Importance of Creating a Well-Balanced Mobile Application Strategy

Mobile applications have become a necessity these days for enterprises of all sizes. However, with the huge need for mobile apps, the apps are becoming much more complex. In order to make the most of the applications, it is important to create an effective mobile testing strategy that includes a bit of risk and also rewards analysis. Having a good amount of risk and reward will support you in creating a proportionate mobile testing strategy. It is imperative to take into consideration platform mix, test implementation, manual/automated testing, device management, and outsourcing as part of your testing strategy. With this, testers also need to understand the applications and the customer using it.

Mobile applications come with in-built risks. For compatibility, usability and responsiveness testing, what might look like an insignificant issue on a laptop could turn out to be critical on a mobile device. People are usually rushing, multitasking and have inadequate time and attention spans while using mobile devices. Therefore it is not just bugs in applications that are not well tolerated. Menus, buttons, and forms that are easy to access on a desktop can also be frustrating to use when resized for mobile. Testing too many devices at the same time create redundant expenditures. However, taking time to recognize the device and the customer will balance risk and return.

Here are some reasons why it is important to create a mobile application testing strategy.

Platform matrix

The diversity in devices, operating systems and screen resolutions makes determining the right mix of devices to test complicated. A little basic data analysis will provide a lot of insight into determining the best device matrix. After identifying the device matrix, there is also the choice to use a mix of emulators and real devices. The testing implications of when to use emulators vs. real devices are complex; barely anyone would claim that nothing takes the place of testing on actual devices. Emulators also are a little slower than actual devices. Depending on the kind of application is being tested and if tests are manual or automated, using actual or emulators can be decided.

Test execution

Generally, it is not practical to conduct complete testing or complete functional testing on various devices. However, a practical approach is running a complete set of tests on one or two main devices, and then running the smoke test on additional devices to recognize any evident issues. Though, it depends on the nature of the application. If the application is pioneering and can possibly stress the device’s capability, then extensive testing is better. A mobile application testing strategy is not complete without testing the incorporation between the application and back-end system. This holds true when the release cycles of mobile apps and back-end systems are different, which they frequently are.

Manual or automated

Several basic compatibility and functional testing can be done competently with manual testing; however, when it comes to testing several devices and applications, automation can be the best way to scale. The efficiency improvement will depend on the understanding and skill of the automation team. Also, various test automation tools will impact your selections of emulators vs. real devices.

Completely outsourced option

Completely outsourcing mobile testing is an approach that works well for a lot of organizations. This eradicates the challenges of managing and maintaining a portfolio of mobile devices. Companies with mobile specialists usually understand the unique device, and emulator testing uses, and likely have mobile automation expertise as well.