uTest eBook Launching Killer Mobile Apps

8/2/2019 uTest eBook Launching Killer Mobile Apps

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Creating Killer

Mobile AppsThe keys to developing, testing

and launching mobile applications

that your users love

A Free Book from uTest


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The Challenge of Launching Great Mobile Apps

Launching a killer app is like catching lightning in a bottle and this is especiallytrue of mobile applications. In an industry where there is fierce competition formedia attention, VC investment and/or consumer dollars, even the smallest flawcan doom a mobile app (and the business behind it). With so much at stake, howcan so many mobile app companies ignore the benefits of usability testing,functional testing and load testing? They want to launch apps that delighttheir users, right?

This eBook will walk you through the challenges of creating a high-quality mobileapplication, and will show you how to overcome them. We will demonstrate howcompanies of all sizes from startups to enterprises can overcome these

obstacles to build apps that their users love. In doing so, well also cover:

The Mobile Boom: Learn whats at stake and also whats driving theworldwide mobile application frenzy.

Mobile App Strategy: Well explain how building great apps begins longbefore code is written or tested.

Mobile Testing Types, Tools & Methods: Emulators vs. real testers; thedifferences between mobile development platforms and other critical,strategic decisions that will need to be made.

Key Testing Challenges: How to navigate through the peaks, valleys,twists and turns of testing your mobile application.

Crowdsourced Testing: Discover how tapping into the crowd can helpyou launch a killer app, while getting you to market faster and on-budget.

Key Players:If youre new to this mobile apps game, this appendix willhighlight the companies, technologies and players that you need to befamiliar with before getting started.

3Mobile App Challenges


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THE MOBILE APP BOOM

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The Mobile Boom

To say that the use of mobile applications is booming would be an obvious understatement. In 2010, mobile app stores will recorded anestimated $6.2 billionin overall sales, including 4.5 billion app downloads. By 2013, some analysts expect mobile app revenues to exceed$21 billion. With charts like this, we wouldnt bet against them. As they say in the investing world, the trend is your friend.

So if you think that mobile apps are for kids or that it wont affect your industry/company/team, think again!

5The Mobile Boom


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Why Is The Mobile Market Booming?

The accelerating shift towards mobile applications (and the smart phones they runon) is really quite simple, but frequently overlooked. Here are just a few of thereasons why users are flocking toward this technology:

Accessibility: With mobile devices, the web is always at your side. Thisincludes email, social media, video, games, news, stocks, sports, shopping andother actions. The ability to stay connected 24/7 has perhaps the mostwidespread appeal of all, and is the number one reason why the use of mobileapplications and devices show no signs of slowing down.

Adaptability: Mobile applications are sometimes thought of as being usedprimarily by kids and consumers only, but this couldnt be further from the truth.Business professionals were, in fact, the earliest adopters of this technology,and continue to make up a large segment of the overall user base. This can beseen in the widespread use of business & productivity apps for CRM, ERP,documents, presentations, email and messaging tools. Of course, you can alsoplay DoodleJump, too.

Efficiency: Mobile apps (and to a lesser extent, the mobile web) have greatlyenhanced the efficiency of our everyday online activities. As we will explainshortly, the goal of any mobile app should be to reduce each feature to its most

basic component. For example, users who want to see the latest market newswill generally download an app that focuses on this exclusively. They do notwant to enter a search term and click through five pages to see this information.Mobile applications, in other words, cut out the middleman and give users directaccess to the things they want most.

6The Mobile Boom

The Mobile Mantra

Much as we love freedom and

choice, we also love things that just

work, reliably and seamlessly. And

if we have to pay for what we love,

well, that increasingly seems OK.Have you looked at your cell phone

or cable bill lately?

- Chris Anderson, Wired


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Whats At Stake?

Still think that mobile apps are for games, music and entertainment purposesonly? Do you really think that mobile applications wont be relevant to yourcompany, your team and your job a year from now?

Think again. As the adoption rate increases, mobile applications will become evermore critical to the success of your business (and your career). Those who insiston waiting for further confirmation will have already been left behind. Companiesthat recognize this trend for what it is a technological revolution and takepreemptive action to improve the quality and usability of their mobile applications,will find themselves with a tremendous advantage.

Most companies will simply build a watered-down version of their website. Butthose who understand the implications of the mobile boom and who understandall of the feats this technology is capable of will build applications with enduringpopularity. Which side will YOU be on?

This mindset is essential. In order to take the steps required for developing andlaunching a quality mobile app, you will need to believe in what youre doing. Ifyou think mobile apps are simply a passing fad, it will be reflected in yourbusinesses and products.

Your users are counting on you. Dont let them down.

7Mobile Testing Challenges

The Mobile Future

According to a Morgan Stanley analyst,

the world is currently in the midst of the

fifth major technology cycle of the past

half a century. The previous four were

the mainframe era of the 1950s and 60s,

the mini-computer era of the 1970s and

the desktop Internet era of the 80s. The

current cycle is the era of the mobile

Internet, she says predicting that

within the next five years more users

will connect to the Internet over mobile

devices than desktop PCs.

- GigaOm


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STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOWFIRST

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Your Mobile App Strategy

One of the first and most critical decisions a mobile company will make is whether to develop a native application or spend theirresources optimizing for mobile web browsers.

9Mobile Web vs. Native Apps

vs.

Mobile Web Native Apps


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The Case For (and Against) the Mobile Web

Pros:

Single platform (the web)

One app to build, launch and maintain

All thats needed for some companies

Cons:

Less controlled user experience

Slower user experience

No app store distribution

Lack of standards across mobilebrowsers

10Mobile Web


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The Case For (and Against) Native Apps

Pros:

Rich media functionality

Controlled user experience

Faster experience for users

App store distribution

Cons:

Multi-platform

Must build, test & maintain multiple apps

Not necessary for some companies



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Native Apps or Mobile Web? What the Users Say

There are particular native apps that I use on a regular basis, mainlydue to ease-of-use and simplicity. These include weather apps, travelplanning apps (kayak.com), music apps (Pandora). However, if Imaccessing news and searching for information, I use mobile sites thatautomatically render as mobile versions of their web sites (cnn.com,google.com)

I also foresee the future in which mobile web will be much easier

to use, and displace most (not all) of the need for native apps. Insteadof downloading the native app itself, there may be shortcuts on yourmobile device for easy access. Think about the recent progression awayfrom desktop apps and into purely web apps; mobile is simply a fewyears behind.

**********

I prefer native apps as they are more focused on your information

needs. I agree that the mobile web is more accessible and affordable,but it takes longer to wade through all the sites to get to what you want.Mobile web apps do solve the problem to certain extent, but theyre noton par with the native apps in my opinion.


vs.


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Alternatives to Native Apps and Mobile Web

Of course, deciding what form of mobile app you plan to offer isnt aneither/or decision. There are alternatives, including:

WAC: The emergence of the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC)may end up providing software companies with their most f lexible solution.WAC is a consortium of mobile leaders, which has come to includecarriers like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, China Mobile, Orange and others, aswell as manufacturers like Sony, Samsung and LG. This communityintends to enable developers to develop one mobile app that will workacross ALL carriers, devices and operating systems.

Hybrid Apps: Similar to the ideas behind developing for the mobile web,hybrid apps would allow developers to create mobile apps that share theirbackend with their web application. They would create a native app shellor wrapper which would utilize the same features, functionality, data andother characteristics.

*****

However promising in terms of simplicity and cost, these two options arenot without some major drawbacks, notably that of competing interests.Will these communities treat alldevices, carriers, etc. as equals? So dontrule out these alternatives immediately, but proceed with caution.

13Mobile Alternatives

Wholesale App Community

Though many doubted the long-term viability of the WAC, it looksas though the group is gaining themomentum it needs to make adifference.

Theres a long way to go, and theconcepts the WAC are working

towards are ambitious to say theleast, but the steps theyve takenso far seem to be the right ones.

- MobileMarketing.com


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Other Considerations

Mobile devices are evolving into increasingly sophisticated general purpose computers. This has led to the development of a variety ofplatforms and operating systems. Today, the operating system inside your mobile device is as equally important as the devicemanufacturer (OEM). The various features, GUI, processing speed, and most importantly, the applications available for your device willdepend greatly on the underlying OS, as well as the carrier and OEM.

14Mobile Decisions

CarriersOperating SystemsDevice Manufacturers


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Mobile OS: Past Present and Future

The mobile wars are heating up. This recent study by Quantcast shows that Android is gaining onApples web iOS, although the formerstill maintains a huge share of the overall market. Keep this trend in mind when deciding which operating systems you intend to build anapp for first.

15Mobile App Marketshare


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Mobile Constants

No matter which route you choose native apps or the mobile web certain tasksand backend functionality will remain a constant, including:

API / web services

Architecture

Database

The key lesson here is that app quality begins before coding or testing . You

should start by reviewing the makeup of your users. What features andfunctionality do they want? What types of information are they trying to access?And most importantly, how can you reach them on their terms?

Other key decisions that every mobile company will have to make include:

Static content vs. rich content

Commerce vs. functionality

16Mobile Constants

Mobile Fact

Consumer conversion (from surf topurchase) on iPhone or Android nativeapps is 3X - 10X times that of mobileweb sites

Why? Because users are more

comfortable with the device. In mostcases, the usability of the native app,including page load speed, is muchgreater than the mobile web.


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MOBILE TESTING TYPES AND METHODS

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Mobile Testing Types: Functional Testing

The most essential testing procedure will be to verify that the basic functionality of yourapplication. Early on, much of this attention should focus on the download activities ofthe prospective user (i.e. that the download process is seamless and intuitive). Fromthere, you can begin to verify more specific functionality. As well explain shortly, thiscan be done either via a mobile simulator (desktop browser) or by using real-worldtesters.

Finding device specific bugs: If, for example, you discover links that are notfunctional on certain devices, then you should first determine whether it works on thedesktop browser. If it is reproducible on the desktop browser, then it is obviously not a

device-specific bug, but rather a bug in the basic application. If a link is functional in thedesktop browser and it doesnt work in the device, then it should be identified as adevice specific bug.

Such functional testing should occur when the application is in the early developmentphase. At that point, testers should perform a quick test on the devices you deem asthe having the highest priority, in order to find any rendering or any functional issues assoon as possible. This way, development can have enough time to fix them or arrive ata proper decision as to whether to support these devices or not. If fixing the buginvolves high dev cost, they probably wont.

If this sort of functional testing doesnt happen at the an early stage (and most of thetime, it doesnt) there is the risk that the application might not work for certain devices.This can lead dev/PM to changes the design, which can further escalate costs.

18Testing Types: Functional Testing

Mobile Stats

51% of iPhone owners have five or

more games installed on their

devices

37% of iPhone owners play games

at least once per day puzzle games

are the most popular

46% of Blackberry owners have NO

games on their device at all

- Source: Mobile Entertainment


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Mobile Testing Types: Usability Testing

Usability testing plays an important role for launching a quality mobile application.Usability testing should occur as soon as the basic stable for the application isready. This is also true in order to test whether the application UI is user-friendlyor not, or whether some part/functionality of the application is easily discoverableor not. Also, usability studies should be done for the different types of devices,such as touch screen devices, since the user has different experience for thesame application on these devices.

A user may have a good experience on the iPhone, while another might have badexperience on a nontouch screen device. In this instance, changes to the UI

should be considered to improve the experience on the non-touch screen device.

For example, lets say there is a form with various fields and it is saved by clickingon the save button located at bottom of the screen. For this scenario, someoneusing iPhone will have no issues to scroll to the bottom to click on the save button,since the iPhone has a good scrolling mechanism. However, the same scenariowill give the bad user experience for the non-touch devices users, where scrollingto the bottom of the page is not as easy.

Needless to say, usability testing is an extremely critical step towards launching a

high-quality mobile application.

19Testing Types: Usability Testing

User Loyalty

While most will tolerate a minor

glitch, studies show that many

wont hang around if they are

disappointed with the

performance of a mobile app or

website. And the damage doesnt

stop there. Word-of-mouth will

ensure any bad experiences are

soon broadcast.

- Helen Leggatt, BizReport.com


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Mobile Testing Types: Performance Testing

Performance testing is another critical step in the successful launch of a mobileapplication. The key factor to be aware of here is mobile carriers, which can effectthe speed and ease-of-use of the application. If the application performance ispoor for the end user, they will be likely to divert to other apps and services. Theapplication must therefore be tested with different devices and carriers dependingon the county and region.

Most likely, you didnt build your application for automated users. You built it forreal users. Why then do so many companies rely solely on automated testingresults to verify functionality under stress? Until recently, it was because there

was no such mechanism by which a company could utilize real testers while asystem was under load.

But as well outline shortly, that obstacle has largely been overcome. Byleveraging real testers with automated tools, companies now have access to anentirely new layer of data.

Better yet, they are able to identify and resolve issues that would have beenreported later in the development process.

20Testing Types: Performance Testing

Mobile Testing Tip

If the application being developed will be

dynamic or interactive, then the browser

must support the following:

- JavaScript support: Mobile browsers must

support JavaScript in order build an

interactive application UI.

- XML HTTP Request Object: XML HTTP

request object support is required to

communicate with the back-end server and

to update the page with new data without

reloading the page. This will give the user a

smooth browsing experience for the site.

- CSS support: CSS defines how pageelements are to be displayed and enables

you to change appearance and layout of all

of the pages by editing a single file.


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Mobile Testing Methods: In-House Testing

Pros: In an ideal world, mobile testing could be performed under the watchful eyeof product managers, developers and QA managers, who could observe firsthandhow the application performs under every possible user scenario. The assembledtesting team consisting of perhaps a dozen or so of the most talented testers onthe market would have hundreds of handset models at their disposal: iPhone,Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, Sony - you name it, they test it. It would be a testinglab that even the largest software company would envy.

With this type of control over the testing process, what could possibly go wrong?

Cons: The truth is, for mobile apps, building a comprehensive in-house testinglab is prohibitively time-consuming and expensive. This is true for almost everymobile app company, with very few exceptions.

Imagine the expense of building an in-house team and lab capable of assuring thefunctionality for iPhone, Blackberry and Android handsets (of all makes andmodels) across wireless carriers in the U.S., U.K, Spain and France. Now imaginethis with 3 apps 5 apps Will you send testers around the globe to assurequality? Of course not. Thus, its no surprise that mobile app companies fromstart-ups to large enterprisesdont rely solely on in-house testing resources.

To be fair, most firms dont intend to create an in-house team like the onedescribed above (although some have tried). Worse, they spend their moneytrying to get whatever they can from this method. That is, they have 3-5 in-housetesters, with a dozen devices (at most). But their testing coverage is confined totheir own office, and the whole point of comprehensive testing is lost.

21Testing Methods: In-House Teams

Just how important is global

testing coverage?

By the end of this year, the mobile

ad market is expected to grow to

$913.5 million. And by 2013,

Gartner expects mobile ad spending

to surpass $13 billion, with the

Asia-Pacific region bringing in the

most revenue, followed by North

America and Europe.

- Meghan Keane,

www.econsultancy.com


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Mobile Testing Methods: Outsourcing

Pros: Of course, when mobile application developers discovered that the in-houseroute couldnt provide the testing they needed, they logically said to themselves:Ill just outsource it. This was not an isolated decision; it was made by thousandsof software companies, and few could fault them for their logic at the time. Ifcomprehensive mobile testing was to be achieved, then surely an offshore firm(with their low-cost labor) would be the only entity capable of getting the job doneat a reasonable price.

Its this line of thinking that continues to define the way in which many mobilecompanies deal with their testing objectives.

Cons: While outsourcing has certainly proven to be less expensive than hiring aninternal team, developers who contracted with such firms quickly ran into thesame limits as that of their in-house teams while losing what little control theyhad over the QA process. And for what? With no insight into the day-to-day testingactivities, how could these developers expect to improve their application in atimely manner? Developers must remain close to their application at all times,which is antithetical to the outsourcing mentality.

And as it turns out, even the largest of traditional outsourcing firms dont have the

resources needed to provide adequate testing coverage required by todaysmobile environment. Just like their clients, they cannot easily (or affordably) testan app across dozens of handset makers, models, carriers, languages andlocations. Plus, the testers employed by these offshore firms are unlikely to beamong the target audience for a companys mobile apps.

22Testing Methods: Outsourcing

Common User Complaints:

Failed or stalled downloads

Credit card verification delays

No screenshots

App performance when there is

slow connectivityInconsistent buttons, fonts, etc.

Missing or broken links

App not supported by device

Outdated versions; bugs still in app


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Mobile Testing Methods: Simulators/Emulators

Pros: In many ways, the use of mobile emulators and simulators is essential fordeveloping and testing a quality application. Such technology enables developersto verify certain functionality that is not specific to any device, carrier or operatingsystem. They are also very useful in terms of usability, and especially design,including data input, screen size, button use, etc. all from the convenience oftheir own laptop.

Although many mobile app companies rely on these tools to identify bugs at anearly stage in development , they often fail to catch bugs at later stages. As weve

seen, these type of bugs are always the most expensive to correct.

Cons: One of the biggest challenges for mobile developers is that the testing ofapplications is occurring in an environment far removed from the real world, whereactual users run and interact with those applications ON their devices. Saiddifferently, the gap between in-the-lab simulation and in-the-wild usage is fartoo great to ignore.

Consider, for instance, an application that is data entry intensive. To assume thatit can be fully tested on a simulator (i.e. with full keyboard and mouse access) and

be ready for release is a mistake mobile app developers have continually madefor the past five years. The convenience of simulators and emulators has made iteasier than ever to be lured into a false sense of security. But the advantages ofsuch tools are limited in scope, and should never be considered a substitute forreal-world, on-device testing.

23Testing Methods: Simulators and Emulators

Mobile App Purgatory

Bugs in your mobile app cause

unintended consequences. Take

this story for example: A mobile

app developer is alerted to a

iPhone bug, and instead of being

able to fix it right away, he spends

weeks pleading with Apple to

allow him to proceed with the

update. If bugs in your app

appear, getting them fixed quickly

can be very problematic.

Of course, if the bug had beendiscovered BEFORE launch, this

would be a non-issue.


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Mobile Testing Methods: Beta Communities

Pros: Mobile companies that can attract a large beta community have a terrificadvantage over their peers, as thousands of users submit bugs and feedbackaround the clockfor free.

Needless to say, the allure of an active, engaged group of beta users is too greatfor many developers to pass up. Not only do they gauge your applicationsperformance before the big release, they act as advocates for your product,adopting a strong sense of ownership and helping you to establish a customerbase for your product. And so if youre at all uncomfortable with your appsperformance prior to launch - and dont want to go to great lengths running

professional usability tests beta programs seem like the easiest, safest route.

Cons: In practice, it is rare for a software company to attract such a large group ofbeta testers. After all, not every company can be Google or Mozilla, with itsvarious (and wildly popular) beta versions, where people line up to test drive theirsoftware. Chances are, your app either lacks enough mass appeal, or is relativelyunknown (for now), and is hence not that attractive to the beta testing types.

But even if you are able to assemble a sizeable beta group, the method still fallsshort of providing adequate testing coverage. And the reason for this is simple:

beta testers are more often like users, in that they will try to get your app tofunction properly, whereas a real tester would attempt to break your app.

In other words: Users use. Testers test.

24Testing Methods: Beta Communities


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KEY TESTING CHALLENGES

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The mobile app testing matrix is infinitely complex and getting worse


Device Models

Wireless Carriers

Location

OS & Browser

Features


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The Challenges of Mobile Application Testing

The true cost of bugs: According to a study highlighted on TechCrunch, the average shelf life of an iPhone app is roughly 30 days. Itturns out that, for free apps, less than 20% of users return to an app even one day after downloading it. And by day 30, less than 5% ofusers are still utilizing the app. And for paid apps, the drop-off is even slightly steeper.

Why the drop-off? For starters: bugs - especially ones that appear within minutes of downloading - are likely to cause users to abandonthe application after a short period of use. With the variety of apps now available, users have an extremely low tolerance for buggyapplications. In a never-ending attempt to appease their user base, developers must therefore test their products across:

Handset Maker/Model

Operating System

Browser

Wireless Carrier

Location

Language

No matter what type of mobile applications you developwhether theyre chat tools, social networking, games, business apps orothers you face the same fundamental problems encountered by all mobile app developers.

Lets now take a quick look at how mobile app developers have attempted to deal with these problems

27Mobile Testing Challenges

0

20

40

60

80

100

Specification Design Coding Unit Test Integration

Test

Release Test Post-Release

(Relative cost of defect, by time of discovery)
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/19/pinch-media-data-shows-the-average-shelf-life-of-an-iphone-app-is-less-than-30-days/http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/19/pinch-media-data-shows-the-average-shelf-life-of-an-iphone-app-is-less-than-30-days/


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CROWDSOURCED TESTING FOR MOBILE

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Crowdsourced Mobile Testing

Combining the benefits of the aforementioned methods, the use of community-based testing or crowdsourcing has altered the way companies test theirmobile applications. This shift has empowered progressive mobile app companiesto make the best decisions, on a per-project basis, without sacrificing control,costs or accountability. By leveraging a global community of professional testers,QA teams are doing the impossible: maintaining app quality, achieving broadtesting coverage, meeting launch dates and staying within tighter budgets.

The net effect is that mobile app companies get instant access to a globalcommunity of testers via a platform that enables detailed management of the

entire test cycle (or even connects to their in-house bug tracking system).

This community can serve as a virtual testing team (for small companies andstart-ups), or as an on-demand extension for in-house QA departments.

While the thought of having a virtual QA team from around the globe might seemlike a complicated free-for-all, the reality is just the opposite. With the right onlineplatform, the process fits neatly into your existing teams and processes. Heres aquick look at how it works:


What is Crowdsourcing?

"Crowdsourcing is the act of

taking a job traditionally

performed by a designated agent

(usually an employee) and

outsourcing it to a large group of

people in the form of an open call.

- Jeff Howe

Author ofCrowdsourcing


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Crowdsourced Testing: How It Works

30Crowdsourced Testing: How It Works

Customer Tester Community

Specify Testing Needs- Handset Maker, Model & OS

- Carrier, Location & Language

Selected testers invited

to project

Testers report in

real-timeCustomerapproves

Testers get paid


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Crowdsourcing Challenges: Quality and Control

Crowdsourcing has a reputation for being noisy and chaotic, without much actualproductive work. Thusits critical to choose a reputable community that can pointto its customers successes, and shares the past performance and reputation ofcommunity members. In short, make sure youre choosing a community and not amob. Other common challenges include:

Communication: As with any successful project, communication is key. Whilecrowdsourcing doesn't enable face-to-face conversations, it does enable decision-makers to converse with their virtual QA team in real-time through an easy-to-useonline platform. Also, make sure the testing company you choose provides adedicated project manager to help you manage the community and the process.

Intellectual Property: IP protection is sometimes a concern for customers whoare new to crowdsourcing. While it might seem like your IP could be exposed to acommunity of thousands, top crowdsourcing companies allow customers tocarefully select their testers and establish non-disclosure agreements (NDA) withtheir community members.

Quality: With crowdsourcing, its easy to believe that anyone can test yourapplication. Fortunately, the crowdsourcing model enables customers to be asselective as they want in terms of testers skill sets, experience, performance

ratings in determining who gets invited to test their app.

As with other methods, unexpected problems do arise, but what makescrowdsourcing different is its inherent ability to adapt to changes on-the-fly.


Mobile ChallengesMobile applications come with

their own unique set of challenges.

Between Wi-Fi, 3G, Edge and all

their different behaviors, there are

so many angles you have to cover.

Until recently, testing for this

criteria would have beenimpossible, but crowdsourcing has

changed all that.

-Travis McElfresh,

-VP of Technology, 1Cast


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Benefits of Crowdsourced Mobile App Testing

Although the advantages of such an approach are numerous, heres a quick lookat what to expect when implementing crowdsourced QA for your mobile app:

Cost Control: Crowdsourcing allows managers to utilize lower-cost outsidesupport without being tied down by long-term commitments. The fundamentalstructure of online communities creates competition, making it more accountable,efficient and cost-effective than traditional outsourcing.

Dealing with Increased Complexity: Significant quality improvement is achievedwhen development and testing is done across a wider set of handsets, carriers,

locations and languages. Crowdsourced mobile app testers can be easilyrecruited based on a wide variety of criteria.

Faster Time-to-Market: Crowdsourcing enables you to ramp up or down to meetyour needs at any given time - eliminating the delays and staffing constraints thatoften stifle mobile app companies around peak release times.

Higher Quality: Customers expect their mobile apps to be fully functional andbug-free from day one. Companies that believe good enough is good enoughwhen it comes to quality and usability will learn a valuable lesson (the hard way).

Retaining Users: If your product has problems, or doesnt meet expectations, itseasier than ever for your customers (and prospective customers) to find yourcompetition.

32Benefits of Crowdsourcing

Why It Works

Because crowdsourcing is built

from the open source template,

any company looking to leverage

computer professionals has the

advantage of an audience already

familiar with the basic idea of

community production.

-Jeff Howe

Journalist, Wired.com


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Benefits of In the Wild Testing

HandsOn Device Interaction

On a simulator, you still use a mouse to touch the screen and simulate gestures.You also have a full-sized keyboard for data entry. Of course, this is very differentfrom using a mobile device.

First, a mobile device sits in your hand. Each of us likely has slightly differentways of holding and operating the device. For some, its done with one-hand usingyour thumb or a finger. For others, it might be two hands using both thumbs.

Second, theres the act of touching various screen elements like buttons andcontrols. This is much easier to do with a mouse pointer than a pudgy finger.

Based on the prior experience of many mobile testers, this difference is a criticalone, and the biggest, for testing application design and function. Using a mousewith the simulator, you do not get the full effect of having to scroll through a largelist view of items or having to play whack-a-mole on the screen with your thumbbecause button placement for navigating multiple screens is inconsistent.

Mobile developers are strongly encouraged to ensure that application testingbegins early, and happens often, on the mobile device itself rather than on asimulator. The same holds true for tablet devices.

33In-the-Wild-Testing

Mobile Testing Tip

Even on the same mobile

platform, screen sizes and

resolutions can vary based on

device type. For instance, the

screen size and resolution on the

HTC Incredible is different than

that on the HTC EVO 4G.Consequently, for an application to

have a consistent look and feel

across both devices and across a

variety of other devices, user

interface elements and graphics

need to be scalable.

-Web Trends, Mobile Analytics


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Benefits of In the Wild Testing

Screen Size and Viewing:

Even though the simulator application mimics the size of the iPhone screen, itsstill a different experience viewing an application on the device rather than amonitor. A screen that is readable on a simulator may not be and usually isntas readable on the device.

Data Entry:

No contest here. It would be a terrible mistake to develop an application thatsdata entry intensive and test it on a simulator, with full keyboard and mouseaccess, and believe that its ready to be released. Trying to type even a sentence

is a challenge on a touch screen keyboard.

Functionality:

In the world of mobile, there are some things you just cant test on the simulator.,including the use of accelerometers and location functions to name a few.

Todays mobile devices are pushing the boundaries of traditional applicationdesign and testing methodologies. While fundamentally still the same, thosemethodologies need to be applied in new ways, especially with regard to testingapplication usability.

34Screen Size, Data Entry and Functionality

Mobile Testing Tips

Interrupts: Test how the device

and application behaves when it is

interrupted by another action, e.g.

incoming/outgoing call, SMS,

MMS, video-call, low battery,

low/no connectivity.

Device Settings: Change thedevice settings: Date and Time,

Languages (Advanced regional

settings), Connections, Shortcuts

anything you have control over

and learn how each and combined

settings impact the device.

- Bernard Lelchuk


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Conclusion

Testing no longer has to be a neglected phase of mobile applicationdevelopment. There was a time when the testing matrix was indeed too complex,too burdensome to be completed using standard means. But thanks to the rapidevolution of crowdsourced testing, all that has now changed.

The companies that are now leveraging crowdsourced testing - particularly in themobile space - are gaining more of a competitive advantage than they perhapseven realize. As the mobile market doubles and triples in size over the nextdecade, those that have made testing coverage a priority will enjoy their ROI interms of increased market share, profitability and above all, user loyalty. Those

who continue to neglect the testing phase will struggle at best, and at worst, ceaseto exist. Its that simple.

Either way, the future of mobile applications remains bright. Once reserved for atech-savvy niche in the business world, the use of mobile applications is nowfirmly entrenched in the mainstream. Theres no turning back when it comes tomobile applications, and that includes methods for testing them.

For more on how crowdsourcing can complete your mobile testing efforts,chat with one of our QA gurus by clicking here or by calling 800.445.3914.

35Summary

Crowdsourced Capacity

Small development firms have

limited means today to beta test

and peer review their applications

with a cross section of

representative users.

Given the hundreds of thousands

of mobile apps, we believe that

efficient (crowd-sourced) testing

of apps in a global market of users

is considerably under-utilized.

- VisionMobile
http://www.utest.com/mobilehttp://www.utest.com/http://www.utest.com/contact-customershttp://www.utest.com/contact-customershttp://www.utest.com/contact-customershttp://www.utest.com/contact-customershttp://www.utest.com/http://www.utest.com/http://www.utest.com/http://www.utest.com/mobilehttp://www.utest.com/mobilehttp://www.utest.com/mobilehttp://www.utest.com/mobile


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APPENDIX: MOBILE PLAYERS

36


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Mobile Operating Systems

iPhone OS from Apple

The iPhone uses its well known operating system, the iPhone OS, which isderived from Mac OS X. The iPhone OS has four abstraction layers: the Core OSlayer, the Core Services layer, the Media layer, and the Cocoa Touch layer. Theoperating system uses roughly 500 megabytes of the devices storage. TheiPhone app store is the online market for downloading these applications. Thirdparty applications were not officially supported until the release of iPhone OS 2.0on July 11th 2008. Presently, XCode3.1 is the development environment and theapplications are written in Objective C (a variant of language C). There is no doubtthat the iOs will continue to be among the preferred mobile operating systems

worldwide.

Android from Google

Developed by Google, Android is an open source, Linux-derived platform backed

by Google, along with major hardware and software developers (such as Intel,

HTC, ARM, and eBay, to name a few). Together, they form the Open Handset

Alliance. This OS, though very new, already has a cult following among

programmers eager to develop apps for its flexible, Open Source, back end.

Android promises to give developers access to every aspect of the phones

operation. This lends many to foresee the promise of further growth for the

Android platform. Like the iOS, Android figures to remain a prominent figure in the

future of mobile application development.

37Appendix


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RIM Blackberry OSThe BlackBerry OS is a proprietary software platform, created by Research InMotion, for their BlackBerry phones. The OS is focused on easy operation and wasoriginally designed for business professionals. The Blackberry operating systemprovides multi-tasking and supports specialized input devices that have beenadopted by RIM for use in its handhelds, particularly the trackwheel, trackball, andmost recently, the trackpad and touchscreen.

The BlackBerry platform is perhaps best known for its native support for corporateemail, through MIDP 1.0 and, more recently, a subset of MIDP 2.0, which and allows

complete wireless activation and synchronization with Microsoft Exchange, LotusDomino, or Novell GroupWise email, calendar, tasks, notes, and contacts, whenused in conjunction with BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The operating system alsosupports WAP 1.2. Recently it has seen a surge in third-party applications and hasbeen improved to offer full multimedia support.

Linux Operating System

The Linux operating system is strongest in China, where it is used by Motorola, and

in Japan, where it is used by DoCoMo. Rather than being a platform in its own right,

Linux is used as a basis for a number of different platforms developed by several

vendors, including Android, LiMo, Maemo, Openmoko and Qt Extended, which are

mostly incompatible. PalmSource (now Access) is moving towards an interface

running on Linux. Another platform based on Linux is being developed by Motorola,

NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone.

38Appendix


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HP/Palm webOS

The HP/Palm webOS is Palms next generation operating system. PalmSourcetraditionally used its own platform developed by Palm Inc. Underneath the graphicaluser interface sits a software stack that has much in common with mainstream Linuxdistributions for desktop computers. webOS uses, among other components, theLinux kernel, Upstart, GStreamer as multimedia framework, libpurple for instantmessaging, Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) for game programming, PulseAudio foraudio management, and WebKit Applications for webOS are written in JavaScript,HTML, AJAX, and some other common web technologies. It supports streamingvideo in RTSP, H.263, and H.264 formats.

Bada from Samsung

The Bada operating system has a kernel configurable architecture, which allows theuse of either the Linux kernel, or another Real-time operating system (RTOS) kernel.The Linux kernel is the preferred choice for smartphones, while RTOS is used forcheaper feature-phones, due to its smaller memory footprint. It has a web browserbased on the open-source WebKit, and also features Adobe Flash. Both WebKit andFlash can be embedded inside native Bada applications. Bada offers interactive

mapping with Point of interest (POI) features, which can also be embedded insidenative applications.

Bada supports various sensors, such as motion sensing, vibration control, facedetection, accelerometer, magnetometer, tilt, and GPS, which can be incorporatedinto applications.

39Appendix


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Windows Phone 7 from MicrosoftOn February 15th, 2010 Microsoft unveiled its next-generation mobile OS,Windows Phone 7. The new mobile OS includes a completely new over-hauled UIcalled Metro. It includes full integration of Microsoft services such as Zune, XboxLive and Bing.

Windows mobile is based on the Windows CE 5.2 kernel, and features a suite ofbasic applications developed using the Microsoft Windows API. It is designed tobe somewhat similar to desktop versions of Windows, feature-wise andaesthetically.

Third-party software development is available for this OS, with several options fordevelopers to use when deploying a mobile application. This includes writingnative code with Visual C++, writing managed code that works with the .NETCompact Framework, or Server-side code that can be deployed using InternetExplorer Mobile or a mobile client on the users device. The .NET CompactFramework is actually a subset of the .NET Framework and hence shares manycomponents with software development on desktop clients, application servers,and web servers which have the .NET Framework installed, thus integratingnetworked computing space called the cloud.

It has been criticized for having a user interface which is not optimized for touchinput by fingers; instead, it is more usable with a stylus. However, unlike iPhoneOS, it does support both touch screen and physical keyboard configurations.

40Appendix


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Mobile Development Platforms

BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) from Qualcomm

Brew is an application development platform that was originally developed forCDMA mobile phones, but it also supports GSM for some devices. It debuted inSeptember 2001 as a software platform. It can download and run small programsfor playing games, sending messages, sharing photos, and the like. The mainadvantage of BREW platforms is that the application developers can easily porttheir applications between all Qualcomm devices. BREW acts between theapplication and the wireless device on-chip operating system in order to allowprogrammers to develop applications without needing to code for system interfaceor understand wireless applications.

J2me by Sun

Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) is Suns version of Java aimed at machines withlimited hardware resources such as PDAs, cell phones, and other consumerelectronic and embedded devices. J2ME is aimed at machines with as little as128KB of RAM and with processors a lot less powerful than those used on typicaldesktop and server machines. J2ME actually consists of a set of profiles. Eachprofile is defined for a particular type of device cell phones, PDAs, microwave

ovens, etc. and consists of a minimum set of class libraries required for theparticular type of device and a specification of a Java virtual machine required tosupport the device.

There are now more than 2 billion Java ME enabled mobile phones and PDAs.

41Appendix


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Mobile Development Platforms

LiMoThe LiMo Platform is developed by the LiMo Foundation (founded by a group ofcellular handset makers and network operators) for handheld devices, and it usesLinux as its operating system. It has a modular plug-in architecture, and supportsDRM. LiMo application developers will be able to use SDKs to write managed coderunning in a Java virtual machine, browser apps for WebKit, and native code.

Qtopia

Qtopia is a platform for embedded Linux devices that provides the end-user with aset of core applications, such as PIM applications (Address Book, Calendar and

Todo) and a Media Player. Qtopia provides the developer with a clean object-oriented API to write applications for an embedded device. Most of the APIpresented to the developer is the same API offered by Trolltech for cross-platformdevelopment between Windows, Mac and the UNIX/Linux. The same code can beshared and reused on all of these desktop platforms and now Qtopia is just anotherplatform to run Qt applications.

The Qtopia platform encompasses both the software that runs on an embeddeddevice and the software that runs on an end-user desktop. The software that runs onthe desktop, called Qtopia Desktop, allows the user to synchronize their data

between the embedded device and the desktop. Qtopia Desktop has built-inversions of the PIM application found in Qtopia. Qtopia Desktop allows developersto write plug-ins to synchronize their information.

42Appendix


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Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Bernard Lelchuk, Brad Sellick, JigarPatel and Anuj Gupta for their contributions to this eBook.

About uTestuTest provides in-the-wild testing services that span the entire softwaredevelopment lifecycle including functional, security, load, localization andusability testing. The companys community of 45,000+ professional testers from180 countries put web, mobile and desktop applications through their paces bytesting on real devices under real-world conditions.

Thousands of companies -- from startups to industry-leading brands rely onuTest as a critical component of their testing processes for fast, reliable, and cost-effective testing results.

More info is available at www.utest.com or blog.utest.com, or you can watch abrief online demo at www.utest.com/demo.

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