Table of Contents
Dear reader,
Software testing remains imperative yet increasingly challenging as release velocity accelerates. How do progressive teams validate quality at scale?
This comprehensive guide shares insider knowledge on transforming QA through crowdsourcing – its tremendous benefits, evolution, analytical comparison of leading solutions and actionable recommendations.
The Promise of Crowdsourced Testing
Validating software functionality, usability and security is vital before exposing it to customers. But exhaustively testing internally can be time-consuming, expensive and limited:
- 83% of organizations release software quicker to keep up with market demands
- 75% find creating effective test cases their #1 challenge
- 68% can‘t test effectively across platforms/devices rely on inefficient manual testing
Crowdsourced testing provides a paradigm changing approach – orchestrating on-demand testers with specialized skills as an extension of your team:
The data speaks volumes about real world improvements:
- 50-70% reduced testing cycles translating to 20% quicker releases
- Up to 60% lower QA costs by eliminating waste
- 56% more test coverage across scenarios, devices, regions
It‘s no surprise top brands like Google, Facebook, Amazon employ crowdsourcing in innovations used by billions daily.
The approach unlocks immense flexibility matched by quality and confidence as we‘ll explore…
Key Crowd Testing Models
Crowdsourced testing leverages varying models to meet different validation needs across the dev lifecycle:
1. Functional Testing
Validates against specifications and user stories to prevent defects. Testers receive specific test cases to execute on latest builds.
2. Exploratory Testing
Discover issues not fitting prescribed scenarios. Testers freely use apps inferring workflows, reporting all bugs via tool integration.
3. Usability Testing
Assess ease of use and satisfaction. Testers complete tasks reflecting persona needs suggesting design improvements.
4. Localization Testing
Evaluate functionality, UX, compliance for global markets across language, regional nuances. Native language testers validate adaptations.
5. Device & Browser Compatibility Testing
Ensure seamless experience across platforms like desktop OS, mobile devices, browsers and their versions.
Specialized Testing
Beyond fundamentals, unique skills like accessibility, security, payments validations are available on-demand.
Savvy teams combine models to enhance coverage, continuously testing via crowd rather than huge final round bringing risk. Next let‘s analyze solutions to enable this smartly.
Choose The Right Crowd Testing Platform
Over the last decade, hosted platforms have transformed crowdsourced QA into an accessible, sophisticated capability.
Let‘s evaluate the strengths of each:
Trusted by: Microsoft, eBay, CBS
Testlio provides functional, usability and localization testing leveraging targeted communities beyond internal visibility.
Key strengths:
- 10K+ pro testers in 150+ countries
- Manual testing and test automation
- Device labs spanning desktop, mobile, streaming
- Sophisticated collaborationintegrations like Jira
When to use: Validating web, mobile apps quickly across use cases and geography. Integrates with existing systems.
Trusted by: Facebook, Spotify, Financial Times
Global App Testing offers continuous and on-demand crowd testing with specialization in releasing high quality digital experiences.
Capabilities:
- 50K+ testers available on-demand
- Exploratory, manual testing of web, mobile apps
- Automated visual bug reporting
- "Testers in the Wild" employing real users with tools
When to use: Rapidly testing apps in production matching workflows beyond staged usage.
Trusted by: Google, Amazon, Microsoft
With 400K+ testers across 190 countries, Applause can uniquely validate your digital experiences against real world behavior at massive scale.
Offerings include:
- In-the-wild testing with actual users and tools
- Manual and automated testing
- Accessibility, usability assessment
- Sophisticated collaboration platform
When to use: Mission critical software like marketplaces, gaming, finance apps used internationally.
Trusted by: Snowflake, Databricks, Chime
Cobalt provides continuous crowdsourced penetration testing matching latest real world attacker behaviors to help secure critical assets and data.
Expertise in:
- Ongoing pen testing simulations
- 600+ white hat hackers probing infrastructure, web apps
- Dashboards revealing vulnerability intelligence
- Tight workflow integration like Jira, GitHub
When to use: Validating and improving security posture across development lifecycle.
Trusted by: 1800contacts, Jimdo
test IO leverages 70K+ dedicated testers available on-demand to validate quality, compatibility and compliance across 200K+ tests annually.
Capabilities:
- Manual testing
- 400K+ real mobile devices
- Localization across 40+ languages
- Integrating with CI pipelines
- Sophisticated test management
When to use: Comprehensive functional, UI, UX validation across workflows, geographies and devices.
This cross section represents both industry pioneers and emerging players collectively driving innovation. Let‘s analyze key trends shaping the future…
The Future of Crowdsourced Testing
Crowd testing has come a long way from early days but still early in disrupting traditional QA. Emerging developments will accelerate capabilities:
Specialized Testing Expansion
As software complexity increases, niche validation skills will emerge beyond fundamentals – biometric, AR/VR, IoT protocols requiring unique expertise on-demand.
Automation Integration
Combining test automation with manual testing will help optimize cost, flexibility and coverage matching reliabiliy of tooling with human insight.
In-Wild Testing Growth
Validating apps via real usage patterns beyond staged conditions will be crucial in building resilient experiences across unpredictable scenarios.
CI/CD Embedded Testing
Testing processes will intelligently integrate from build through launch leveraging metadata for contextual automation and expert crowd intervention.
Platforms As A Service
On-demand solutions will evolve into versatile clouds matching variable testing needs – device, tester types, geography – with flexible pricing.
Key Takeaways
Here are the core lessons as you advance QA strategy:
Choose Models Aligned to Priorities
Clarify must have aspects for validation – UI, compliance, security – to pick fitting crowd testing techniques selectively. Avoid over or under testing.
Outline Requirements for Precise Testing
Provide testers specific test cases, devices, languages and instructions to maximize coverage and actionability of feedback.
Onboard and Support Testers Closely
Ensure testers interactions are streamlined through documentation, tool access, dedicated communication channels enabling smooth collaboration critical for results.
Analyze and Act on Insights Rapidly
Testing itself brings little value without promptly assessing feedback qualitatively and quantitatively to drive urgent product and process improvements pre-launch.
Integrate Tightly with Existing Infrastructure
Connecting complementary testing tools into you existing platforms with metadata steams centralizes management, accelerates data-driven decisions.
While once considered alternative strategy, crowdsourcing is now an essential, versatile capability enabling lean yet thorough validation. I hope these actionable insights help advance your approach in step with modern demands. Please reach out directly with any other questions!
John Smith
VP of Product Excellence, Testlio
[email protected]