What Is Software Quality Assurance (SQA): A Guide For Beginners

Last Updated:June 28, 2021

What is Software Quality Assurance?
Software quality assurance (SQA) is a process which assures that all software engineering processes,
methods, activities and work items are monitored and comply against the defined standards. These
defined standards could be one or a combination of any like ISO 9000, CMMI model, ISO15504, etc.
SQA incorporates all software development processes starting from defining requirements to coding until
release. Its prime goal is to ensure quality.

What You Will Learn: [hide]

 Software Quality Assurance Plan
 SQA Activities
 Software Quality Assurance Standards
 Elements of Software Quality Assurance
 SQA Techniques
 Conclusion
 Recommended Reading

Software Quality Assurance Plan

Abbreviated as SQAP, the software quality assurance plan comprises of the procedures, techniques, and
tools that are employed to make sure that a product or service aligns with the requirements defined in the
SRS(software requirement specification).

The plan identifies the SQA responsibilities of a team, lists the areas that need to be reviewed and
audited. It also identifies the SQA work products.

The SQA plan document consists of the below sections:

1. Purpose section
2. Reference section
3. Software configuration management section
4. Problem reporting and corrective action section
5. Tools, technologies and methodologies section
6. Code control section
7. Records: Collection, maintenance and retention section
8. Testing methodology

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SQA Activities
Given below is the list of SQA activities:
#1) Creating an SQA Management Plan:
The foremost activity includes laying down a proper plan regarding how the SQA will be carried out in
your project.

Along with what SQA approach you are going to follow, what engineering activities will be carried out,
and it also includes ensuring that you have a right talent mix in your team.

#2) Setting the Checkpoints:

The SQA team sets up different checkpoints according to which it evaluates the quality of the project
activities at each checkpoint/project stage. This ensures regular quality inspection and working as per the
schedule.

#3) Apply software Engineering Techniques:

Applying some software engineering techniques aids a software designer in achieving high-quality
specification. For gathering information, a designer may use techniques such as interviews and FAST
(Functional Analysis System Technique).

Later, based on the information gathered, the software designer can prepare the project estimation using
techniques like WBS (work breakdown structure), SLOC (source line of codes), and FP(functional point)
estimation.

#4) Executing Formal Technical Reviews:

An FTR is done to evaluate the quality and design of the prototype.

In this process, a meeting is conducted with the technical staff to discuss regarding the actual quality
requirements of the software and the design quality of the prototype. This activity helps in detecting
errors in the early phase of SDLC and reduces rework effort in the later phases.

#5) Having a Multi- Testing Strategy:

By multi-testing strategy, we mean that one should not rely on any single testing approach, instead,
multiple types of testing should be performed so that the software product can be tested well from all
angles to ensure better quality.

#6) Enforcing Process Adherence:

This activity insists the need for process adherence during the software development process. The
development process should also stick to the defined procedures.

This activity is a blend of two sub-activities which are explained below in detail:
(i) Product Evaluation:
This activity confirms that the software product is meeting the requirements that were discovered in the
project management plan. It ensures that the set standards for the project are followed correctly.

(ii) Process Monitoring:

This activity verifies if the correct steps were taken during software development. This is done by
matching the actually taken steps against the documented steps.

#7) Controlling Change:

In this activity, we use a mix of manual procedures and automated tools to have a mechanism for change
control.

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By validating the change requests, evaluating the nature of change and controlling the change effect, it is
ensured that the software quality is maintained during the development and maintenance phases.

#8) Measure Change Impact:

If any defect is reported by the QA team, then the concerned team fixes the defect.

After this, the QA team should determine the impact of the change which is brought by this defect fix.
They need to test not only if the change has fixed the defect, but also if the change is compatible with the
whole project.

For this purpose, we use software quality metrics which allows managers and developers to observe the
activities and proposed changes from the beginning till the end of SDLC and initiate corrective action
wherever required.

#9) Performing SQA Audits:

The SQA audit inspects the entire actual SDLC process followed by comparing it against the established
process.

It also checks whatever reported by the team in the status reports were actually performed or not. This
activity also exposes any non-compliance issues.

#10) Maintaining Records and Reports:

It is crucial to keep the necessary documentation related to SQA and share the required SQA information
with the stakeholders. The test results, audit results, review reports, change requests documentation, etc.
should be kept for future reference.

#11) Manage Good Relations:

In fact, it is very important to maintain harmony between the QA and the development team.

We often hear that testers and developers often feel superior to each other. This should be avoided as it
can affect the overall project quality.

Software Quality Assurance Standards

In general, SQA may demand conformance to one or more standards.

Some of the most popular standards are discussed below:

ISO 9000: This standard is based on seven quality management principles which help the organizations
to ensure that their products or services are aligned with the customer needs’.
7 principles of ISO 9000 are depicted in the below image:

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CMMI level: CMMI stands for Capability maturity model Integration. This model was originated in
software engineering. It can be employed to direct process improvement throughout a project,
department, or an entire organization.
5 CMMI levels and their characteristics are described in the below image:

An organization is appraised and awarded a maturity level rating (1-5) based on the type of appraisal.

Test Maturity Model integration (TMMi): Based on CMMi, this model focuses on maturity levels in
software quality management and testing.
5 TMMi levels are depicted in the below image:

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As an organization moves on a higher maturity level, it achieves a higher capability for producing high-
quality products with fewer defects and closely meets the business requirements.

Elements of Software Quality Assurance

There are 10 essential elements of SQA which are enlisted below for your reference:
1. Software engineering Standards
2. Technical reviews and audits
3. Software Testing for quality control
4. Error collection and analysis
5. Change management
6. Educational programs
7. Vendor management
8. Security management
9. Safety
10. Risk management
SQA Techniques
There are several techniques for SQA. Auditing is the chief technique that is widely adopted. However,
we have a few other significant techniques as well.

Various SQA Techniques include:

 Auditing: Auditing involves inspection of the work products and its related information to
determine if the set of standard processes were followed or not.
 Reviewing: A meeting in which the software product is examined by both the internal and
external stakeholders to seek their comments and approval.
 Code Inspection: It is the most formal kind of review that does static testing to find bugs and
avoid defect growth in the later stages. It is done by a trained mediator/peer and is based on rules,
checklist, entry and exit criteria. The reviewer should not be the author of the code.
 Design Inspection: Design inspection is done using a checklist that inspects the below areas of
software design:

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  General requirements and design
 Functional and Interface specifications
 Conventions
 Requirement traceability
 Structures and interfaces
 Logic
 Performance
 Error handling and recovery
 Testability, extensibility
 Coupling and cohesion
 Simulation: Simulation is a tool that models the real-life situation in order to virtually examine
the behavior of the system under study.
 Functional Testing: It is a QA technique which verifies what the system does without
considering how it does. This type of black box testing mainly focuses on testing the system
specifications or features.
 Standardization: Standardization plays a crucial role in quality assurance. It decreases the
ambiguity and guesswork, thus ensuring quality.
 Static Analysis: It is a software analysis that is done by an automated tool without actually
executing the program. This technique is highly used for quality assurance in medical, nuclear
and aviation software. Software metrics and reverse engineering are some popular forms of static
analysis.
 Walkthroughs: Software walkthrough or code walkthrough is a kind of peer review where the
developer guides the members of the development team to go through the product and raise
queries, suggest alternatives, make comments regarding possible errors, standard violations or any
other issues.
 Path Testing: It is a white box testing technique where the complete branch coverage is ensured
by executing each independent path at least once.
 Stress Testing: This type of testing is done to check how robust a system is by testing it under
heavy load i.e. beyond normal conditions.
 Six Sigma: Six Sigma is a quality assurance approach that aims at nearly perfect products or
services. It is widely applied in many fields including software. The main objective of six sigma
is process improvement so that the produced software is 99.76 % defect free.
Conclusion
SQA is an umbrella activity which is employed throughout the software lifecycle.

Software quality assurance is very important for your software product or service to succeed in the
market and survive up to the customer’s expectations.

There are various activities, standards, and techniques that you need to follow to assure that the
deliverable software is of high quality and aligns closely with the business needs.

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 Types Of Software Testing: Different Testing Types With Details
Last Updated:June 28, 2021

What are the different types of Software Testing?

We, as testers are aware of the various types of Software Testing such as Functional Testing, Non-
Functional Testing, Automation Testing, Agile Testing, and their sub-types, etc.

Each of us would have come across several types of testing in our testing journey. We might have heard
some and we might have worked on some, but not everyone has knowledge about all the testing types.

Each type of testing has its own features, advantages, and disadvantages as well. However, in this article,
I have covered mostly each and every type of software testing which we usually use in our day to day
testing life.

Let’s go and have a look at them.

What You Will Learn: [hide]

 Different Types Of Software Testing
o #1) Alpha Testing
o #2) Acceptance Testing
o #3) Ad-hoc Testing
o #4) Accessibility Testing
o #5) Beta Testing
o #6) Back-end Testing
o #7) Browser Compatibility Testing
o #8) Backward Compatibility Testing
o #9) Black Box Testing
o #10) Boundary Value Testing
o #11) Branch Testing
o #12) Comparison Testing
o #13) Compatibility Testing
o #14) Component Testing
o #15) End-to-End Testing
o #16) Equivalence Partitioning
o #17) Example Testing
o #18) Exploratory Testing
o #20) Functional Testing
o #21) Graphical User Interface (GUI) Testing
o #22) Gorilla Testing
o #23) Happy Path Testing
o #24) Incremental Integration Testing
o #25) Install/Uninstall Testing
o #26) Integration Testing
o #27) Load Testing
o #28) Monkey Testing
o #29) Mutation Testing
o #30) Negative Testing
o #31) Non-Functional Testing
o #32) Performance Testing
o #33) Recovery Testing
o #34) Regression Testing

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 o #35) Risk-Based Testing (RBT)
o #36) Sanity Testing
o #37) Security Testing
o #38) Smoke Testing
o #39) Static Testing
o #40) Stress Testing
o #41) System Testing
o #42) Unit Testing
o #43) Usability Testing
o #44) Vulnerability Testing
o #45) Volume Testing
o #46) White Box Testing
 Conclusion
 Recommended Reading
Different Types Of Software Testing
Given below is the list of some common types of Software Testing:
Functional Testing types include:
 Unit Testing
 Integration Testing
 System Testing
 Sanity Testing
 Smoke Testing
 Interface Testing
 Regression Testing
 Beta/Acceptance Testing
Non-functional Testing types include:
 Performance Testing
 Load Testing
 Stress Testing
 Volume Testing
 Security Testing
 Compatibility Testing
 Install Testing
 Recovery Testing
 Reliability Testing
 Usability Testing
 Compliance Testing
 Localization Testing
Let’s see more details about these Testing types.

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#1) Alpha Testing
It is the most common type of testing used in the Software industry. The objective of this testing is to
identify all possible issues or defects before releasing it into the market or to the user.

Alpha Testing is carried out at the end of the software development phase but before the Beta Testing.
Still, minor design changes may be made as a result of such testing.

Alpha Testing is conducted at the developer’s site. In-house virtual user environment can be created for
this type of testing.
#2) Acceptance Testing
An Acceptance Test is performed by the client and verifies whether the end to end the flow of the system
is as per the business requirements or not and if it is as per the needs of the end-user. Client accepts the
software only when all the features and functionalities work as expected.
It is the last phase of the testing, after which the software goes into production. This is also called User
Acceptance Testing (UAT).

#3) Ad-hoc Testing

The name itself suggests that this testing is performed on an Ad-hoc basis i.e. with no reference to the
test case and also without any plan or documentation in place for such type of testing.
The objective of this testing is to find the defects and break the application by executing any flow of the
application or any random functionality.

Ad-hoc Testing is an informal way of finding defects and can be performed by anyone in the project. It is
difficult to identify defects without a test case but sometimes it is possible that defects found during ad-
hoc testing might not have been identified using existing test cases.

#4) Accessibility Testing

The aim of Accessibility Testing is to determine whether the software or application is accessible for
disabled people or not.
Here, disability means deaf, color blind, mentally disabled, blind, old age and other disabled groups.
Various checks are performed such as font size for visually disabled, color and contrast for color
blindness, etc.

#5) Beta Testing

Beta Testing is a formal type of Software Testing which is carried out by the customer. It is performed
in the Real Environment before releasing the product to the market for the actual end-users.

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Beta Testing is carried out to ensure that there are no major failures in the software or product and it
satisfies the business requirements from an end-user perspective. Beta Testing is successful when the
customer accepts the software.

Usually, this testing is typically done by end-users or others. It is the final testing done before releasing
an application for commercial purpose. Usually, the Beta version of the software or product released is
limited to a certain number of users in a specific area.

So end-user actually uses the software and shares the feedback to the company. Company then takes
necessary action before releasing the software to the worldwide.

#6) Back-end Testing

Whenever an input or data is entered on front-end application, it stores in the database and the testing of
such database is known as Database Testing or Backend Testing.

There are different databases like SQL Server, MySQL, and Oracle, etc. Database Testing involves
testing of table structure, schema, stored procedure, data structure and so on.

In Back-end Testing GUI is not involved, testers are directly connected to the database with proper
access and testers can easily verify data by running a few queries on the database.

There can be issues identified like data loss, deadlock, data corruption etc during this back-end testing
and these issues are critical to fixing before the system goes live into the production environment

#7) Browser Compatibility Testing

It is a subtype of Compatibility Testing (which is explained below) and is performed by the testing team.

Browser Compatibility Testing is performed for web applications and it ensures that the software can run
with the combination of different browser and operating system. This type of testing also validates
whether web application runs on all versions of all browsers or not.
#8) Backward Compatibility Testing
It is a type of testing which validates whether the newly developed software or updated software works
well with the older version of the environment or not.

Backward Compatibility Testing checks whether the new version of the software works properly with file
format created by an older version of the software; it also works well with data tables, data files, data
structure created by the older version of that software.

If any of the software is updated then it should work well on top of the previous version of that software.

#9) Black Box Testing

Internal system design is not considered in this type of testing. Tests are based on the requirements and
functionality.

Detailed information about the advantages, disadvantages, and types of Black box Testing can be
seen here.
#10) Boundary Value Testing
This type of testing checks the behavior of the application at the boundary level.

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Boundary Value Testing is performed for checking if defects exist at boundary values. Boundary Value
Testing is used for testing a different range of numbers. There is an upper and lower boundary for each
range and testing is performed on these boundary values.
If testing requires a test range of numbers from 1 to 500 then Boundary Value Testing is performed on
values at 0, 1, 2, 499, 500 and 501.

#11) Branch Testing

It is a type of White box Testing and is carried out during Unit Testing. Branch Testing, the name itself
suggests that the code is tested thoroughly by traversing at every branch.

#12) Comparison Testing

Comparison of a product’s strength and weaknesses with its previous versions or other similar products is
termed as Comparison Testing.

#13) Compatibility Testing

It is a testing type in which it validates how software behaves and runs in a different environment, web
servers, hardware, and network environment.

Compatibility testing ensures that software can run on a different configuration, different database,
different browsers, and their versions. Compatibility testing is performed by the testing team.
#14) Component Testing
It is mostly performed by developers after the completion of unit testing. Component Testing involves
testing of multiple functionalities as a single code and its objective is to identify if any defect exists after
connecting those multiple functionalities with each other.
#15) End-to-End Testing
Similar to system testing, End-to-End Testing involves testing of a complete application environment in a
situation that mimics real-world use, such as interacting with a database, using network communications,
or interacting with other hardware, applications, or systems if appropriate.
#16) Equivalence Partitioning
It is a testing technique and a type of Black Box Testing. During this Equivalence Partitioning, a set of
the group is selected and a few values or numbers are picked up for testing. It is understood that all
values from that group generate the same output.
The aim of this testing is to remove redundant test cases within a specific group which generates the
same output but not any defect.

Suppose, the application accepts values between -10 to +10 so using equivalence partitioning the values
picked up for testing are zero, one positive value, one negative value. So the Equivalence Partitioning for
this testing is  -10 to -1, 0, and 1 to 10.

#17) Example Testing

It means real-time testing. Example Testing includes the real-time scenario, it also involves the scenarios
based on the experience of the testers.

#18) Exploratory Testing

Exploratory Testing is informal testing performed by the testing team. The objective of this testing is to
explore the application and looking for defects that exist in the application.

Sometimes it may happen that during this testing major defect discovered can even cause a system
failure.

During Exploratory Testing, it is advisable to keep a track of what flow you have tested and what activity
you did before the start of the specific flow.
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An Exploratory Testing technique is performed without documentation and test cases.
#20) Functional Testing
This type of testing ignores the internal parts and focuses only on the output to check if it is as per the
requirement or not. It is a Black-box type testing geared to the functional requirements of an application.
For detailed information about Functional Testing click here.
#21) Graphical User Interface (GUI) Testing
The objective of this GUI Testing is to validate the GUI as per the business requirement. The expected
GUI of the application is mentioned in the Detailed Design Document and GUI mockup screens.

The GUI Testing includes the size of the buttons and input field present on the screen, alignment of all
text, tables, and content in the tables.

It also validates the menu of the application, after selecting different menu and menu items, it validates
that the page does not fluctuate and the alignment remains same after hovering the mouse on the menu or
sub-menu.

#22) Gorilla Testing

Gorilla Testing is a testing type performed by a tester and sometimes by the developer the as well. In
Gorilla Testing, one module or the functionality in the module is tested thoroughly and heavily. The
objective of this testing is to check the robustness of the application.

#23) Happy Path Testing

The objective of Happy Path Testing is to test an application successfully on a positive flow. It does not
look for negative or error conditions. The focus is only on the valid and positive inputs through which
application generates the expected output.

#24) Incremental Integration Testing

Incremental Integration Testing is a Bottom-up approach for testing i.e continuous testing of an
application when new functionality is added. Application functionality and modules should be
independent enough to test separately. This is done by programmers or by testers.
#25) Install/Uninstall Testing
Installation and Uninstallation Testing is done on full, partial, or upgrade install/uninstall processes on
different operating systems under different hardware or software environment.
#26) Integration Testing
Testing of all integrated modules to verify the combined functionality after integration is termed
as Integration Testing.
Modules are typically code modules, individual applications, client and server applications on a network,
etc. This type of testing is especially relevant to client/server and distributed systems.

#27) Load Testing

It is a type of Non-Functional Testing and the objective of Load Testing is to check how much load or
maximum workload a system can handle without any performance degradation.

Load Testing helps to find the maximum capacity of the system under specific load and any issues that
cause software performance degradation. Load testing is performed using tools like JMeter, LoadRunner,
WebLoad, Silk performer, etc.
#28) Monkey Testing
Monkey Testing is carried out by a tester assuming that if the monkey uses the application then how
random input, values will be entered by the Monkey without any knowledge or understanding of the
application.

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The objective of Monkey Testing is to check if an application or system gets crashed by providing
random input values/data. Monkey Testing is performed randomly and no test cases are scripted and it is
not necessary to

Monkey Testing is performed randomly and no test cases are scripted and it is not necessary to be aware
of the full functionality of the system.

#29) Mutation Testing

Mutation Testing is a type of white box testing in which the source code of one of the program is
changed and verifies whether the existing test cases can identify these defects in the system.
The change in the program source code is very minimal so that it does not impact the entire application,
only the specific area having the impact and the related test cases should able to identify those errors in
the system.

#30) Negative Testing

Testers having the mindset of “attitude to break” and using Negative Testing they validate that if system
or application breaks. A Negative Testing technique is performed using incorrect data, invalid data or
input. It validates that if the system throws an error of invalid input and behaves as expected.
#31) Non-Functional Testing
It is a type of testing for which every organization having a separate team which usually called as Non-
Functional Test (NFT) team or Performance team.

Non-Functional Testing involves testing of non-functional requirements such as Load Testing, Stress

Testing, Security, Volume, Recovery Testing, etc. The objective of NFT testing is to ensure whether the
response time of software or application is quick enough as per the business requirement.
It should not take much time to load any page or system and should sustain during peak load.

#32) Performance Testing

This term is often used interchangeably with ‘stress’ and ‘load’ testing. Performance Testing is done to
check whether the system meets the performance requirements. Different performance and load tools are
used to do this testing.
#33) Recovery Testing
It is a type of testing which validates how well the application or system recovers from crashes or
disasters.

Recovery Testing determines if the system is able to continue the operation after a disaster. Assume that
application is receiving data through the network cable and suddenly that network cable has been
unplugged.

Sometime later, plug the network cable; then the system should start receiving data from where it lost the
connection due to network cable unplugged.

#34) Regression Testing

Testing an application as a whole for the modification in any module or functionality is termed as
Regression Testing. It is difficult to cover all the system in Regression Testing, so typically Automation
Testing Tools are used for these types of testing.
#35) Risk-Based Testing (RBT)
In Risk-Based Testing, the functionalities or requirements are tested based on their priority. Risk-Based
Testing includes testing of highly critical functionality, which has the highest impact on business and in
which the probability of failure is very high.

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The priority decision is based on the business need, so once priority is set for all functionalities then high
priority functionality or test cases are executed first followed by medium and then low priority
functionalities.

The low priority functionality may be tested or not tested based on the available time.

The Risk-Based Testing is carried out if there is insufficient time available to test entire software and
software needs to be implemented on time without any delay. This approach is followed only by the
discussion and approval of the client and senior management of the organization.

#36) Sanity Testing

Sanity Testing is done to determine if a new software version is performing well enough to accept it for a
major testing effort or not. If an application is crashing for the initial use then the system is not stable
enough for further testing. Hence a build or an application is assigned to fix it.
#37) Security Testing
It is a type of testing performed by a special team of testers. A system can be penetrated by any hacking
way.

Security Testing is done to check how the software or application or website is secure from internal and
external threats. This testing includes how much software is secure from the malicious program, viruses
and how secure and strong the authorization and authentication processes are.
It also checks how software behaves for any hackers attack and malicious programs and how software is
maintained for data security after such a hacker attack.

#38) Smoke Testing

Whenever a new build is provided by the development team then the Software Testing team validates the
build and ensures that no major issue exists.

The testing team ensures that the build is stable and a detailed level of testing is carried out
further. Smoke Testing checks that no show stopper defect exists in the build which will prevent the
testing team to test the application in detail.
If testers find that the major critical functionality is broken down at the initial stage itself then testing
team can reject the build and inform accordingly to the development team. Smoke Testing is carried out
to a detailed level of any Functional or Regression Testing.

#39) Static Testing

Static Testing is a type of testing which is executed without any code. The execution is performed on the
documentation during the testing phase.

It involves reviews, walkthrough, and inspection of the deliverables of the project. Static Testing does not
execute the code instead of the code syntax, naming conventions are checked.

Static Testing is also applicable for test cases, test plan, design document. It is necessary to perform static
testing by the testing team as the defects identified during this type of testing are cost-effective from the
project perspective.
#40) Stress Testing
This testing is done when a system is stressed beyond its specifications in order to check how and when it
fails. This is performed under heavy load like putting large number beyond storage capacity, complex
database queries, continuous input to the system or database load.

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#41) System Testing
Under System Testing technique, the entire system is tested as per the requirements. It is a Black-box
type Testing that is based on overall requirement specifications and covers all the combined parts of a
system.
#42) Unit Testing
Testing of an individual software component or module is termed as Unit Testing. It is typically done by
the programmer and not by testers, as it requires detailed knowledge of the internal program design and
code. It may also require developing test driver modules or test harnesses.
#43) Usability Testing
Under Usability Testing, User-friendliness check is done. The application flow is tested to know if a new
user can understand the application easily or not, Proper help documented if a user gets stuck at any
point. Basically, system navigation is checked in this testing.
#44) Vulnerability Testing
The testing which involves identifying weakness in the software, hardware and the network is known as
Vulnerability Testing. Malicious programs, the hacker can take control of the system, if it is vulnerable to
such kind of attacks, viruses, and worms.

So it is necessary to check if those systems undergo Vulnerability Testing before production. It may
identify critical defects, flaws in the security.

#45) Volume Testing

Volume Testing is a type of Non-Functional Testing performed by the Performance Testing team.
The software or application undergoes a huge amount of data and Volume Testing checks the system
behavior and response time of the application when the system came across such a high volume of data.
This high volume of data may impact the system’s performance and speed of the processing time.

#46) White Box Testing

White Box Testing is based on the knowledge about the internal logic of an application’s code.
It is also known as Glass box Testing. Internal software and code working should be known for
performing this type of testing. Under these tests are based on the coverage of code statements, branches,
paths, conditions, etc.

Recommended reading =>>  Pilot Testing – A Complete Guide

Conclusion
The above-mentioned Software Testing Types are just a part of testing. However, there is still a list of
more than 100+ types of testing, but all testing types are not used in all types of projects. So I have
covered some common Types of Software Testing which are mostly used in the testing life cycle.

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 Prototype Testing: Will It Make Software Testing Easier
Last Updated:June 28, 2021

Understand what is Prototype testing and how to perform it. Review Wondershare Mockitt
Prototyping Tool and see how it helps with Prototype Testing:
Will Prototype Testing make Software Testing easier? To address this question, we must first
understand the concept of a prototype in the context of software development.
A prototype refers to a wireframe or mockup that replicates the functionality of the product under
development. It is not the product and may not resemble the end product at all. However, the functions it
performs will mimic the features of the actual product before it goes into the development stage.
What You Will Learn: [hide]
 What Is Prototype Testing
o Prototype Testing: Before And After development
o Process Of Prototype Testing
o How To Test A Prototype
o What To Do With The Output Of Test
o Actions To Perform After Testing
 Wondershare Mockitt Prototyping Tool
o Mockitt: Key Feature Highlights
o How To Use Mockitt
o How Can Wondershare Mockitt Help With Prototype Testing
 Conclusion
o Recommended Reading
What Is Prototype Testing

Prototype testing is a way to evaluate the viability of a design in terms of how it can achieve the desired
functionalities. It typically involves sharing a clickable prototype with multiple stakeholders so various
functions can be tested comprehensively.

So, how does this tie into software testing as a broader topic?
Software testing is a more detailed and comprehensive testing phase where all aspects of an application
are thoroughly tested against all specifications, not just basic functions. As such, the initial prototype
testing will reveal major flaws before those flaws can be built into the application. It helps avoid
expensive code changes even before the product development cycle begins.

Prototype Testing: Before And After development

Let us see what does this testing does before and after development in this section.

Prototype testing is a valuable component in the overall SDLC because it pre-empts errors from being
translated into code that may have to be rewritten at a later time, which is a waste of resources. Instead,
with this testing, these errors are revealed early on so they can be corrected at the design stage.

Here are some examples of how it can prove useful before and after development:
Pre-Development benefits of Prototype Testing
 It helps evaluate the ‘first impression’ about the software.
 It allows designers to correct processes and other flaws early on.
 It validates the design process behind the functionality.
 It reduces the overall cost by capturing errors at an early stage.
Post-Development benefits of Prototype Testing
 Major errors in the final software application will have been eliminated or minimized due to this
testing.
 Any missing features or functions can be spotted and integrated into the design.
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  It can help enhance the user experience by allowing the designers to perfect the flow before the
product goes into development.
It’s clear that a design prototype test can provide valuable information to the design team once other
users have tested the design.

But what is the process involved in prototype testing? Let’s take a detailed look at how this type of
testing is actually executed as a process, important factors to keep in mind while testing prototypes, and
the best-case scenario for the output of a design prototype test.

Process Of Prototype Testing

[image source]
How To Test A Prototype
There is a fixed framework for how a prototype should be tested, so it checks all the required boxes. In
fact, the boxes themselves are the first step in preparing an app design for the prototype test.

The steps are as follows:

#1) Detail the specifics of your objective for testing
Why are you testing the app design or prototype in the first place? That should be the first question you
ask yourself because it will help define the scope and objectives of conducting the test.

You can break this down into functional and experiential goals, each of which is tested by the targeted
user. This will give you valuable information about what to change and how to change it when the results
of the test come out.

#2) Define the Tester Demographic

You need to identify the ideal persona before testing your design prototype. Now that you have your
objectives defined, this part should be easy. It involves picking the ideal user demographic for your
application and then qualifying potential testers against this persona.

For example, what age-group will be using the app, what is the ideal monthly income profile or
educational profile of the end-user, and so on. You’ll need to ask questions like ‘how familiar are they
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with this general category of product?’, ‘Are my testers already familiar with the OS platform we’re
targeting?’, etc. Once you have defined the user demographic, you can move to the next stage.
#3) Break your testing into specific stages
Also known as staging the prototype, this is a critical component of the testing phase because it gives
users a specific set of functions to test out.

For instance, you may want to test a paper prototype by using information architects to validate the flow
of some features. Alternatively, you may want to test a hi-fi prototype to see what type of user experience
it leads to. This also allows you to be more thorough in your testing because you’re approaching it from a
dual ‘feeling and function’ point of view.
#4) Define the tasks for the testers
Testers often need very specific instructions in terms of what goals they need to accomplish on the
prototype. The ‘just check it out and tell me what you think’ approach does not work here. They need to
know what features to test and what actions to execute within the scope of that feature.

On the UX side, you can ask them to fill out a questionnaire about how they ‘felt’ while using the app.
Doing both these things will give you more comprehensive results that are actually useful. These results
should be able to guide your next steps to improve the experience or refine a particular feature.

#5) Clinical Testing vs. Real-world Testing

Knowing the difference between how an app will be used under specific test conditions and out in the
real world can give you valuable insight into actual usability aspects.

In a formal app prototype test, a special space is usually created for users so they can test the app without
any distractions. However, that’s not how the app will be used in real life. Doing A/B testing in this
manner will give you tremendous insights into how an app behaves under different conditions.

For instance, how does an interruption in the mobile network affect a particular feature of the app? Are
the error messages appropriate? Does the app hang and force the user to quit it? These are critical pieces
of information that you normally wouldn’t get under “ideal” test conditions.
#6) Data Gathering and Analysis
How are you collecting data regarding the usability of the prototype? Are you using screen capture
software to track finger contact and other gestures? Are you simply making a recording of the user
testing the app?

These questions will help you outline your data capture mechanisms, how you organize that data, and
how you analyze it so it yields actionable information to improve the user experience and correct flaws in
the app before it goes into development.

This brings us to the final part of planning the test.

What To Do With The Output Of Test

This is your gold mine when it comes to prototype tests. Everything before it was intended to yield this
result. So, what do you do now that you have the output?

As mentioned, the analytics part is very important. Knowing how to interpret the data into action items
will give you a clear picture of what needs to be fixed and what needs improvement. This ‘design
thinking prototype’ approach to testing also gives you insights into how the original design can be
validated through functionality.

In other words, what design improvements can be made to enhance user experience once the problems
have all been fixed? How can the app’s features be more frictionless and easier to use?
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Actions To Perform After Testing
After the test results are out and you have analyzed them to arrive at a list of action items, implement
them immediately. If something conflicts with your design thinking, such as a particular function that
doesn’t work the way it should, then go back to the design stage to see where the issue might be in the
process flow.

Doing this in a timely manner is critical because it allows the testing team to coordinate with the design
team in a real-time environment rather than through back-and-forth documentation.

Online design and prototyping platforms such as Wondershare Mockitt and Figma allow you to provide
near-instant feedback and comments on tests so designers can see it as soon as it is available, which
brings us to the choice of platform.

Wondershare Mockitt Prototyping Tool

=> Visit Wondershare Mockitt Website 

Mockitt is a professional-grade UI design and prototyping platform that runs on the cloud. It is ideally
suited to large projects involving hundreds of screens, and much smaller app prototypes and web design
prototypes.
This flexibility makes it ideal for both small and large design teams as well as in-house designers who
work closely with the development team to test, modify, and finalize the prototype that finally goes into
production mode.

The fast prototyping feature is of particular interest because it makes the design process very responsive
to the output of your prototype testing. Feedback loops are immediate, and testers can add comments for
specific issues they face when testing the prototype. This allows the designer to act quickly to rectify
issues and make improvements to the app design and functionality.

Mockitt: Key Feature Highlights

Here are some other features of Wondershare Mockitt that design and testing teams can benefit
from:
1. Extensive asset libraries with hundreds of icons, symbols, and widgets that can be customized and
shared with other team members.
2. Dynamic widgets to enhance the UX factor.
3. A UI that focuses on ease-of-use and accessibility.
4. Collaborative tools for review, commenting, and feedback.
5. Rapid prototyping feature involving drag-and-drop linking and extensive gestures, transitions, and
animation effects.
6. Convenient and secure prototype sharing with links and QR codes that are permission-based and
dynamic.
7. Easy developer handoff after the testing.
How To Use Mockitt
The steps are as follows:
1. Create a New Project and define the device parameters – type, aspect ratio, etc.
2. Add design elements (widgets, icons, etc.) to your screens and create multiple screens and screen
states with corresponding designs.
3. Prototype the design by linking assets to their corresponding page states and edit the links to add
gestures, transitions, effects, etc.
4. Share the prototype with project stakeholders with simple but secure URLs and QR codes.
5. Handoff to the developer seamlessly: code inspection, asset download, etc.
How Can Wondershare Mockitt Help With Prototype Testing

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Mockitt is designed with rapid prototyping in mind. You can create complex and interactive clickable
prototypes in much less time than it would take you on most other UI design platforms. It also helps with
prototype testing because of the way the system is built around a collaborative environment.

Here’s an outline of how you can expect to benefit by using Wondershare Mockitt for your UI/UX
design and prototyping needs:
#1) Superior Design Interface with Rich Asset Libraries

The user-friendly browser-based interface gives you what you need within reach at all times. The
generous main canvas area is complemented by a number of useful tools for quick access. Customized
libraries can be created and shared with other team members to ensure consistency across your app
designs.

#2) Shorter Design-to-Prototype Time

Prototyping is usually a laborious and painstaking process, but it doesn’t have to be that way. With
Mockitt, prototyping a high-fidelity model is as simple as dragging a link from a widget and dropping it
on the target page or screen state. The link can then be edited to add a gesture and transitions, effects, and
animations, all of which are readily available at your fingertips.

#3) Comprehensive Feedback System

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The real-time collaborative environment is perfect for agile teams that constantly face tough deadlines.

Communicate seamlessly within the team as well as with external stakeholders for a robust prototype
testing experience. Flexible access to projects from any connected device and a modern browser. See
everything happen in real-time and provide the vital feedback necessary to move from the initial
prototype to the approved design in the shortest possible time.

#4) Code Generation Ideal for Testing

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Automatic code generation of HTML and style code allows testers to not only view and test the prototype
but also inspect the underlying code. The designer’s time is freed up to focus on the design and
prototyping phases. This clear segregation of roles is essential to the smooth functioning of any design
team, and Mockitt makes it happen.

#5) Easy Developer Handoff

The final stage after prototype approval is the handoff to the development team. This is where conflict
often arises due to underlying code issues.

With Mockitt, all that friction is removed because the developer can log in to their own Mockitt account,
access the shared project, review the code, provide feedback, and download all asset information without
interacting with the designer. In short, the process is smoother and faster.

Conclusion
The design thinking prototype approach helps resolve a lot of issues early on because it focuses not just
on the functionality of the prototype in question but the underlying design philosophy of the brand for
which the asset is being developed.

This makes it easier to align design and functionality to deliver a seamless and superior user experience.
It also allows the prototype testing phase to provide insights into possible new features for the product,
further enhancing user experience.

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