Crowdsourced Testing

Crowdsourced testing is an emerging trend in software testing that exploits the benefits, effectiveness, and efficiency of crowdsourcing and the cloud platform.  It differs from traditional testing methods in that the testing is carried out by a number of different testers from different places and not by hired consultants and professionals. The software is tested under diverse, realistic platforms, making it more reliable, cost-effective, fast, and bug-free.

What is Crowdsourced Testing?

In later years, software testing has emerged as an essential element in the software development life cycle. Customers are allocating a percentage of software development finance for testing because it will increase brand value, and at any cost, no customer wants brand value to be compromised because of some software bug.

When the word testing comes to our mind, we think about test cases, test plans, test reports, and other software test life cycle processes, which we normally call functional testing. Nowadays, Crowdsourced Testing, generally called Crowdsourced Testing, is done before the release of the software, i.e., the software is ready for going into production. As the term crowd, i.e., group of testers, users do exploratory testing of an application. Normally, companies perform two types of Crowdsourced Testing.

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Who’s involved in crowdtesting?

Crowdsourced testing allows you to tap into a large, global pool of testers available around the clock. With a broader set of people conducting tests in a diverse range of conditions, you’re more likely to find and fix any bugs.

Crowd testers are not a replacement for in-house QA teams. However, they can be a valuable asset in enhancing existing capabilities and meeting swings in demand. In-house QA teams have invaluable product knowledge and alignment with company values and goals, which makes them an essential part of any company.

Best Crowd Testing Companies

Consider the following questions when choosing a crowdsourced testing company for your app.

1. Does the company have verified testers?
2. Has the company tested your niche application before?
3. Can you perform location-based tests with the company?
4. Know what types of devices the crowd testers use – simulators or real devices?
5. Who Moderate the test results?

In this guide, I’ll show you some websites where you can find freelance work testing web and mobile applications. This is a great way to earn money while doing something you’re already good at – testing apps!

Here is a list of popular crowdsourced testing service providers.

Global App Testing

Global App Testing is the go-to partner for tier 1 engineering & QA teams worldwide, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Instagram, and many more. Global App Testing’s services reduce your time and effort on testing, provide access to global testers for real-world results, and help you deliver much higher-quality applications.

Digivante

Digivante is a crowdfunded testing company changing the digital quality landscape on online platforms. By bringing high-quality digital experiences to market faster, Digivante is breaking down barriers between businesses and customers. Digivante’s human approach blends testers and tech to deliver fast and comprehensive testing you can trust in your digital product’s future.

test IO

Testlio is a company that pioneered the idea of networked testing. Networked testing is a modern approach to crowdsourced testing, where businesses can get their software tested by a global network of experts. Testlio’s testing management platform and robust client services make getting your software tested quickly and efficiently easy.

QA Mentor

QA Mentor has a vast network of over 12,000 testers from around the globe, representing 182 countries. Every project is overseen by a dedicated Test Coordinator, who manages testing delivery from start to finish. Its platform stores test cases, and defects for all crowdsourcing projects to ensure easy client access.

CrowdSource Testing Vendors

A number of crowdsourcing websites are available, such as those below

• http://www.crowd4test.com
• http://www.crowdsourcehire.com
• http://testarmy.com
• https://mycrowd.com
• http://www.utest.com
• https://userbrain.net
• https://www.usertesting.com
• https://usabilityhub.com
• https://www.rainforestqa.com

Testers from all over the world register themselves at their respective websites. They are mostly testers, leads, etc., working in the IT field and joining these websites to earn some extra income. Applications under test are uploaded on these websites and made available to testers for testing.

Internal Crowdsourced Testing

Before the release of the application, testers from within the company on different projects come together and perform exploratory testing.

Crowd Testing Details

• In crowdsourced testing, the customer has a huge financial benefit as the tester is paid not for the amount of time devoted to testing but for the total number of bugs found.
• The severity and priority of the bug also decide its payment.
• A team of crowd testers is assigned one manager to a single project to look over the testing activities and review bugs & reports.
• Crowdsourced testing reveals many bugs even if company functional testers test an application.
• Yes, Crowdsourced Testing can also be named beta testing.
• Crowd testers register on the crowd website for second income and gain knowledge to work with different teams and domains. These websites conduct knowledge sessions for their crowd testers from time to time.
• Testing is mainly done for mobile applications and games.
• An outcome of testing is gathered by feedback & bugs and shared with the customer.
• The customer appreciates the feedback from testers who act like real users. Many crowd companies share feedback through videos of step-by-step navigation of applications with a customer.
• Crowd-testing companies charge the customer based on bugs found or the number of tester’s hours spent.
• Crowdsourced Testing companies pay testers based on bugs found and their severity & priority.

 Benefits of Crowdsourced Testing

• Real application bugs are identified in Crowdsourced Testing, as the application is tested outside the company network in the real world.
• A huge number of testers can be hired for a short time.
• Companies cannot be sure the application is tested on all available devices & platforms. Through the crowd, customers can opt for the application that should be tested on the mentioned devices & The testing application is provided to only those crowd testers supporting those devices asked by a customer.
• Localization testing for different languages and geographic locations is possible as crowd testers are available from around the world, and the customer can avail of the benefit of localization testing at no additional cost.
• As an app, early feedback is made available to testers, and testing starts as soon as it is uploaded on the crowd website. It continues 24×7 because testers are available from different time zones. So, it gets a big list of issues in a day or two.
• CrowdTesting is much cheaper as compared to testing done by functional testers.

 Few Drawbacks of Crowdsourced Testing

• Confidentiality of application is shared with testers worldwide; though testers in crowd companies abide by confidential agreements, it lacks somewhere as crowd testers work part-time jobs.
• If the tester finds no bugs, then no money is earned by the tester. Also, if the bugs found are trivial, the amount earned is much less.
• Group discussion and sharing info with a team of testers is tedious as they work at their own timings, locations, etc.
• Sometimes, testers take less initiative as it is not their full-time job.
• Quantity is inefficient, and no bugs are found.

Crowd Testing is NOT a replacement for functional testing. Share your comments.