How To Create Mobile App Testing Scenarios

Mobile app usage has become an extension of normal human life. Mobile devices have compressed our daily activities to become easier, simpler, and more convenient. Rapid mobile application developments are happening to fulfill the user’s requirements which means they require thorough testing to ensure a quality user experience. 

Testing carried out with proper documentation has the best track of the process and proper testing of complex functionality. For proper tracking, test scenarios and test cases are created and should get approved by the business team.

This article gives you an understanding of creating mobile app testing scenarios, but first, let’s understand the documents in testing.

Documentation is critical in Testing

Documentation is the key to any Testing and is essential to start any testing. Adequate documentation in any testing project helps the team for a smooth job.

In STLC (software test life cycle) testing team will get the Business Requirement document and Functional documents from the business team. Next, a test plan has to be prepared and should be approved by the business team. A test plan is a testing artifact that describes the testing process.

It has information about the scope of testing, test team details, test environment, test strategy and methodology and estimations, test data requirements, and test tools information. Some projects have a separate test strategy document. It is a high-level document of guidelines and principles of testing.

In Agile Testing, the test plan for each sprint has to be prepared for the given user stories. Once the test plan is finalized and approved, the testing team can design test scenarios. 

• The test scenario describes the functionality of the requirement. 
• Test cases define the step-by-step procedure. 
• Test scenarios are created based on the BSD. 

RTM (Requirement Traceability Matrix – document mapping user requirements and test scenarios) will be prepared based on BSD and user requirements. Documents created for testing are test plan, RTM, Test scenarios, Test cases, and Test Reports with the actual result.

What is the Difference Between Test Cases and Test Scenarios?

Test cases and test scenarios are both integral parts of software testing, but they serve different purposes and have distinct characteristics:

Test Case

A test case is a detailed description of a specific test that needs to be executed to verify a particular functionality or aspect of the software. It consists of the following components:

1. Test case ID: A unique identifier for the test case.
2. Test case description: A clear and concise description of the test case, including the input data, expected outcomes, and any preconditions.
3. Test steps: The sequence of actions to be performed to execute the test.
4. Test data: The specific data values or conditions required for the test case.
5. Expected results: The expected outcome or behavior when the test case is executed.
6. Actual results: The actual outcome or behavior observed during test execution.
7. Pass/Fail status: Indicates whether the test case passed or failed.

Test cases are typically created at a granular level and focus on testing specific functionalities or features. They provide detailed instructions for executing tests and serve as documentation for the testing process.

Test Scenario

A test scenario is a high-level description of a particular functionality or behavior to be tested. It outlines the broader context or situation in which multiple test cases are executed to validate the system. Test scenarios have the following characteristics:

1. Scope: Test scenarios cover a broader scope than individual test cases. They encompass multiple related test cases that are grouped together to validate a specific functionality or user flow.
2. Business perspective: Test scenarios are often defined from a business or end-user perspective. They focus on real-world scenarios, user interactions, and system behavior.
3. Context: Test scenarios provide the context or background for the testing activities. They describe the sequence of steps or events leading to the execution of test cases.
4. Test case coverage: Test scenarios outline the test cases that need to be executed to cover the desired functionality or behavior. They serve as a way to organize and prioritize test cases.

In essence, test scenarios define the broader context and purpose of testing, while test cases provide the detailed steps and conditions to execute individual tests. Test scenarios guide the creation of test cases and help ensure adequate coverage of the system’s functionalities or behaviors. They provide a higher-level perspective, while test cases offer a more granular view of the testing process.

Test Scenarios and Test Cases for Mobile Applications

Now, let’s explore the basic test scenarios required for mobile application testing

Test Scenarios Examples for Functional Testing

1. Installation testing –check if the application properly gets installed in your device, verify with multiple cases like for storage capacity of mobile, network speed, security, and supporting software ( if anything exists).
2. Check if the user can launch the application and check for the sign-up option.
3. Verify if the user can log in to the application and explore the screens.
4. Verify the application has the proper view as per the screen resolutions
5. Check the functionalities on the screen like the back button, submit, and save button.
6. Verify for the screen navigations and zoom options.
7. Check the behavior with an interruption and how the application behaves like a call, SMS alerts, and other application notifications.

Test Scenarios Examples for Usability Testing

1. Check by changing the internet options, Wi-Fi, on switching to mobile data.
2. Check the application performance in different networks like 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G
3. Check the application behavior in operating systems like android, iOS, and Microsoft 
4. Verify for compatibility on different devices.
5. Check for readability of the text and if any broken links exist.
6. Check for the application in low battery mode.

Test Scenarios Examples for Cross Platform Testing

1. Check the URL in different browsers.
2. Check the application behavior in operating systems like android, iOS, and Microsoft 
3. Verify for compatibility on different devices.

Test Scenarios Examples for Visual Testing

1. Verify the application has the proper view as per the screen resolutions
2. Verify if the application supports any screen captures.
3. Check for alignments and GUI issues.

Mobile App Test Scenario and Test Case Example

We take the example of a mobile application for online grocery shopping that delivers household items fruits, vegetables, milk products, bakery items, etc. 

First, we need to do a sanity test of

• Mobile app installation process
• Application launching and loading of all pages
• The successful purchase of any grocery product. 

Then we can move on and start actual testing with designed test scenarios and test cases.

Below is a sample test scenario and the test case for launching the application.

Overcoming Challenges in Mobile App Testing

Challenges are common in any line of work how you deal with it matters. Testing doesn’t have an exemption for this. Here let’s see some of the common challenges in mobile app testing and how you can overcome them.

1. Diverse Mobile Brands 

Mobile application testing can be affected based on the mobile device used. Applications have to work as expected on all devices. Application functionality and performance may vary in devices because of the operating system, storage capacity, screen size, etc. To avoid device fragmentation, testing needs to be performed on different mobile devices, and testing on different original devices will be challenging for testers.

BrowserStack’s App Live can overcome this challenge as testers can test mobile apps on real devices like iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus, Pixel, OnePlus, etc without opting for a costly device lab. 

2. Unique Operating Systems

An operating system is a key to any mobile device. It is the interface between the device and application programs. Based on the manufacturer, mobile devices have different operating systems like Android, iOS, Microsoft, etc. Each operating system has its features and has different versions based on changes, so testers have to consider all the feasibility and design test scenarios to cover all aspects. 

For web-based applications, different browsers will come into the picture where cross-browser testing and cross-device testing also need to be done. Regression testing is required as updates usually happen in operating systems and browsers frequently. So tracking all these changes becomes easier for the testing team.

Start Regression Testing

3. Mobile Application Types (Native, Hybrid) 

A mobile application can be a Native, a Web app, or a Hybrid app. Testing for individual applications is different. We cannot test all the mobile applications as mentioned in traditional methodologies. Some applications may store data on mobile devices, and other applications may not. Data communication may be faster for applications storing the data in the device. We need to understand the application behavior before designing the test scenarios.

BrowserStack’s App Live is the manual testing platform for native and hybrid mobile apps while App Automate can be used for  Automated testing for native and hybrid mobile apps.

4. Different Test interfaces

Even though testing on real devices is accurate and effective, practically purchasing all devices and testing is expensive. So as an alternative, mobile emulators and simulators are fine for simulating features of mobile devices. Emulators can imitate both hardware and software. whereas simulators can duplicate only software, not the hardware. 

However, we cannot test all the real-time scenarios, the application behavior with interruption of call or SMS, low battery conditions, camera access scenarios, and low memory conditions. Sometimes they may lead to false results due to a lack of real-time user interactions.

Again, BrowserStack’s AppLive has the features to test push notifications when AUT ( application under test ) requires access to the camera testers can test and take pictures as a part of their testing.

5. Mobile Network

Mobile networks have a high impact on any mobile application performance. Generally, the testing of mobile applications is in perfect network conditions. But in reality, there will be challenges of network connections, slow network, loss of connection, no signal, interruptions which will impact application performance, data loss, and sometimes applications may hang or crash. 

BrowserStack AppLive allows you to throttle network speed for testing. Users can test even in slow network conditions and also can test the app functionality and performance under real-world conditions like poor connectivity, loss of network, and changing network speeds of 2G, 3G, and 4G.

Conclusion

Testing mobile apps will have challenges from documentation to execution; designing detailed documents will help in smooth testing, and choosing the right platform makes the tester do effective testing.

BrowserStack provides a well-rounded testing infrastructure for mobile application testing in both manual testing and automation testing scenarios. Testing on real devices without configuring any test environment and a secured cloud environment makes for the testing team’s job well done.

Test On Real Device Cloud