It has become increasingly important for brands, companies and service providers to add a mobile application to their digital asset portfolio. The current young generation is unlike any other the market has seen in a long time. Since they are becoming the largest consumer group, it is a good idea to understand their expectations. One of their expectations is access to mobile applications. Before you roll out your company’s mobile application, it must be tested. Here are six steps for successful testing.
Before a company’s mobile application is released, the speed and endurance of the team working on the product must be measured. This is known as agile velocity. Testing, therefore, will include measuring the release velocity of the team. The testers are trying to figure out how soon the product release can occur. If there are hiccups and the team responds well to them, the product can release on time. If there are hiccups and the team does not respond well to them, there will be delays. The team building the program has to have the ability to solve issues in a timely manner. So, it is best to understand the team before anticipation is built up for the rollout.
It feels like the number of electronic devices that can operate mobile applications is endless. An application, therefore, has to operate optimally on as many as possible. It is a good idea to begin with the major operating systems and their devices. For example, Apple device users are among the most loyal customers. To capture them, an application must run well on Apple products. For Android users, the application must operate well on as many Android devices as possible, although it can get tricky. Then, the testers will work their way through other popular devices and brands. The app should also operate well on laptops, desktop computers, and tablets, among others. The trick to getting this step correct is ensuring the application detects the device it is being operated on and adjusts accordingly.
Once an application detects the device it is being run on, the application has to run optimally. Mobile application testing includes clicking on the links, sifting through the menu options and completing tasks. The goal is to find glitches so they can be fixed. An application cannot offer any feature that does not do what is expected. There are very few things worse for the user experience than surfing a website and coming across a page that has been under construction for several weeks, or months.
As the roll-out date for the mobile application nears, the team testing the application will add a script or code that automates future testing. These programs undergo several updates over their life span. As operating systems change, as electronic devices change and as the internet undergoes its own evolution, the application must be able to survive, adapt and remain fully operational. Automated testing seeks to find out how many glitches the application has at any given time. If it is not maintained, it can become outdated. At that point, the owner has to decide if they want to continue with it or scrap it and start over. Apple releases iOS updates throughout the calendar year. At its annual event, the company often releases a new iOS version that is now at 13. When Apple releases a new iOS version, software developers and designs have to update and adapt if they want to remain in that market.
The amount of traffic an application will receive depends on many factors. Popular brands must be ready to handle large amounts of traffic at any given time. Special events can lead to unexpected, high traffic, too. Professionals who test applications focus on load testing. An application can never go down. If an application goes down, it can never be because it could not handle the load. There are also safeguards that can be implemented for applications that begin with moderate traffic levels but are expected to increase over time. One of the great benefits of the software is that it can easily be scaled for growth.
When the application for a company is assembled, many tools are pulled together to make a cohesive final product. If there will be any type of file-sharing or viewing, the application will be tested to ensure PDFs and Office products can be loaded, opened and viewed without any issues. The testing professionals also ensure that these file formats can be saved, shared and edited in some cases.
Adding mobile applications to your digital asset portfolio is a wise choice, especially because the Millennial generation expects it. Before a mobile application is rolled out, ensure that it is fully tested.