How to Get to Market Faster with Test Automation

The video service industry has become increasingly competitive, and consumers’ expectation for a personalized, high quality experience is greater than ever before. At the same time, service providers are under pressure to launch new services quickly and must also continually adapt and improve their offerings in order to remain relevant. QA testing is an integral part of the development process and is used to ensure that a video service is efficient, contains minimal defects, and meets customer requirements. It is a means to identify bugs and any issues that could negatively impact on the viewing experience.While QA testing incorporates both manual and automated methods, automation is increasingly used to get the best results. In this blog, we’ll be exploring why test automation is used as well as highlighting some of the benefits it can bring.

‍Understanding automated testing

‍Automated testing helps make the software development cycle more consistent. It also speeds up the development process by identifying issues as early as possible, and help to improve overall product quality. The use of automated testing to identify problems early on, allows developers to start working on the fixes without waiting for human interaction.Automation also allows for more efficient working because, when not focused on time consuming and often repetitive manual testing, QA engineers can instead concentrate on more complex tasks such as bug investigation, troubleshooting, and testing new features. Although there is undoubtedly a place for manual testing in the development process, it is costly and time consuming when compared to automated testing, so is best used when human intelligence is necessary.On the contrary, some issues are unlikely to be found by humans, so using an automated testing process helps to eliminate the risk of oversight when it comes to minor misplacements or text typos. It also helps with maximizing test coverage, at the same time as speeding up execution in multiple environments. By assuring the quality of the deliverables, test automation helps to reduce the impact of any bugs found.

‍Getting to market fast

‍In software development, there is always a fine balance between reducing time to market and ensuring product quality. Test automation assesses the stability and quality of the product or service earlier than manual testing so products can get to market quicker, ahead of competitors, without compromising on quality.Additionally, finding bugs in the early and middle stages of the development cycle reduces the cost of failure in the process, saving valuable time with earlier verifications. When developing a video service for deployment on multiple platforms, automated testing allows for parallel tests to be run on different platforms so that the build delivered by the development team can be verified quicker.The overall development time is reduced because automated testing allows for faster bug detection, which also makes the development cycle faster. When it comes to evolving the video service on an ongoing basis, running repeated automated tests provides confidence that no functionality is left untested.

‍CombiningUI and API automation

‍As indicated by the names, UI testing is used to verify that the UI is behaving as expected, while API testing is a way of checking that the web API responds to requests from client applications correctly. Both approaches have advantages so rather than choosing between the two, it makes sense to incorporate both into the development process. With the right tools, it is often possible to run both UI and API automation tests simultaneously. This saves time and resources because the dedicated QAE team doesn't have to worry about context switches while the automated tests are running.

‍Reporting on test performance

‍Effective reporting is an important part of the test process because it enables current results to be compared with those of the past. Reports need to be clear and meaningful with detailed test data including coverage information, success/failure rates, and execution history. A variety of tools can be used to achieve this kind of information. Most of the industry standards include their own reporting modules, and, in addition to that, some of them also integrate with popular bug tracking or test definition tools. The generated reports can be viewed and linked to existing bugs, product requirements and user stories for added clarity.

‍Choosing the right test framework

‍Some testing frameworks are better for native apps, others for webview or hybrid set-ups. An experienced QAE automation team will work closely with the customer to determine which testing framework is best by assessing needs, deciding on automation techniques to develop, use cases to test, scenarios to include, and regressions to verify. The QAE team can then assess the optimal testing solution or tool for each product, such as Selenium-based web tools, Appium frameworks, native solutions for mobile or cross platform tools to test platforms, devices or CTVs.If you want your service to be of the highest quality, then automated testing is a clever way to get the best results through maximum test coverage, in a cost effective and timely-manner.To understand more about QAE and find out how Accedo can help you create a high quality, engaging video service, and get it to market quickly, get in touch.‍