Beginners QA Testing of Websites

Who I Am...
Part of the team at Lucidus, an Internet Strategy & Services Firm interface designer; HTML/CSS developer

QA tester
Analytics and usability consultant

Regional account manager

The South Florida office

What We Care About:

The Commodity Is Not As Important As The Way It Is Delivered.
We deliver a proven process that combines engineering precision with creative flexibility

What is Quality Assurance?

QA is part of all good production processes. Quality Assurance (QA) is part of the process that ensures:

quality in work activities are being performed effectively the product meets requirements

Whats unique about Website QA?

Its Not Equal

Website QA has some differences:

functions, benefits and production costs

are not as easily measured as a physical product

when a website is deployed, it is not

necessarily complete... it lives, it evolves, is updated. Finished is a term applied for the purpose of releasing it for use.

The Challenge
Processes and methods to manage, monitor, and measure quality in websites and apps

can be as fluid and elusive as the defects

they are meant to keep in check. For processes and methods to be most effective, you need to implement both web

standards and company guidelines.

QA Testing is not limited to Usability or Cross-Browser Testing

Usability is an essential part of QA
Cross-browser testing is tests for acceptable display in modern browsers

QA

QA tests the entire process, including functional accuracy

Function, Design and Usability

The Benefits of QA
Improved client satisfaction: profitable relationships, good testimonials, waves of referrals Reduced cost of development: fewer defects, streamlined and simplified stages of development, retesting runs smoothly, deployment on time, on budget

Reduced cost of maintenance: good development is less troublesome to support, support is costly

Methodology of QA
Validation testing: entering erroneous data to test for an expected result

what is the expected result?

should this error have happened?

if this error is likely to happen, is there any way we might prevent its occurrence?

Form Validation

character limit, add more chars than the field do the unexpected, try to break the form form submits when numbers or characters are entered in the fields:

1,2,3,4,5 etc.

Methodology of QA
Data comparison: compares the output of an application to previously entered data

if the appropriate data types are entered, are we getting the correct result? does the way the page delivers or displays those results make sense?
is there anything about this part of the application that should be more

Data Input vs. Output

does it make sense? any inconsistencies with the data entry? test and change the data entry and see if output updates the same way

Methodology of QA
Usability Testing: tests out how users actually use a website, to match it more closely to what user needs

is the user doing what we expected in the manner we expected? are they finding and performing tasks? where are the weaknesses in the design?

where and why are tasks not being completed?

how can we assist the user?

Usability

does it make sense?

how can we improve the design?

how can we help the user know what to do?

how can we assist workflow?

Testing often and little is far more valuable

and cost effective than doing one whopping big usability test of an entire site when it is almost finished. - Steve Krug, Dont Make Me Think

Testing Guidelines

Test by developer repeatedly as critical sections are finished, to validate functionality Test when all sections are ready and code complete not involved with the site in any way new to the website (dont ask them twice) familiar with the web in general Use an outside user or colleague who is: colleagues may provide very useful feedback

Learn the requirements

Examples of requirements:

A streamlined, purposeful interface that is easy to understand and navigate, with obvious links, and no clutter Forms use inline validation to assist user

Actions which cannot be undone should ask for confirmation

An online forum where users can add topics, edit their posts, and comment

Gather use cases from the developer and account management team
Use cases specify how users carry out a task in the website. Examples include:

Complete application start to finish

Start, Save, then Continue later Change status; Verify update to status Filter and reorder list Add or Edit an item Search for an item

Draft a Checklist for the tester for what to test

Content spelling, grammar, mechanics all critical information is present titles, headers, and navigation labeled correctly Graphics and layout image quality download time text layout alignment of elements color accuracy

Browser compatibility check on different platforms check on different browsers Functionality form validation erroneous data input vs. output meets expectations makes sense

User preference font size and link colors

Draft a questions for the tester to ask during testing

Does the user: gets the point of the page(s) understands the navigation system can guess where to find things. In a general test you want to know: how do users interact with the web site? what is difficult to do? where do they get lost? what makes sense to them? what makes them feel distrustful or insecure? what do they like and hate? In a specific test you might want to know, for example: can the user accomplish a key task? can the user find something specific

Create a testing matrix

Then... Test!
Test in all browsers needed to meet requirements:

Firefox 2 Safari Internet Explorer 6 Internet Explorer 7

Document findings!!!

Get the Benefits

No surprises late in the game
You KNOW it works and can stand by it confidently

You can sleep at night

Happy clients

Long-term clients
Deliver real value

Thank You! Resources and Q&A

Designing the Obvious: a common sense approach to web application design by Robert Hoekman, Jr.

Hoekmans Design Description Documents http://rhjr.net/ddd/

Web Commandments http://rhjr.net/eReader/webCommandments.html About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design by Alan Cooper & Robert Reimann The Elements of User Experience: User-centered Design for the Web by Jesse James Garrett

Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning by Dan M. Brown
Website Checklist http://www.chromaticsites.com/web-designblog/2008-05-26/the-official-successful-website-checklist-challenge/