The State of UI Testing

  April 06, 2018

The vast majority of end users focus on the aesthetics of the software they use and are often blind (to our dismay) to the underlying elements – APIs, code - that make the product functional.

Usability is assumed. Whether it’s a mobile device, tablet, desktop application, or website, consumers expect buttons to be clickable, form fields to be typeable, and text to be legible. They shouldn’t be scrolling left to right on smartphones and if they’re navigating to learn more about your business, they’d be unpleasantly surprised to find themselves on an email subscription page. No thank you.

UI testing keeps bugs from reaching production by validating that the visual elements of a piece of software look and behave as expected. A single pesky issue can take down giants, cost an exorbitant amount of money, and drive customers right into the hands of your competitors. This is why testing matters, and why GUI testing is a vital an unavoidable step in the software development lifecycle. It’s a surefire way to keep your end users happy. But the process is much easier said than done.

There are many approaches to building, running, and analyzing GUI tests. Scripting or recording. Manual vs. automated. What about running tests in the cloud? Teams around the world implement a myriad of tools practices, all with the same end goal.

So how do you conduct your GUI testing efforts? Check out the infographic below to see what the most common UI testing techniques used today are, where the industry stands in shifting from manual to automated UI testing, and what global battles are. To learn more about the state of the testing industry, from API to cloud-based testing, check out our full State of Testing Report.

If you’re looking to get started with UI testing, or need to boost your test coverage, give TestComplete a try.