Top 5 Software Testing Hints
We have over a decade of testing experience, and here are a few tips we have gathered to help you with testing and improving your software quality! Testing should be part of every role in your company.
1. See your product with fresh eyes.
This is extremely hard but important. The more you test or develop the product, the more blind you become to the possible bugs or issues. So try to imagine yourself as someone who sees the product for the first time - is it logical? Do you find everything that you need? Can you do what the product is supposed to do?
Why is this important? Your users always see the product with fresh eyes, and they might not know that “you just need to do this and that to get these results.” They might not give you feedback, and they just leave
2. Consistency, Consistency, Consistency.
Consistency is the key. More developers doing the same software might lead to inconsistency in UX and UI, leading to user confusion. Does the form require them to click a button in order to save, but another form just saves itself? It’s illogical and might lead to confusion on the user's side. And yes, that was a real-life example.
3. Test the specs
Specifications also need testing. Even though we think about the best solution for the product and write it down to specifications, it still might not work when we test it. So, it’s also essential to test how the specifications work in real life, or they might be missing something, so don’t be afraid to question requirements.
4. You will not find all the bugs, and it’s ok.
It’s controversial to say this as a software testing company that markets itself as a high-quality testing partner. It’s not cost-efficient to find all the bugs, nor is it wanted. Some bugs occur only in specific situations, and some might not bother users. You can use too much time to test features. You need to learn when you have covered enough.
5. Users will surprise you
Users will surprise you with how they use the software. They can do some imaginary stuff that you didn’t even consider possible. There is an old joke about a software tester going to the bar and trying to mimic what a client would do. When an actual client comes, they do the opposite of what the tester thought they would do, and the whole bar comes to the flame. It’s always good to ask users how to reproduce the bug - don’t worry; they are usually happy to help! It’s easier and saves time.
Here is the joke:
A software tester walks into a bar.
Runs into a bar.
Crawls into a bar.
Dances into a bar.
Flies into a bar.
Jumps into a bar.
And orders:
A beer.
2 beers.
0 beers.
99999999 beers.
A lizard in a beer glass.
-1 beer.
"qwertyuiop" beers.
Testing complete.
A real customer walks into the bar and asks where the bathroom is.
The bar goes up in flames.
I hope that this helps.
We will be posting five new tips soon! You can also follow our LinkedIn page, where we post these tips every other day!
With best testing regards,
Riina,
Co-founder & test lead at Quteo
Ps. We have a special offer in Quteo, get two weeks of testing free! See more at https://quteo.com/offer