CategoryTesting

August 22, 2019 — As with many other topics in software development, testing and test driven development are often made needlessly complex in theory and implementation by placing too much emphasis on learning a wide array of testing frameworks. In this article, Ryan Kay will revisit what testing means by a simple analogy, explore concepts in software architecture which will directly result in a reduced need for testing frameworks, and some arguments as to why you might benefit from an attitude of minimalism for your testing process. Read more…

May 23, 2019 — In Kristofer’s previous article, he explained how the basic parts of a validation library can be implemented. While the next part will focus on improving the developer experience, today’s article will focus on adding more features to what was created in Part 1. Kristofer will continue implementing the validation library you started implementing in the previous part of this series. These are the features that are going to take us from a simple proof of concept to an actual usable library! Read more…

May 16, 2019 — Ever wondered how validation libraries work? In this article, Kristofer Giltvedt Selbekk will tell you how to build your very own validation library for React step by step. You will go through the process step by step, and you’ll find CodeSandbox examples as we go along. By the end of this post, you will know how to write your own validation library, or at the very least have a deeper understanding of how other libraries implement “the magic of validation”. The next part will add some more advanced features, and the final part will focus on improving the developer experience. Read more…

March 7, 2019 — If you haven’t already researched biometrics for your user testing projects, perhaps it’s something you’d like to check out as an addition to your current testing. Today, Susan Weinschenk brings you some new tools that are easy and inexpensive to use. Others may take more investment of your time and budget. Or you may want to bring in an outside firm that specializes in these tools. (Some suggestions for outside vendors are at the end of the article.) Read more…

February 11, 2019 — In this mobile-first world, there is no such thing as designing a website near-perfectly the first time around. While we know that more experiences with websites begin on mobile, converting those users continues to be problematic. The goal in mobile-first A/B testing is to inspire mobile visitors to keep moving through the experience. Even if the element you’ve chosen to test doesn’t directly lead to conversion, the improvements you make should eventually trickle down to that final step. Today, Suzanne Scacca will show you how with proper A/B testing for mobile-first experiences, you can change that outcome for your clients. Read more…

September 12, 2018 — Automated accessibility testing is a process where you use a series of scripts to test for the presence, or lack of certain conditions in code. These conditions are dictated by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a standard by the W3C that outlines how to make digital experiences accessible. Automated accessibility tests are a great resource to have, but they can’t automatically make your site accessible. Use them as one step of a larger testing process. Today, Eric Bailey will take a deep look into accessibility testing. Read more…

July 25, 2018 — Frameworks such as Espresso and Mockito provide easy-to-use APIs that make writing tests for various scenarios easier. The important thing to consider while writing tests is the units of responsibility that emerge as you design the new feature. The unit test should cover all possible interactions with the unit, including standard interactions and exceptional scenarios. In this article, Vivek Maskara will cover the fundamentals of testing and frameworks which developers can use to write unit tests. Read more…

May 11, 2018 — Smashing Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Rachel Andrew, attended the Google I/O 2018 event in Mountain View. We made sure you don’t miss out: Here’s a roundup of the announcements and launches that were presented at the event. To help you use the things announced, Rachel will be linking to the videos of those sessions plus any supporting material she’s been able to find. Read more…

April 12, 2018 — What is Selenium and how can it help you? Well, what if you were told that you could basically automate any task in your browser as if a real person were to execute it? Yes, you read that right. It is possible. In this article Nils Schütte will show you how you can spend less time testing the front end of web applications and still being confident that every feature will work fine. You will find a step-by-step example for automating and testing the login function of WordPress, but you can also adapt the example for any other login form. Read more…

March 12, 2018 — There are many different kinds of disabilities, however, there is a general agreement to categorize people with disability into four general categories: visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive. Including more diversity into your usability testing is vital for any product. In this article, Peter McNally provides lessons learned or tips to consider in planning and executing usability testing with participants with disabilities. Read more…