Your client is underestimating app testing resources. How will you convince them of the importance?

Proper app testing is important for risk mitigation, as it identifies and addresses potential issues before they impact users. Underestimating testing resources can lead to undetected bugs, security vulnerabilities, and poor performance, which may result in negative user experiences, decreased app ratings, and costly post-launch fixes. Investing in comprehensive testing ensures a reliable, secure, and user-friendly app, safeguarding your brand's reputation and minimizing the risk of costly errors and user dissatisfaction.

It is NOT the client's responsibility for finding bugs. Stress to the client that their testing is end user acceptance testing. Does the solution meet the requirements? Up front should be simple user stories. Given a precondition, when the user attempts actions, then this is the expected result. This is pass/ fail. On fail, either the client did not make clear the objective or the developer did not understand the objective. Every other test falls on the responsibility of the developer. Developer: Acceptance testing failures are the most expensive defects to fix. Stub intermediate behavior like data access and focus on end user actions and expectations. Client: Make sure the developer understands what is expected. Don't assume, but inspect.

When you skip testing, you're not actually saving anything, but you're putting your brand at risk. It's not just an app; it's the representative of your brand, and if that app crashes after the launch, that would put your brand image in jeopardy. That's why we perform testing to avoid all the chances of failures, bugs, and errors, ensuring a smooth user experience and protecting the app's reputation or your brand's reputation. While post-launches and fixes may cause more trouble and be more costly in comparison to pre- or testing,. You must've heard prevention is better than cure.

The QA team is just as important as the development team. While developers work hard to create bug-free code and perform unit and integration testing, and even if code coverage is excellent, there are still some bugs that only a fresh set of eyes—like those of a QA team—can catch. Negative testing and user acceptance testing (UAT) are also important before launching the application. If end users encounter bugs after the launch, it can lead to a loss of trust in the product.

Quality Assurance (QA) is essential to ensure your app functions correctly, meets user expectations, and adheres to performance and security standards. By rigorously testing through unit, integration, system, and user acceptance tests, QA identifies and addresses potential issues before release, reducing the risk of bugs, performance problems, and user dissatisfaction. Investing in a robust QA process helps deliver a reliable, high-quality app that enhances user experience and minimizes costly post-launch fixes.

Automated testing is the solution. That said, developers a loath to code to test driven development unless they are trained or forced. If someone else writes the unit, UI and integration tests then the developer focuses on writing code to pass the test. The tests are the specification and design documents that developers need and in a format that is understandable.

Beyond unit and integration testing, gaining trust in a product requires thorough testing across different screen sizes and devices. The UI/UX plays a significant role in providing a great user experience. Even if an app is bug-free and performs well, end users might still encounter navigation issues or find the functionality difficult to understand. Therefore, educating the end user and conducting comprehensive UI/UX testing are essential for ensuring a smooth and intuitive experience.

User feedback is very important for refining your app and enhancing user satisfaction. By actively soliciting and analyzing feedback through surveys, reviews, and in-app feedback mechanisms, you gain valuable insights into user needs and pain points. This allows you to make data-driven improvements, prioritize features that matter most to users, and address issues promptly, ensuring that the app evolves to better meet user expectations and maintain high engagement and satisfaction.

User feedback has a place in development, but know who provides the feedback. Early adopters may not be the same as mainstream users. The best solution is a team that has successfully built and marketed products for the intended end user. I look at competing products and customer complaints and compliments. End users are receptive to a learning curve if it is worth their time. Sometimes a new feature gets responses like 'I did not know I needed this'. Sometimes the feature is ignored. Is it ignored because it is not noticeable, try placing it in a prominent location. Summary: Better than direct user feedback is a way to measure what users are doing. How long on an activity, how much time to navigate. Collect these metrics and evaluate.

After completing all testing, we follow a practice of releasing the app to a small user base and asking them to use it and provide feedback. We gather insights on any issues they encounter, whether related to navigation or functionality, as well as their overall impressions of the app. We then use this feedback to make revisions and improvements wherever possible. Once we are truly confident in the app’s performance and user experience, we proceed with a full release.

Cost efficiency in app development involves optimizing resources to achieve the best outcomes while minimizing expenses. By prioritizing features, leveraging reusable components, automating testing, and using cost-effective development tools, you can reduce development and maintenance costs. Additionally, investing in thorough planning and early-stage testing helps prevent costly revisions and fixes later. Balancing quality with cost ensures that you deliver a high-value app without overspending.

Continuous improvement involves regularly refining your app based on user feedback, performance data, and emerging trends. By iterating on features, addressing issues promptly, and incorporating new technologies, you can enhance functionality, user experience, and overall performance. This ongoing process ensures the app remains relevant, competitive, and aligned with user needs, fostering long-term user satisfaction and engagement.