To understand UI testing, you first have to understand the user interface. A user interface is the part of a software that users will interact with, and this part of an app can make or break it in terms of its viability with users. The design of user interface, or UI, as well as its functionality, is so important that developers will focus a great deal of their testing on ensuring that the UI is meeting critical standards.
To determine if a UI is performing as expected and is accessible for a variety of users, it is important to conduct UI testing. UI testing is the process by which a developer will test the visual elements of a software in order to verify that these elements are in good working order according to the requirements for its functionality and performance. These types of tests will make sure that your software is bug-free before it is accessible by your end user.
Some common features that will be included in testing for user interfaces are:
UI testing can be conducted one of two ways: manually or through automated software.
Manual UI testing means that you not only create the parameters for testing, but you go through the testing process yourself. For instance, if you wanted to test that a search bar had a functioning search feature, you would have to go to the search bar yourself and try to search something with it. This process can be tedious when you are working with a variety of elements and scenarios, especially if you are testing across browsers or devices and testing the same elements repeatedly.
That is where automated UI testing can be so helpful. By using automated testing, you can simply input the parameters for your test to the automated software and have the tests run while you move on to other tasks. This style of testing saves you time and hassle, and it bypasses the possible errors that can occur with human-conducted testing. In short, automated testing ensures accuracy, speed, and efficiency.
User interfaces can exist in different forms. Namely, users can either interact with a graphic user interface (GUI) or a command line interface (CLI).
There are several differences between the two that define them in the eyes of the users. For graphic user interface, the name is indicative of the interaction that the user will have with it. That is, users interact with graphics—or visual elements—and the information on the page is presented in text, videos, images, etc.
CLIs are not as intuitive as GUIs. This is because there is no visual selection of elements on a CLI. In fact, CLIs rely on written commands in order to function. With a CLI, the user interacts with a terminal or console window that allows them to input commands and receive a response from the system.
Most automated UI testing frameworks follow the same basic process:
Whether you choose a manual or automated UI testing framework, be sure you test the following aspects of your software.
In order to make sure that your user interface is working properly, it is essential that you test the functionality. Functionality testing looks at the functional specifications of a software and performs tests that will validate the system against these requirements.
Responsive design testing sees that your app is able to adapt to different screen sizes without compromising the actual usability of the software. This style of testing ensures that all visual elements will resize and rescale depending on the viewport.
Cross-platform compatibility seeks to make sure that software is optimized for mobile, tablet, and desktop users. More than this, this type of testing makes sure that all of your visual elements are consistent and function identically across platforms.
Scalability is your software’s ability to handle increasing workloads. That is, it defines how much traffic your software is capable of handling and how increasing workloads affects usability. Checking for scalability in your UI testing ensures that you are prepared for exceptional workloads and helps you to ensure that your app can handle its expected traffic without failing.
Given the number of users that exclusively or primarily use their phones for accessing websites and applications, it is important that your software is equipped to work smoothly on mobile platforms and allows mobile users to access all necessary elements to make their experience seamless.
Image resolution needs to be enough to maintain the clarity of the image, but images with too high of a resolution and size will cause a slow loading speed, which can affect the user experience and lead users away from your application. Furthermore, the placement of images needs to be consistent across platforms and devices.
There are a number of factors of a software program’s copy that need to be checked, including:
Loading speed is one of the pillars of UI testing. With slow enough speeds, users will navigate away from your software, and this could ultimately kill your user experience all together. You must determine the threshold for maintaining your users’ attention while keeping the visual elements of your UI high quality.
There are several benefits of automated UI testing, including:
Automated testing is the ideal solution for your UI testing. If you would like to start UI testing your software, contact us today for your free trial of Ranorex Studio.
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