Why Manual QA is Important in Software Testing

For example, imagine you are setting up accessibility testing for a web app geared towards children. You know that the application must adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). To ensure compliance, you use automated testing tools for their accuracy and consistency.

Manual testing on the other hand, does not require any tools, making it more economical in the long run. Moreover, since it is an entirely hands-on process, one would not have to worry about any up-front costs. Manual testing is a traditional method for all forms of testing that assists in identifying faults or problems in software. An experienced tester usually conducts this software testing procedure, but it is time- and resource-intensive.

Collaboration with the development team

Remember, it’s best to avoid automating your entire quality assurance strategy. It’s equally important to consider how different testing methods work in practice. Load testing a mobile game for example, is faster with automated tools than manual testing. Although the fundamental difference between manual and automated testing is straightforward, there are several ways to break those differences down.

This too is not easy to do, especially for smaller teams who are new to QA automation. In general, automated end-to-end tests are expensive, slow, and inconsistent unless well-maintained and well-written. Another challenge is that effective automation requires a robust strategy, stable systems, and relevant frameworks and processes.

Does manual testing require coding?

However, automated testing cannot replace human cognitive abilities, especially for emulating UX, detecting bugs related to UI and UX, understanding user behavior, and identifying non-coding errors. Manual testing, including exploratory testing and usability testing, is vital in the software development life cycle. To create stable software, teams should look to both manual testing and automated testing and make each one a core part of their SDLC. Manual testing is a software testing approach where testers manually evaluate software or application quality without the help of automated testing tools or test scripts. Testers interact with the system like how an end user would to identify bugs, defects, and issues in the software that create friction in user experience.

With manual testing, the QA team must be creative to think of and test scenarios where users can potentially cause errors, such as malformed data, empty mandatory fields, or database connection failures. They also need to simulate extreme cases that cause system overload to see how it responds. These scenarios don’t happen frequently, but when they do, the consequence is huge, and manual testing is the best way to test them. For example, previously the requirement was simply to test the login functionality if it accepts valid username and password, but now the requirement includes password strength verification. Software development is a highly dynamic process with requirements constantly changing, and human testers can adapt to these changes quickly by adopting a new test approach. Only a human tester with adequate product knowledge and, most importantly, real-world perspective, can identify that.

Quickly fixes bugs:

● Manual testers can test an IoT device’s edge cases to verify that it works properly in unexpected situations. ● Manual testers verify the security of an IoT device against unauthorized access and harmful software behavior. ● Log defects for encountered issues or deviations by providing detailed descriptions, reproduction steps, and supporting material such as screenshots or error messages. ● Manual testing will continue to become more important as software becomes more complicated and fully integrated. Automated testing will continue to play a role, but it will never completely replace manual testing.

In many cases, a combination of both manual and automated testing is the most effective approach to ensure comprehensive and high-quality software testing. The recent decade has witnessed a tremendous shift in the Software Testing industry from manual testing to automation testing. Automated tests cannot compare to attentive, detail-oriented human eyes carefully checking the application for discrepancies or bugs. One reason is that human testers can test the features and functions that automated tests cannot accurately emulate. Today, most teams have adopted Agile and DevOps principles, so the development and QA teams work collaboratively throughout the SDLC.

Difficulty In Test Management

User experience is probably the biggest reason why manual testing is important. We all could use valuable criticism from time to time (even developers!). When it comes not just to functionality but also to first impressions, there’s no replacement for the human eye. You may wonder, given the fact that there are advantages and disadvantages of manual testing, that you should go in for automated tests itself.

• ” – and this liberty of experimentation is something automation testing just won’t be able to deliver.
• If used effectively, test automation can provide enhanced test coverage and reduce errors.
• If the satisfaction of the end-user is your goal, automated testing cannot fully replace manual testing.

In order for a QA professional to understand how to code a test script, they must first determine the expected findings. As a result, manual testing is still the most viable option in several instances. With today’s technology, automated testing cannot achieve every possible goal.

There are better approaches than manual testing for situations requiring repetitive testing (like regression testing) or high precision (like performance testing). If the satisfaction of the end-user is your goal, automated testing cannot fully replace manual testing. While automation tools offer consistency and excellent test coverage, manual testing is essential for ensuring a good user experience. Both QA automation testers and QA manual testers play crucial roles in ensuring the quality and functionality of software. However, they differ in their approach to testing and the skills they require.

Another major issue with manual testing is that tests can’t be reused like automation testing where tests are stored as automation scripts, ready to be executed whenever needed. Manual testing usually can’t be recorded in any form except for documentation on test results or test planning. In other words, every test execution manual qa training is a new execution, which is why sometimes testers happen to discover a bug but can’t replicate it. Manual testing requires testers to spend additional hours manually checking every feature and function of the application. This takes up more time than running automated tests, which requires only a fraction of that time.

Test case development

Manual testing can never be avoided entirely as it is a continuous process that requires human verification at regular intervals throughout the software development lifecycle. As a result, teams need to find the right balance between manual and automated tests. To conclude or in short, there is no absolute substitute for manual testing. While there are advantages and disadvantages of manual and automation testing, it’s important to weigh all the pros and cons and then make a decision.