Mobile browser usage is increasing every day. For e.g.
40% of the TTO Traffic is from mobile
devices. Similar trends are seen in other BUs within Intuit. Consumer expectations for mobile
websites are higher than ever. Even with smart techniques like mobile-first responsive
design, testing a site before delivery is critical due to the overwhelming variety of mobile
devices that are available to consumers.
Current State:
Currently there is no automated company wide platform available for enabling the mobile web
testing on real devices. The BU teams are currently doing mobile web testing manually by using
the browser and sauce labs.
Industry trends in mobile web testing:
The following methods are the some of the standard ways to test a mobile site:
1. Test on Real Devices: Testing on a real mobile device is always an ideal one as it gives
the real user experience that cannot be 100% simulated.
Pros: Some of the critical user experience factors like variable network conditions, pixel
densities, the relative size of tap targets, and real page load times can be tested real
time.
Cons: Need huge investment in mobile device test suite.
2. Android and iOS simulator: The emulators for iOS and Android are mostly designed for
testing native apps, but they also include the default web browsers for each device
which will show you a very good approximation of how pages will be rendered.
Pros: Good approximation to show real network conditions, page load times, the
relative size of tap targets, and other details that can be gleaned from physical devices.
Cons: The iOS simulator is a tool available within Xcode which is MAC only. If you are on
windows, then you have to test with another method. Android simulators have many
quality issues and you might run into running the test on real devices.
3. Test on SauceLabs/BrowserStack: The testing of mobile web on the vendor grid i.e.
Saucelabs/BrowserStack provide the access to desktop and mobile devices so that the
web professionals can test their site.
4. Resize the browser: The responsive behavior of a site can be quickly checked by resizing
a desktop browser.
Target State: TEP is targeted to be a company wide mobile web testing platform. The Mobile
Web Testing solution should enable the user to test on real devices, as it is always best to test
on the real device, since there are many parts of the user experience that cannot be emulated.
