Automated testing may be increasingly gaining currency, but it doesn’t exclude the need for manual testing. Proper manual testing in UAE improves application usability, particularly during user acceptance testing.

Automated tool can visually verify requirements whereas manual testing is the best option to quickly verify requirements and features. Manual testing techniques permits exploratory testing and let you check for changing requirements in a shorter time than automated testing.    

Manual techniques also lowers cost and time when properly carried out. Although it is essential to understand the importance of manual testing in delivering top grade software, it is even more crucial to avoid the following seven common mistakes that many testers make.   

1. Testing Without Knowing the Requirements

Many a time we are included in a project and asked to start testing without knowing the requirements. At times, there may not be any test cases or user stories.

For many projects, the actual requirements method used is mostly undocumented. Hence proceeding to testing without any understanding of the requirements can lead to false positives or negatives with features erroneously marked as having passed or failed. This leads to missing features and software ridden with bugs, and is a waste of time, resources and money. 

Without requirements, you may end up making to and fro trips to the developer to try to determine the right way the application should function.  In that case, testers become the source of product requirements, which can result in a totally different product from what the client needed. 

2. Not Fixing Time for Exploratory Testing

Exploratory testing, can come in handy when a system has little or no requirements, if implemented properly. It is also beneficial in agile environments, where requirements change or when the testers are learning the product or user test cases.

When you fix a time for exploratory testing, the replicability of found issues is increased and time spent on testing is reduced. Moreover, the issues and questions raised are neatly documented and tracked. An experienced tester should clearly define the scope and goal following an exploratory testing.

There are instances when testers become so engrossed in testing a feature or trying to recreate a bug that they fail to stay aware of time. When they finally realise, they might have a huge pile of pending task.

3. Not Setting Your Priorities Right

Prioritizing is essential in determining the success or failure of a project. Suppose you perform 80 out of 100 test cases and omit around 20. But when the project is delivered by your software development company in UAE to the client those omitted cases might turn out to be crucial to their business.

You might not have caught up in such cases always, but to be on the sure side prioritize your test cases and the overall testing effort. Make sure to involve all parties concerned – the client, test managers, product owner, project manager, and development team. 

4. Testing after Code Deployment

Requirements and features are constantly evolving in agile development. So, it would be ideal to start testing as early as possible. Coordinate with the developers to go over the requirements and review their work before they deploy it to the testing environment. 

5. Incorrect Defect Reporting

Reporting a bug is equally important as finding one. Adequate defect reporting allows for the identification of and timely resolution of the bugs. If the defect report is vague or let alone incomplete, the developer will lose valuable time trying to understand the bug and effect release time.  The bug reports are a communication vehicle between the tester, the developer, and other project stakeholders. 

Project tracking software with links to web based test management tools can be used. Such tools usually have suggested fields to ensure that your defect reports are as clear as possible. 

6. Failure to Implement Traceability Across Project Lifecycle  

Tracking a project empowers all the stakeholders involved- the project managers, clients, and the development teams on decision making. Moreover, it can help the test manager or project manager to determine whether all requirements have been accurately met.

Traceability can also be used to determine if the entry and exit criteria for testing have been met. 

The following are a few questions to be considered while executing tests:

Are the prioritized test cases closely linked to the requirements?

Are the defects that are found linked are either linked to a test case or requirements?

7. Not Performing Causal Analysis

A detailed causal analysis helps you find a final solution for reported defects and prevent the chances of recurrence. Causal analysis saves a lot of money over time because the cost of fixing defects increases the more you are into the software development process.

Testers gain more respect if they report the bugs along with the solutions. Also, testers can have a better understanding about how the system works and can therefore develop more robust tests for the system. You can do this by first identifying the root cause, then analysing the causes behind the issue. It might be the result of insufficient requirements, negligence or a wrong assumption, design gaps, or deployment issues. And, work alongside with other stakeholders, and zero out the time of occurrence of the issue. 

Begin with the Team

Manual testing still play an important role in the software development cycle in Dubai, so it’s important to avoid the mistakes listed above. But testers can’t perform this out of thin air; all stakeholders should engage in the testing process to ensure that you never make any mistakes.