Types of software testing: Crowd Testing

What is Crowd Testing?

Crowd testing is a dynamic test scenario in which a group of testers mainly deals with analyzing the outputs for specific specific inputs because they do not know or see the source code or use the black box technique. This form of black-box testing covers both functional and non-functional aspects such as performance, reliability and safety. Currently, crowd testing usually involves verification and validation tests (in particular, user acceptance). The verification test aims to eliminate the defects that cause errors in the software (black-box functional test). In the validation test, however, the user performs a test to determine if the system meets their needs. Another important part of software testing concerns usability: “the extent to which a product can be used by specific users to achieve specific goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specific use context” – which is often also part of of user tests and therefore of crowd testing.

Areas of application of crowd testing

The Crowd test has a very wide applicability range:

Identification of functional bugs
Identification of bugso issues of usability
Identification of bugs due to:
1. Use of a device in the conditions of everyday use: more open, different installed, …
2. Use of a device in the daily use context: different operators, different connectivity conditions [signal level, network latency, operator, security policy].

Construction of the crowd test

To build a Crowd testing you need the following actions:

identification of the paths to be verified
1. if blindtest (free access to the app is left): the crowd is not pre-recorded
2. if not blindtest: prepare documentation to instruct the crowd so that they solicit the desired sections and functions
crowd selection according to 3 carriers:
1. type of terminal owned
2. demographic parameters [application target]
3. previous confidence level with the app / process in question
identification of crowd numbers
1. on average 10 to 30 subjects
2. generally the number of the crowd is inversely proportional to the complexity of the task being submitted

Applicability limitations of the crowd test

Crowd testing is also able to perform complex tasks involving external elements (mobile use, accessories, personal accounts) but the complexity of the crowd’s instruction process is directly proportional to the complexity of the submitted tasks, as well as the complexity of the process of data collection.
device coverage is generally less than an automation test
however well structured the test result must be subsequently processed manually or semi manually
no matter how well the crowd needs a strong garrison.