QA Info Tech - A Brand Built on Results

Testing Chronicles - QA InfoTech Corporate Blog

The Bugs Stop at Our Bay

Author Archives: Rajini Padmanaban

About Rajini Padmanaban

As Vice President, Testing Services and Engagements, Rajini Padmanaban leads the engagement management for some of QA InfoTech's largest and most strategic accounts. She has over sixteen years of professional experience, primarily in software quality assurance. Rajini advocates software quality through evangelistic activities including blogging on test trends, technologies and best practices. She is also a regular speaker in conferences run by SQE, QAI STC ,ATA, UNICOM, EuroStar and has orchestrated several webinars. Her writings are featured in TechWell, Sticky Minds, Better Software Magazine. She has co-authored a book on crowdsourced testing . She can be reached at rajini.padmanaban@qainfotech.com

20 Aug, 2019

Cross Platform Testing – Changing Times

Gone are the days where cross platform testing was just about an optimized OS browser software testing strategy to check how an application fared across supported operating systems and browsers.

Given how the test efforts were largely manual back in the days, even this was often a time consuming task.

Today cross platform testing has a complete new outlook – with the kind of applications that are developed, the diverse set of platforms that they are delivered on, co-existence and synchronization across platforms, the scope and scale are huge.

However, thanks to automation and a smart software testing strategy, the required test coverage is still being achieved by testing teams.

Let’s take a very typical example of an application that is developed in today’s world. A web presence and mobile presence have become mandatory.

At a bare minimum applications get tested on the web and on iOS and Android. Automation touches on UI, API and mobile pieces.

Within each of these, the core OS/browser support is provided wherever a GUI is available. However, testing frameworks are designed with maximum re-usability such that once created they are leverage-able with minimum changes to be used across other areas.

For example, hybrid testing frameworks to test for both UI and API are becoming a norm. Web testing framework is being used with minor changes for mobile automation too.

The core automation solution often supports cross platform testing, with tests that can be executed across the supported matrix.

While these complexities have come in given the scale of operations today, optimization is simultaneously happening at several levels:

At a business level – where teams are aware of a prioritized set of platforms to work with. This includes platforms where complete support is important, ones where a sanity would suffice.Teams are also able to brainstorm with stakeholders on which issues to take in and which can be left as is, making cross platform quality an informed exercise
At a tool level – test automation and varied analytics tools provide a lot of features to take on cross platform testing, give valuable data in putting together the right software testing strategy, making this exercise very doable from timeline and prioritization standpoints
At an experiential level – while objective elements around business analysis, tool features etc. make cross platform testing easier today, nothing can take away the experience and past learnings of the tester. While they are subjective in nature, the tester’s prior experience and gut still play a very important role in determining the desired test coverage and bring in the required levels of optimization
At a regression level – cross platform testing, today takes an important seat not just in the core test effort, but also in the regression suites, given the diverse user feedback that continues to flow in post-production release. The regression suites are herein kept very small, but they are often run across the supported matrix to ensure thoroughness and to this extent, automated regression suites are playing a very important role in the overall test strategy.

The scale, scope and tools associated with cross platform testing may have changed, and will continue to change.

The core essence where it remains both a science and an art, will never change, giving this activity an important seat in every software testing strategy.

09 Aug, 2019

How Can AI Enable Software Testing

Just as how software development continues to evolve for the good with new technologies that enter the market, all attributes of product and engineering need to evolve too – whether it to be design, architecture, marketing and communications, product management, quality, operations and support etc.

In the recent times, Artificial Intelligence is one such powerful technology that has been giving a huge facelift to several disciplines including quality. Let’s take a closer look on its influence specific to quality and software testing.

A few years back we had done a webinar for EuroStar on Augmented Reality, covering both how to test for AR applications and also leverage AR to get smarter with the overall testing process.

This was very well received and the same message continues with every new technology that comes in – explore how to test applications developed with them while also looking at how to leverage them to make internal processes more effective.

Artificial Intelligence at the core is nothing but very smart automation. The tester creates the algorithms to power up systems to work with defined intelligence, rather than the intelligence in real time coming in from a physical tester.

Isn’t this what automation achieves too?

However, automation now done leveraging artificial intelligence is much more powerful and effective, with ability to touch newer horizons, thanks to the several other developments that have happened alongside.

For example, with minimal intervention from testers, systems are able to learn and unlearn practices, read through large volumes of data, recognize images, process speech etc. all of which help not just developers but testers too.

Must Read: An Important Phase in Mobile Application Testing

To give specific examples, accessibility testing has been one area that has had minimal automated intervention thus far, given the need for cognitive skills and real user experiences. Thanks to AI-based testing approach, an automated app testing strategy is slowly becoming possible.

For example, leveraging natural language processing, and image recognition solutions such as Google Vision API, Image AI, alt text for images, are more accurate than in the past, not only making them reliable but also much faster.

This now gives no reason for both developers and testers to miss alt text in their efforts to digital accessibility and inclusiveness.

At QA InfoTech we have also developed a solution towards checking for keyboard accessibility of all interactive elements using machine language algorithms.

If AI can help to such an extent in an area that has traditionally remained manual, one can only imagine the scale and potential it holds in other areas which may be more black and white.

Also, AI can help not just with test execution, but even with putting together test strategies and plans, learning from past efforts, automating result logging, generating reports and dashboards, bringing in predictive analytics to the testing efforts, assimilating data from disparate sources, especially given how connected solutions have become in the mobile world.

It is able to easily bring together mobile app testing, associated mobile testing services with other non-mobile solutions, making test efforts more optimal, fast and reliable. In all, it is able to bring in both efficiencies and cost savings further enabling testers focus on the more strategic pieces and move left in the larger scheme of software engineering.

If this is the potential today, this will only continue to scale in the coming years, as newer enablers make the core AI phenomenon even more powerful.

Connect with experts at QA Infotech to find out how we can help you to take your organisation to the next level.

09 Aug, 2019

Why Integrate QE Into The DevOps Cycle?

The last decade has witnessed a lot of evolutions in the software engineering world. First Agile, then continuous delivery / DevOps, with focus on CI and CD, to bring in ongoing integration and deployment.

01 Aug, 2019

Why Security Testing Holds a Specific Seat in the Healthcare Industry

In the testing industry, while all domains are equal and important, there is always a certain bias for specific domains such as BFSI, health care, which take more weightage than the others. And this is a no brainer.

26 Jul, 2019

Why Should You Focus On Mobile Performance Testing

Mobile computing needs no introduction today. The increased rate of digitization, its reach amongst the masses, the penetration of newer technologies, have all become possible, thanks to the paradigm changes mobile app development has been bringing in, in the industry.

19 Jul, 2019

What It Takes To Testing Travel Applications

Digitization in the travel industry is a huge market – per Adobe Digital Insights, 41% of business travel and 60% of leisure travel are addressed via online services. This number will only grow in the coming years with the huge digital potential this domain holds. Read more »

18 Jul, 2019

Understanding CX and UX in Today’s World

Customer Experience is key to ongoing brand loyalty as well as entering new market segments and winning new clientele. This has long existed even before the advent of digitization. Read more »

25 Jun, 2019

Mobile Accessibility – More Important Than Ever Before

Globally, standards such as WCAG and Sec 508, govern what principles to account for, in accessibility. This includes accessibility engineering in the digital world as well as accessibility in physical premises. These standards are maintained by the Web Accessibility Initiative as part of the World Wide Web consortium and undergo periodic updates to ensure the latest that the industry requires has been accommodated, also keeping in the mind the needs of end users. WCAG specifically focusses on web accessibility. Read more »

25 Jun, 2019

A Interrupt Testing – A Important Element In Mobile App Testing

Mobile computing is omnipresent today. All organizations have a mobile face. In fact many, often times, have just a mobile face. Even leaders, such as Flipkart were contemplating on just a mobile rendering a few years ago, although the web element is still available. Read more »

25 Jun, 2019

Healthcare – Handling Quality In The Banking Sector

When it comes to digital solutions of relevance in day to day activities, banking is a mammoth player amongst other domains. Banking transactions across institutions, based on consolidated reports by the Reserve Bank of India are mind boggling in number and these only continue to grow. As these grow, the digitization bug has obviously caught on in the banking sector too – studies show that as of 2018, all banks in India have a mobile presence enabling users carry on core operations including checking balances, transferring funds, paying utility bills amongst others. HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Axis, Bank of Baroda are some that top the list in terms of user downloads and rating. Read more »

Page 1 of 7 12 3…7 Next >

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Accessibility Testing

Usability Testing

Security Testing

Quality Engineering

Digital Assurance

e-Learning

Publishing

BFSI

Health Care

Media

Travel

Retail

Government

OpenERP

QA Info Tech - A Brand Built on Results

The Bugs Stop at Our Bay

talk to our experts

Name

Phone

Email

Enquiry Type

Message

I would like to receive information about QA InfoTech news and events.

by submitting this form, you agree to our privacy policy

talk to our experts