Mobile Compatibility Testing

Concepts

Compatibility testing is one of the more complex aspects of mobile software development. This is because the mobile world is much more diverse than personal computing, and mobile apps and websites are more sensitive to platform changes. The course is designed to provide software quality assurance professionals with the background and tools necessary to plan, design, and execute compatibility tests for mobile apps and websites. We will cover a variety of topics necessary for mobile compatibility testing: market statistics, target audience definition, sensitivity analysis, and more. The course will include several exercises and a group project.

Participants will learn:

• What are the challenges posed for compatibility testing by mobile devices
• How to analyze marker statistics and its relevance to mobile compatibility testing
• How to analyze the sensitivities of the system-under-test to platform change
• How to analyze compatibility risks
• How to plan mobile compatibility testing

Outline

• What the course is about
  • Scope: what do we cover in depth, what do we glance over, what we do not cover
  • Goals: what will we learn
  • Administrative items
• Intro: The importance of compatibility testing for mobile devices
• Statistics and target user groups
• Defining your target audience
• Finding out the prevalent platforms
• Spotting and extrapolating the trends
• Real users and user proxies
• Sensitivity
  • Platform
  • Operating system
  • Browser
  • Hardware
  • Carrier
  • Technology
• Which parts of your app and website are sensitive to platform-related factors
  • Native apps
  • Mobile and responsive websites
  • Hybrid apps
• Typical sensitivities and the ways to test them
• Risk analysis
  • Defining compatibility risks
  • Mapping compatibility risk for your app or website
  • Living with the risk: prioritizing, mitigating, and managing compatibility risks
• Group project: planning and executing compatibility tests for an app/website