well as recommendations to improve the usability.

Besides usability testing, crowdtesting can bring significant value to UAT for multilingual sites and apps. Tapping into the resources of a global community of crowdtesters can reveal translation or syntax errors that, if left unchecked, can confuse users, lead to a decline in conversion rates, and damage brand image.

Multilingual testing can be executed in the context of a large UAT to cover both functionalities as well as the general text.

At StarDust, we partner with a number of organizations during UAT phases via our crowdtesting community, We Are Testers, as well as our in-lab testers. To learn more about crowdtesting, do not hesitate to download our white paper below.