There’s simply a greater chance of mistakes with manual testing because of human error.
Humans make errors. Manual testing is prone to errors and produces erroneous test results. Test findings may be erroneous and error-prone based on tester experience. In manual testing, humans make assumptions and may overlook flaws.
Sometimes, testers make mistakes because the manual test cases are tedious and takes a lot of effort and many times they are repetitive (and better suited for automation). In another scenario, testers may not understand the details and dependencies of the software/app being tested. Or perhaps the test depends on installing third party software and the tester may not be aware of it.
Manual Tests are slower and time-consuming. Humans carry out manual testing and when compared to computers, humans are sluggish. Manual testing requires a significant amount of time to conduct the test cases but also high costs. Manual testing involves the use of human resources to carry out the tests. These are repetitive charges for each regression cycle of application build testing.
Whatever the reason for manual testing errors, they invariably lead to undetected bugs making it to the public. Apps that are consistently slow to market and freeze or crash frequently can do serious damage to a company’s reputation and ultimately its financial bottom line. Think about all those resentful users complaining on app stores and on Twitter about your buggy app. On top of that, senior management will start to question the competency of the IT department.
The obvious antidote to mistake-riddled manual tests is to automate. One hundred percent test automation is neither expected nor needed, but to keep up with mobile market changes, at least 50% of your tests be automated (we recommend striving for 75%).
Back in September 2021 we had the chance to assist to the presentation of Forrester's Technographics Developers Survey 2021 which was obtained from a sample survey of 1877 Testing related professionals with the idea of obtaining a clearer picture of the current state of the Testing in 2021. Well, when talking on the levels of achieved automation, as the survey mentions “Humans are slow for changes” that’s one of the reasons why only 51% of the professionals
surveyed were introducing automated Unit Testing instead of manual testing.
Only 24% perform Continuous Tests, while 19% perform Integration Tests.
There is still low levels of API tests performed (only 19%) and test environment (only 22%).
There are many advantages to test automation but for this blog post let’s focus on three tests that should migrate from the vulnerable manual method to automation for faster, more efficient results:
- Tests that depend on complex setup and pre-conditions – An example is a test that relies on the installation of 3rd party software such as when a mobile device needs to use network virtualization. Additional software must be installed and configured prior to the test and a tester may either install the wrong version or get some of the setup wrong. Having this done automatically will eliminate both complexity, time and assure tests are executed properly.
- Tests that include multiple inputs of data such as tests for login options or for filling in fields to open an account. When done manually, information can be mis-typed and obviously it will take a lot of time to re-enter that data per test.
- Running the same test case against many environments – When running tests against Mac OS with Safari, Windows 8 with Chrome, Windows 10 with Edge, etc., each environment has a different workflow and look and feel. Manual testing errors are common when transitioning between these diverse environments.
With regards to test automation, TestQuality has all the test management capabilities you need for creating, maintaining, organizing, and running tests, but TestQuality is different from other test management tools built for GitHub and Jira workflows and designed to be integrated with virtually all test automation and unit testing tools. Put simply, TestQuality is the first test management system designed to integrate into your DevOps workflow and tools.
TestQuality also includes test management features to create and organize test cases in a global test repository - with preconditions, steps, attachments, and more. All this, in a collaborative testing environment seamlessly integrated with your DevOps workflow with powerful live analytics to help you to identify the quality of your testing effort, test coverage, high value tests, unreliable tests, and release readiness.
Join now and Try TestQuality for Free!