Is‌ ‌Manual‌ ‌Testing‌ ‌Inching Towards Extinction?

Manual testing is a process of verifying and validating a software by executing the test cases manually, without using any automation tools. 

As the name suggests, the degree of human involvement is very high in the manual testing process. With organizations now leaning towards CI/CD approach, automation has taken the front stage in the arena of testing. Let us first explore how Manual testing differs from automation and then analyze the doubt that is lingering in everybody’s mind – “Is manual testing is on the brink of extinction?”

Manual Vs Automation Testing

On careful examination of the above table, it is evident that Automation has advantages. But then so does Manual testing. In particular there are areas where manual testing has a clear advantage over automation.

Manual testing works best in following scenarios:

• For small scale applications
  Small scale projects work on a tight budget and timelines. Initial  investment required for automation setup is high. Automation cost may outweigh its benefits, which is not a desirable scenario for such projects. That is where manual testing steps in.

• For cost conscious projects
  1. Initial investments of setting up automation infrastructure may upset the budget of small projects.
  2. Getting skilled professionals for automating the tests adds to project cost

• For the applications with frequent changes in GUI
  Nothing can beat the human eye for detail which is required to confirm the visual test results. For example: quality of printing, colour coordination in a visual layout etc. You can read our blog “Automation is not enough – you need visual testing ” to understand the nuances of UI testing.

• Automation cannot replace cognitive abilities of the human mind
  1. Test cases need to be customized and tailored and in such scenarios, automation is ineffective.
  2. There may be applications which may need out of the box thinking process to design test cases. That is where human creativity and logical ability steps in.
  3. A good practice for comprehensive testing involves repetitions and variations in test cases. While automation takes care of repeated testing, it is the manual testing which adds the dimension of variation by introducing random testing scenarios.

• There may be cases where human intervention is required during the course of testing. Automation follows a fixed script and any changes in flow can directly affect the outcome.

• There are many mobile applications which are best tested in an ad hoc manner, especially for random load conditions or bottlenecks. There are cases which need to be done manually, like connecting to wi-fi, handling device permissions, handling hand modes etc. Such cases are better tested using a manual approach.

• Touch based testing like, tapping the device screen, gestures, fingerprint testing etc are better done manually.

Conclusion

Above section highlighted many cases where we still need Manual testing. Clearly, manual testing is still very much a part of the testing universe.
Automation is a boon for the testing process, but at the same time we simply cannot do away with manual testing completely. 
Automation has an unavoidable issue of reporting false failures. Infact, we have a very detailed analysis for this in our article “The bane of automation – false failures”. 
Striking the right balance between what to automate and what to not to automate is the key to a winning testing strategy. 
Optimization of resources, in terms of price and efforts, and timelines have to be considered before deciding on a testing approach. Ideally, a combination of different testing techniques should be used for a comprehensive testing. 

Webomates offers a regression testing service that uses AI Automation and automation supplemented with manual testing (test case based and exploratory-based) and crowdsourcing together to guarantee all test cases (even modified ones) are executed in 24 hours.
At Webomates, we continuously work to evolve our platform & processes in order to provide guaranteed execution, which takes testing experience to an entirely different level, thus ensuring a higher degree of customer satisfaction.
If you are interested in learning more about Webomates’ CQ service please click here and schedule a demo, or reach out to us at info@webomates.com

Tags: Automation Testing, Manual Testing