Home » Blog » What is UI/UX Testing?

In today’s digital landscape, where user experience reigns supreme, the significance of User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) cannot be overstated. They are pivotal in determining the success of any digital product. UI/UX testing plays a critical role in ensuring that these elements align harmoniously to deliver a seamless and gratifying experience to users.

What is UI/UX Testing?

UI/UX testing is a meticulous process that evaluates the functionality, usability, accessibility, and overall experience of a digital product, such as websites, mobile applications, or software interfaces. It delves into both the visual interface (UI) and the experiential journey (UX) to identify potential issues and refine the product for optimal user satisfaction.

The Importance of UI/UX Testing –

Enhanced User Satisfaction –  A well-designed UI/UX ensures users can navigate effortlessly, find information intuitively, and accomplish tasks efficiently. Testing helps identify pain points and rectify them, thus improving overall satisfaction.

Brand Reputation – A positive user experience contributes significantly to a brand’s reputation. Conversely, a poor experience can lead to negative perceptions and impact user retention.

Reduced Development Costs –  Addressing UI/UX issues in the early stages of development through testing prevents costly rework and redesigns later on.

Key Aspects of UI/UX Testing – 

Usability Testing – Usability testing evaluates the ease with which users can interact with the product. Testers observe real users as they navigate through the interface, identifying hurdles or confusing elements that hinder the user journey.

Visual Design Testing – This aspect focuses on the visual appeal and consistency of the interface. It assesses elements such as color schemes, typography, icons, and overall aesthetics to ensure they align with the brand identity and enhance user engagement.

Accessibility Testing – Accessibility testing ensures that the product is usable by individuals with disabilities. It assesses compliance with accessibility standards, such as screen reader compatibility and keyboard navigation, fostering inclusivity.

Performance Testing – Performance testing evaluates the speed, responsiveness, and stability of the interface. It identifies potential lags or delays that could affect user experience, allowing for optimization.

A/B Testing – A/B testing involves presenting two versions (A and B) of a design or feature to users to determine which performs better. It helps in making data-driven decisions to enhance the UI/UX based on user preferences.

IGS’s Solutions in UI/UX Testing

Targeted Simulation – We meticulously select our crowdsource testing audience, ensuring unparalleled precision in results.

Compatibility Testing – With IGS’s Digital Assurance Lab comprising over 200+ Android, 50+ iOS mobile devices and over 50+ TVs and connected Devices (physical) and best in the world Cloud Device Farms, say good bye to all those device & platform compatibility woes

Diverse Demographic Focus –  Our in-depth usability research involves testing across various demographics—age, gender, education, income, and more—to determine specific user requirements.

Comprehensive Device and OS Coverage –  IGS’s UX testing methodology integrates real-world scenarios, employing a wide range of devices and operating systems for utmost accuracy.

Guaranteed Accessibility Adherence –  We prioritize extensive accessibility testing, ensuring your product complies seamlessly with all accessibility standards

Conclusion:

UI/UX testing isn’t your run-of-the-mill testing. Oh no, it’s the secret sauce to a digital masterpiece. It’s about creating experiences that users rave about, share with pals, and keep coming back for more.

In the competitive landscape of today, prioritizing UI/UX testing isn’t just an option; it’s a necessity for building digital products that stand out and leave a lasting impact on users.

Home » Blog » Functional Testing vs Non Functional Testing: Key Differences

When it comes to crafting flawless software, navigating through the realms of testing methodologies becomes pivotal. Within this landscape, two fundamental approaches stand out: Functional Testing and Non-Functional Testing. These methodologies, much like the intricate dance of perplexity and burstiness in language, possess their distinct nuances and purposes.

Functional Testing: Unveiling the Core Functionality

Functional Testing is like a detailed check to ensure that every part of the software does what it’s supposed to. It’s about making sure that every button click and action matches what was planned.

Objective: Functional Testing revolves around meticulously confirming whether the software performs in perfect symphony with the stipulated functional specifications. Each click, each action—scrutinized against predetermined outcomes.

Testing Panorama: This paradigm boasts an array of testing techniques – Unit Testing, Integration Testing, System Testing, Acceptance Testing, and Regression Testing – each a maestro in its own right, ensuring a specific facet of the software’s functionality.

In Practice: Imagine an e-commerce platform; Functional Testing meticulously inspects the “Add to Cart” functionality, ensuring selected items seamlessly merge, scrutinizing the checkout process, and validating the precision of each transaction through the payment gateway.

At IGS, We excel in Functional Testing, aiming not just to validate features but to deliver superior user experiences while conforming to standards in mere minutes. Our approach grants a competitive advantage, allowing us to detect and prevent defects early in the product life cycle. By isolating potential problems, we drastically reduce resolution time and test expenditure.

We delve into validating products, requirements, and available features, meticulously conducting analysis based on requirements, developing comprehensive test plans and strategies, establishing end-to-end QA services, and scrutinizing back-end and API functionalities

Non-Functional Testing: Beyond the Facade of Functionality

Non-functional testing is more about the overall experience and performance, not just individual functions. It’s like testing how fast a car goes or how comfortable the seats are, rather than just checking if the engine starts.

Testing Tapestry: Within Non-Functional Testing lie Performance Testing, Load Testing, Stress Testing, Usability Testing, Security Testing – each weaving a thread in the fabric of holistic evaluation, catering to distinct non-functional facets.

In Action: Picture a web application; Non-Functional Testing scrutinizes its ability to weather surges in user influx (Load Testing), its responsiveness to user requests (Performance Testing), and its resilience against potential cyber threats (Security Testing).

At IGS, Our non-functional testing services focus on enhancing customer experiences by measuring KPIs, identifying bottlenecks, and locating failure points, regardless of the complexity of your products. We elevate user experiences by testing factors such as user experience, navigation, responsiveness, transactional speed and isolate potential security threats influencing customer retention.

Functional Testing & Non Functional Testing –

Nature’s Divergence: Functional Testing delves into what the software accomplishes, ensuring alignment with prescribed requirements. Non-Functional Testing explores how well the software performs across varied terrains.

Scope’s Varying Gaze: While Functional Testing hones in on specific functionalities, Non-Functional Testing casts a wider net, encompassing performance, usability, reliability, and security.

Measuring the Unmeasurable: Functional Testing often deals in binary outcomes—success or failure—based on anticipated behaviour. Non-Functional Testing, conversely, involves measurements against benchmarks, thresholds, and user-centric experiences.

In essence, Functional Testing certifies the software’s adherence to outlined mandates, while Non-Functional Testing elevates the user experience by ensuring optimal performance across diverse scenarios.

Combining these methodologies forms the bedrock of robust software development. A union that not only meets functional prerequisites but also surpasses user expectations by delivering optimal performance, usability and reliability.

Home » Blog » Why Test Automation is Important?

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, ensuring the efficiency and reliability of software products is crucial. Amidst this dynamism, test automation has emerged as a cornerstone in the modern software development lifecycle. Let’s explore why test automation has become essential.

Streamlining Efficiency and Speed

Test automation fundamentally alters the pace and efficiency of software testing. It expedites testing by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, freeing up testers and developers to focus on more complex aspects of software development.

Guaranteeing Consistency and Precision

Manual testing often introduces human errors. In contrast, test automation executes tests with consistency and precision, ensuring standardized procedures are followed meticulously every time. This consistency minimizes the likelihood of human-induced errors, resulting in more reliable test results.

Cost-effectiveness and Resource Optimization

While initial setup for test automation may require investment, it proves highly cost-effective in the long run. Automated tests can be repeated without additional costs, unlike manual testing which demands continuous resources and manpower. This reduced need for human intervention saves time and money, enabling organizations to allocate resources strategically.

Comprehensive Test Coverage

Test automation facilitates comprehensive testing across various devices, platforms, and browsers. It ensures applications perform reliably across diverse environments, enabling testing scenarios that may be impractical or impossible to conduct manually. Parallel execution on multiple devices (Grid Execution) aids in enhanced test coverage and quicker TAT

Agile Integration and Continuous Improvement

Test automation seamlessly integrates with agile development methodologies and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. It can be integrated into the development process, allowing faster iterations and deployments. This agility ensures early identification and rectification of bugs, fostering continuous improvement.

Simplifying Regression Testing

Regression testing ensures modifications haven’t affected existing functionalities adversely. Test automation expedites regression testing, swiftly identifying any regressions and ensuring software maintains its integrity throughout its lifecycle.

Encouraging Innovation and Scalability

Test automation liberates development teams from repetitive testing tasks, allowing them to focus on innovation. It fosters creativity and exploration of new ideas without compromising software quality. Additionally, it facilitates scalability, enabling software to adapt to evolving user needs and market trends.

Why Test Automation Is Essential for Business Success?

In today’s dynamic technological landscape, the race to deliver flawless software products swiftly while maintaining reliability and innovation is more critical than ever. Achieving this delicate balance requires a strategic approach—one that maximizes efficiency, minimizes errors, and ensures consistent high-quality output. Enter test automation, exemplified by innovative solutions like IGS’s comprehensive framework, which stands as an indispensable pillar of success.

Streamlining Processes: The Backbone of Efficiency

At the core of IGS’s end-to-end smart test automation lies a meticulous foundation built upon risk and user journey-based feasibility analytics. IGS establishes a robust testing infrastructure tailored to address crucial business needs by leveraging revenue and traffic-generating tools within an extensive test environment setup. Integration of an open-source custom framework, fortified with proven self-healing methods, paves the way for automation from inception, substantially reducing the cost of ownership and resource allocation.

Elevating Quality: The Intersection of Reliability and Speed 

In the realm of successful software development, the nexus between quality and speed is pivotal. IGS’s ready-to-use test automation frameworks and AI-enabled solutions epitomize this balance. Prioritizing consistency and performance, these frameworks mitigate human errors within applications, facilitating accelerated release cycles. Businesses can thus match competitors and market leaders without compromising quality or impeding innovation.

Scalability and Resilience: Navigating a Dynamic Landscape 

Beyond mere implementation, IGS’s approach to test automation embodies a holistic strategy of Plan, Pilot, and Scale. This methodology infuses resilience and flexibility across business workflows, preparing organizations to navigate the ever-changing technological landscape with confidence. Automatic bug information capture expedites the reporting process, enhancing workforce productivity and utilization.

Moreover, applications aligned with user preferences pave the way for improved user journeys, directly impacting conversion rates and overall business outcomes. IGS’s commitment to optimizing operations through test automation extends beyond technical improvements—it’s a catalyst for enhanced user experiences and sustained business growth.

Quantifiable Impact: Measuring the Advantages

The tangible benefits of implementing IGS’s UTAF are not just theoretical—they’re measurable –

• Accelerate product releases by 1.5x in the market, gaining a competitive edge.
• Drastically reduce regression Turnaround Time (TAT) by an impressive 80%, enabling rapid iterations and enhancements.
• Test across 16 diverse platforms and a wide range of devices, ensuring comprehensive coverage.
• Trim structural costs associated with maintaining quality, directly impacting the bottom line and enabling resource allocation for innovation.
• Seamlessly integrate UTAF into Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for enhanced efficiency and agility.

Embracing the Future – Test Automation as the Gateway to Innovation

Test automation isn’t merely a means to streamline processes—it’s a catalyst for innovation, speed, and precision. IGS’s suite of tools and methodologies enables businesses to transcend the limitations of manual testing and unlock their true potential.

By embracing test automation with IGS, businesses can confidently navigate the future, staying ahead in an ever-evolving landscape where technological prowess defines success.

Home » Blog » Digital Transformation in Airline Industry with Quality Engineering

Technology advancement is paving the way for rapid development in various industries, including airlines. The pandemic has spurred businesses to opt for advanced solutions and prioritize digital transformation activities to improve the customer experience, streamline processes and save costs. As a result, the industry is well positioned for transition in the early post-pandemic period.

The Aviation Market size is expected to grow from USD 333.96 billion in 2023 to USD 386.21 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 2.95% during the forecast period ~ mordorintelligence

In recent years, aviation industry has witnessed a significant digital transformation. This revolution has been propelled by several factors, including technical advancement, expansion of consumer preferences and the necessity for airlines to stay up-to-date with digital technology. It has caused airline manufacturers to generate massive amounts of data from various sources, including flight operations, maintenance, passenger services and others. Managing such data in a physical infrastructure was giving a hard time and there came the need for cloud storage. Cloud migration has given airlines the freedom to store and manage this data more effectively, reducing the need for on-premises data centres.

Migrating to the cloud can offer numerous benefits for airlines, including improved scalability, cost efficiency and agility. However, there are several challenges that airlines may face during the migration process:

Challenges in Business:

Data Security and Compliance – 

Airlines handle a huge database of sensitive customer data, including passenger information and flight data. Ensuring data security and compliance with government regulations is paramount. Cloud migration requires a robust security strategy, including data encryption, identity, access and compliance management.

Downtime and Service Interruption – 

Transitioning from on-premises infrastructure to cloud can result in downtime, which can disrupt airline operations and customer services. Careful execution of data migration process is necessary to minimize downtime and ensure a smooth transition.

Network Performance –

Airlines rely heavily on real-time data transmission for flight operations, reservations and passenger services. Ensuring low-latency, high-performance network connectivity to the cloud is crucial. Any problem with the network’s performance can result in an obstacle to data migration.

Successful cloud migration for airlines involves careful planning, risk assessment, and quality management. This is why quality engineering partners are the proven ones to deliver the best quality assurance to airlines businesses.

How does IGS pilot through the turbulences

Security Testing – 

Airlines businesses deal with sensitive passenger data and financial transactions on a daily basis. That is why security is one of the major concerns in cloud migration and quality engineering takes it as its number one priority to identify security ambiguities and ensure end-to-end security of the data migration process. Cloud security testing is one of the most favorable approaches for businesses to perform a secure cloud data migration and ensures proper access controls, encryption and compliance standards are in place to protect customer data.

Risk Mitigation – 

Quality engineering practices like rigorous testing, verification and validation help identify and mitigate potential risks associated with cloud migration. This also includes assessing the impact of data loss, or security vulnerabilities during the migration process. It not only helps airline businesses run efficiently 24*7 but also enables proactive risk management.

Performance Testing – 

The complex transition of massive data can cause downtime for airline operations like reservations, ticketing and passenger services. QE ensures rigorous performance testing is performed to ensure applications and services are operational 24 hours a day and smooth data migration happens hand in hand.

To summarise, quality engineering is pivotal in addressing the complex airline cloud migration challenges. It assures that the transition is smooth, secure and reliable, allowing airlines to reap the full benefits of cloud computing while offering a seamless and secure travel experience to their customers.

Home » Blog » Your games dropping ranks on IGN.com or pcmag.com leaderboards? Players ranting about frame drops, laggy servers or losing elite & expensive gears?

Author – Abhilash S (Test Practice Leader)

As the gaming domain is heading towards a tech explosion with games becoming smarter, immersive and experiential, Quality assurance for Games has reached new levels and demands more every day. While testing the games for their core functionality and mechanics has always been an integral part of Games QA (Quality Assurance) and advancement in technology to improve them have seen a steady progress, the sheer magnitude of experiencing and being part of the game, itself has become particularly important. Providing this true sense of Quality of Experience (QoE) and testing to ensure the same is delivered to the players is a critical success factor. In this blog, we shall discuss few crucial factors affecting multiplayer experience in games.

According to Entertainment Software Association research done in 2022, “85% of players play video games with other players online” (up from 77% in 2021 and 65% in 2020). With the advent of online gaming, it is becoming increasingly crucial that multiplayer games can manage many players concurrently, providing an enhanced user experience be it in terms of the rendering of the game world, connectivity, matchmaking and special events. While the above are taken care of by the developers/publishers, the QA team has to test these offerings across a spectrum of environments, deduce relevant use cases related to various infrastructure set ups, server capacity to handle high user traffic and concurrent use, along with ensuring the immersive experience that creates a never before and unforgettable gaming experience which will make them want to play more and encourage more to play.

What’s at stake?

User experience –  Multiplayer gaming requires seamless interactions between players. Performance issues, such as lag and delays, can severely disrupt gaming experience and frustrate players. Some of the KPIs (Key Performance Indicator) to test Multiplayer gaming experience include: Latency, Packet Loss, Jitter, Frame rate, Connection Stability, Matchmaking, replay ability, Player Satisfaction (captured by Surveys, Feedback, Reviews on Forums etc)

Monetization – Many multiplayer games use in-app purchases and microtransactions. Performance issues leading to disconnects during in-app transactions or failure in delivery of purchase (physical/digital) post successful transaction could result in revenue loss in the former case and bad UX in the latter, both negatively affecting monetization opportunities in the future and bad reviews on forums/stores

Security – Multiplayer games are especially vulnerable to cyber threats. Professional, Passionate & Habitual players often tend to spend quite a dollar to buy exclusive and high valued in-game assets. Security is an important KPI (Key Performance Indicator) in multiplayer games because it can affect the player experience in several ways. For example, security vulnerabilities can allow hackers to steal player accounts, cheat in matches, or disrupt the game experience for other players. Including security testing of Games can identify and address vulnerabilities in the game’s multiplayer environment, ensuring fair play and data security.

How is IGS QA testing ensuring a smooth multiplayer experience?

Online games with outstanding multiplayer performance can gain a competitive advantage. Players are more likely to choose games that provide a smooth, lag-free experience.

To ensure users have a smooth & satisfying multiplayer gaming experience, with over 200+ years of collective experience in testing games and passionately playing to this day, IGS’s Leadership team and its career QAs (Quality Assurance) are delivering cutting-edge quality engineering services that include:

Compatibility testing – Multiplayer gaming often brings together players from several platforms and devices. Our compatibility testing ensures that cross-platform play runs smoothly and players can connect regardless of their chosen platform. Our Digital Assurance Lab includes a plethora of physical devices, along with the incorporation of Cloud Device solution platforms, coupled with our Crowd Testing partners, IGS has covered all possible challenges related to Device and Geographic compatibilities.

Testing on Cloud Gaming Platforms

How long did you have to wait to buy your PlayStation 5? With the ongoing microchip crisis, we have witnessed a crunch in availability of the latest gaming consoles & accessories.

Say good bye to your console woes, expensive PC set ups or heating phones to play your favourite games with One Play, a revolutionary decentralized and open-source cloud gaming platform. Cloud platforms like GeForce, One Play allows you to test your games anywhere, anytime, without having to spend a dime on the hardware.

Automation –  Be there first to fix any issues/glitches that may occur during an online multiplayer game with our Selenium based & Python based Automated alert solutions for your games on Web and Mobiles respectively, with minimal or zero down time, keeping the players continuously hooked on to the game. Frameworks like Arium for XR from Thoughtworks and opensource Airtest, a Python-based, cross-platform UI automation testing framework based on the principle of image recognition is suitable for all Android, iOS, and Windows applications, that enables automation of non-orchestrated applications with ease, allowing even non-programming testers to automatically record scripts through normal user operations such as touch and drag. Poco orchestration to game builds enable much more object recognition-based test automation that is less flaky and more robust to achieve dependable and effective test results. Airtest, coupled with Tesseract libraries helps perform data validations.

Performance testing – Multiplayer games need to handle varying levels of player traffic. Our performance testing determines how well the gaming application, and its servers can scale to handle varying player loads while also ensuring the game itself can handle high concurrency.

Security testing – Multiplayer performance in online gaming applications requires players to create multiple user accounts and share personal details, which makes online gaming apps prone to cyber-attacks. Our professional security testing helps business prevent phishing attacks achieved by validating moderation platforms to proactively alert critical and sensitive information sharing, while safeguarding users sensitive data, prevent data breaches and other privacy-related issues. UX testing can help developers to identify and address any potential security vulnerabilities in their games. For example, UX testers can test the game’s matchmaking system to see if it is possible for players to exploit it to gain an unfair advantage. By identifying and addressing these vulnerabilities early on, developers can help to protect their players from harm.

To summarize, we at IGS understand what goes in to making a visually wonderful, experientially amazing and a 5 Star deserving game, so your players always hit the bullseye, buy and build amazing characters, get your game to go through the roofs of the leaderboards and inspire more players to join the gaming clan.

Home » Blog » Open Banking API Testing: Its Role to Ensuring Security

Author – Mahesh C (TestOps Leader)

Understanding Open Banking

Open banking is the process of making banking information and services available to third parties via APIs, enabling them to access financial data and carry out transactions on behalf of users.

Open banking enables Fintech’s APIs to map their services to users data. With users agreement, open banking shifted from a closed data model to an open one, which allows user data sharing across third parties like software companies and other businesses.

These third parties have access to users financial data like transactions, account balances and credit transfer commencement, which is used in creating better and improved services for customers like bank account aggregation tools, budget management tools and digital lending.

Open Banking provides flexibility to customers and creates a more complex competitive environment 

Open Banking vs Traditional Banking

Role of Open APIs in fintech industry and how they are transforming Banking Experience? 

Open Banking has been an integral part of European regulation for electronic payment services and is based on utilization of API access to users financial data and other resources.

Thanks to Open banking, fintech can elevate the banking experience and is now delivering a variety of effective services, including less dependency and quicker cross-border settlements.

The usage of open APIs is increasing rapidly and fintech must ensure comprehensive, secure and real-time data sharing through open APIs.

Importance of API testing in Open Banking

Secure and seamless sharing of financial data and services between various financial institutions and third parties is made possible by API testing, which is essential in the context of open banking.

The role of API testing in open banking is as follows:

Security Validation – To truly elevate the Quality of Experience (QoE) for OTT users, context-aware experiences play a pivotal role in meeting their preferences and expectations across various devices.

Functional Compliance –  When adopting open banking APIs, financial organizations must follow certain rules and regulations, such as PSD2 (Payment Services Directive 2) in Europe. API testing ensures that APIs work as intended and adhere to these criteria.

Data Accuracy – Open banking, accurate and trustworthy data exchange is essential. API testing guarantees accuracy, consistency and security of data delivered via APIs.

Performance Testing – While dealing with millions of requests, open banking APIs must maintain a high response rate and reliability. The functioning of API is evaluated through performance testing to make sure it can manage anticipated traffic without performance deterioration.

Error Handling – To help end users identify the problem and developers resolve issues, open banking APIs must give clear and concise error messages. Error-handling mechanisms are tested during API testing to make sure they are efficient and clear.

Integration Testing –  Open banking involves a number of partners, including banks, vendors and different software programs. APIs seamless interaction with one another and underlying systems is verified through integration testing.

User Experience – API testing has a direct impact on application’s user experience. It ensures application reliability, security, performance, reduced downtime and scalability, which are essential to having an outstanding user experience.

Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) Metrics – 

Response Time and Latency –  Average response time and latency of microservices’ endpoints.

Importance: Low response time and latency are crucial for providing a smooth and responsive user experience.

Error Rates –  Error rates or the percentage of failed requests.

Importance –  Monitoring error rates helps identify issues in the microservices’ functionality or communication.

Throughput: Number of requests processed per unit of time.

Importance –  High throughput is essential for handling a large number of requests efficiently.

Availability and Uptime –  System uptime and availability.

Importance: Microservices need to be highly available to ensure continuous service for users.

Resource Utilization –  CPU, memory and other resource utilization metrics for individual microservices.

Importance – Monitoring resource usage helps optimize microservices performance and scalability.

Scalability Metrics –  Metrics related to scaling events (e.g., auto-scaling triggers, instances added/removed).

Importance – Scaling effectively based on demand is crucial for maintaining performance.

Dependency Monitoring –  Monitoring the health and performance of dependencies (e.g., databases, third-party APIs) that microservices rely on.

Importance –  Poorly performing dependencies can impact the overall system’s performance.

End-to-End Transaction Monitoring –  Monitoring the complete flow of transactions across multiple microservices.

Importance –  Tracking transactions journeys helps identify bottlenecks and optimize overall performance.

Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR) – The average time it takes to recover from failures or incidents.

Importance –  A low MTTR indicates efficient incident response and recovery processes.

API Usage and Traffic – Monitoring API usage and traffic patterns for individual microservices.

Importance –  Understanding how APIs are used helps optimize their design and performance.

In conclusion, inclusive API testing ensures seamless sharing of users’ sensitive financial data between various financial institutions and third parties. It embeds essential authentication, authorization processes and compliance standards into the open banking system and makes sure accurate data exchange and highest API performance, providing a smooth and responsive user experience.