Technology is rapidly changing the way we live our lives. It has a knock-on effect on many things, but what does it mean for you and software testing? Here we take a look ahead to see what the world of QA can expect in 2018.
Check out our 2019 predictions - newly published!
Today’s internet user
The number of internet users continues to rise. According to Statista, there are now 3.58 billion internet users. That’s over half of the entire world population! They have access to one billion websites, 2.8 million Android apps and 2.2 million apps in Apple’s App Store (and these numbers will probably be out of date by the time you read this!).
That’s a huge amount of choice! This wealth of options has created a user who is very impatient and demanding. If a website is slow loading, how long do you wait? According to a report from Google, 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned after just three seconds.
How many times have you downloaded an app but deleted it soon after? On average, only 16% of us will try an app more than twice. The top reasons for deletion are apps freezing, crashing, launching slowly, not launching at all or just not living up to the users’ expectations (Digital Trends).
Statistics vary greatly by country and platform but the message is crystal clear. It puts an incredible amount of pressure on delivering high-quality websites and mobile applications at a very fast pace. This, in turn, reinforces the role of testing.
But the landscape is also shifting in the testing world. On this note, these are four trends that will affect testing in 2018.
1. Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things is nothing new but the number of IoT devices and people using them will continue to rise in 2018. Devices such as smart refrigerators and smart home security will become more common in 2018.
Like anything internet-connected, IoT devices are vulnerable to security risks. They must be thoroughly tested to avoid bugs that will impact quality.
2. Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Thanks to an increase in data and computing power, computers are now learning in much the same way as we do. Automation and AI will continue to gather pace in 2018 with more repetitive and mundane tasks carried out by computers.
The human touch is still needed in QA testing but 2018 will see an increase in processes being automated.
3. Internet usage
The way we access and interact with the internet will continue to change in 2018. More websites are viewed on smartphones and tablets than on desktop computers. We will talk to our devices more using voice searches such as Siri and Google. Also, more products will integrate with the likes of Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant.
With mobile device usage on the increase, QA testing for mobile will become much more complex.
4. QAOps
QAOps is a philosophy that helps companies become quality-first organisations by leveraging their QA. It blends different testing approaches, optimises QA performance and uses QA to aid international growth.
In 2018, more companies will look to QAOps to create a better user experience while shipping better software on a continuous basis.
How crowdsourced testing can help with these trends
Global App Testing is a crowdsourced testing company. Our aim is to help you reduce the time from development to release. We understand that releasing high-quality software quickly is complicated. But you shouldn't have to sacrifice quality for speed – or vice versa.
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- Get high-quality and relevant bugs for your developers to fix
Receive in-house moderated bugs which are in scope and easy to reproduce with clear steps. You give us the platform (mobile, web and IoT), we’ll give you the bugs.
- Save time with results in 48 hours or less
Get your development team fixing bugs by importing issues directly into any bug tracker at the end of the test cycle.
- Ramp up your QA team quickly
We have a crowd of over 20,000 testers. Find out more about our testers on our Community page.
- Instantly cover hundreds of devices/OS combinations
Don’t buy devices! Instead, make the most of our in-house knowledge of the top device/browser/OS combinations to ensure you cover all the bases for your industry and needs.
- Improve your QA process from best practice
Our team will help develop and improve your QA process from our experience of testing over 6,800 apps.
Conclusion + 2019 Update
So, how did we fare in 2018? Read our 5 Testing Trends Shaping QA in 2019 to see how our predictions shaped up and what we think will generate the must impact in the coming year;
- QA’s Continued Emphasis on the Customer Experience
- AI finds its place in Business and QA
- Instant Apps Take Centre Stage
- The Decentralization of QA
- The rise of continuous improvement
The demand for high-quality websites and mobile applications will only become fiercer in 2018. The audience is ruthless and won’t change because of the huge choice available to them.
Software development and testing need to continue to adapt. The importance of testing is growing as development cycles need to become shorter to keep up with the relentless demand for quality. We have gathered our best practices for QA testing to help you improve your QA.
To find out more about how crowdsourced testing can help, contact us today.
Last updated December 28th 2018.