Manual Testing refers to testing the software application without the help of any automation tools. Manual testing is done to ensure that all the client specifications with regards to the application are rightly accomplished. There are certain tools that support manual testing. Manual testing tools find any software bugs and defects and highlight them to the testers. The testers rectify and try to overcome them.
Why Manual Testing is still followed in the industry?
- Accurate User Experience: Definitely there is a need to check if the application is user-friendly or not. Because user-friendliness is the main criterion that decides if your app will stay with users or be uninstalled. And this cannot be checked using an automation tool. Only a human can feel what another human would think about using the app. Hence in this aspect, manual testing is the key. Although smoke tests can be used to assess usability, manual testing is far more convenient in this regard.
- To check the accuracy of automation testing: Automation testing tools do not provide results with 100% accuracy. Errors do occur while testing. Hence manual testing tools come to the picture for making the corrections in the test script.
- Scenarios That Cannot Be Automated: In many cases, the limitations of a given technology or platform prevent software testers from running automated tests. This can arise when the cost of automated testing is significantly higher than the cost of manual testing, or when the testing scenarios are too complicated to automate. In such cases, software testers must rely on manual testing to appropriately evaluate fundamental product functionality.
- Cost: Automated testing can help your software development team complete more tests in less time. However, reaping the cost-cutting benefits of automated testing takes time. Investing in automated software can be several times more expensive than manual testing in the near future. Hence this is another reason why companies still prefer manual testing tools.
- Complex Testing scenario: Software testers are prohibited from creating test cases in advance when using exploratory testing. It’s typically used in highly complex testing scenarios that aren’t covered by predefined test cases. As a result, predicting which automated testing scenarios will be the most effective in a given situation is impossible. To create complex test cases, we’ll need manual testing.
- Testing small Projects: You usually have to pay high to acquire an automation tool to automate the test cases. But in cases where you have small projects to test, it becomes difficult to spend on a tool. Aside from that, they have high administration and maintenance expenditures. Given the requirement to create and reevaluate testing scripts as well as set up settings and processing times, the overall expenses are likely to be substantial. Although this expenditure is worthwhile if you want to work on long-term projects or sell high-ticket products, the same cannot be said for smaller projects. Project managers are tasked with completing smaller tasks on a tight budget. In small projects, the costs associated with automated testing can drastically affect income.
- Agile Tests: Software testers in an agile environment must work with regular feedback and handle changing needs in the user interface, product flow, and, in certain cases, core functionalities. At the same time, in agile environments, these volatile changes might have an impact on regression testing scripts. It’s no surprise, then, that even common testing automation instances may require significant agile changes. Furthermore, if the testing team needs to entirely rewrite the pre-written test cases as a result of changing requirements, important resources will be wasted.
Conclusion: Manual testing tool has a lower initial cost and takes less time. Also it allows us to more effectively evaluate user interface requirements and perform exceedingly complicated test cases. To get the greatest software testing results, we need to use both automated and manual testing methodologies.
Caroline is doing her graduation in IT from the University of South California but keens to work as a freelance blogger. She loves to write on the latest information about IoT, technology, and business. She has innovative ideas and shares her experience with her readers.
