In this digital world where almost every other person has a smartphone, desktop, laptop or some sort of device that has an internet connection, there has never been a better time to develop an efficient application. However, this has also resulted in creating a major problem in terms of your application or website not working in the desired manner on a particular platform. This is where the usual QA and digital testing does not work as efficiently as you would want. You need something better in terms of creating an application that works universally. This is where Cross-Platform Testing comes in to rescue the situation.
Cross-Platform Testing helps you in creating an application or website that works proficiently across all platforms, regardless of the software and hardware it uses. It improves your user interface, data storage proficiency, consistency and performance. However, contrary to popular belief, many pundits suggest that you need not concentrate on achieving this universality at all time. There is also a discussion regarding how things are changing in the industry because of the inclusion of Cross-platform testing. The following points will help you understand everything you need to know about cross-platform testing in a better way.
What are the top changing trends in Cross-Platform Testing?
Since every brand and business wants a pan-world presence, they are opting for an application or a website that works in the best possible manner. Synchronizing everything to work cohesively across all platforms is not something that is so easily attainable.
At a business level, the businessmen and the ground team are working more cohesively to rule out any unwanted changes to make it less taxing and cost-effective.
At the tool level, even the cross-platform testing is going towards automation in many ways. This has increased the possibility of delivering the project within a timeline. However, the experience of the tester still counts a lot in making the right decisions at the right time, especially when there is a need for subjective change.
At the level of regression testing, cross-platform testing has become important in a big way to ensure the changes made has been integrated in the best possible manner. They run every change in supported matrix to check the workability of the change or not. This helps in keeping your website or app working exactly the way you want.
Now that you know the changing trends, let us focus on some of the key points that will help you in cross-platform testing.
How to go about planning a cross-platform testing?
Know your audience
For any business idea, you must know your audience inside out as it will help you build the right plan for all the strategies involved in making it a successful venture. If you know the kind of dedicated users who will use your application or website, it will help you identify the kind of software and devices they must be using. It also helps you in integrating your work accordingly.
Choose a platform according to the user base
With a good idea of your user base, you will be able to decide the OS that you should focus. If your audience is from West then you can make your application or website more in line with an iOS device and you can change it for Asian countries as Android is the most used OS there. Such data points matter a lot in coming out with better plans and also helps in cost effectiveness.
Try automation as an option
Doing the monotonous work of testing same thing on different platforms repeatedly can be a bit taxing on a human mind and hence opting for automation tools for such tasks is the better option. You can get it done using the ideal tools in most cases but for the accessibility and usability test, you would need manual intervention as well.
Stick to a lesser number of tests
It is important to make sure that you are not conducting tests just for the sake of it. You need to limit the number of tests according to a plan. Investing the right amount of time at the required location is the right way to go ahead. Get it done using facts and points like a specific audience response to your application or website and work more on making a part efficient where the possibility of hitting the maximum traffic is the highest.
Common issues that come up during Cross-platform issues
Problems in user interface
The biggest reason for the development of Cross-Platform testing was due to the fact how the users were facing trouble in their experience. Since the user experience is one of the top priorities, it is important to deliver the best user interfaces. You cannot have a website or an app that is not aligned according to the device it is viewed on or due to the software used in it. Unreadable font size, unwanted wrapping of texts and misaligned uploading of pages are the most common problems.
Not being able to fulfil user expectations
Just an extension of the above point, you need to identify what the user wants and deliver it if it is a feasible option. Gaining the trust of your user also belongs to this category as you need to create a website that a user can use without any inhibitions.
Issues with data storage
Different devices and software manages space differently and you need to keep this in mind while taking cross-platform testing decisions. Therefore, you need to create applications that are do not occupy too much space.
Not using the right input combinations
For any application or website, the things you need from your user to perform matters a lot. You need to identify such things in advance so that you make the necessary changes in the scripting of cross-platform testing. The user will not want too many things happening on the website, as they prefer a simple and clean look for your website.
A few tips and tricks that will help you in a big way
- You need to be very clear about the tests you want to perform. Do not go overboard on this. Therefore, the best way to go ahead is by defining boundaries beforehand as it will help your team stick to what is expected.
- Having a test matrix always helps as it can aid you in creating the test scenarios. This not only helps in testing your test cases but also helps in the communication with your end users.
- You should identify the high-risk areas in a test and focus on that part more. Create a heat map in such cases so that you can directly go to that point and not waste your time and resources.
- Tools are the most important part in cross-platform testing and hence it is important that you invest in the right kind of tools. It comes in handy especially when the tasks you are performing are repetitive and tiring.
Now that you know everything you need to know about Cross-Platform testing, you must have gotten an idea about how important it is in making your application successful and taking it global as well.
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