Case Study: Eliminating the Stress of Testing to Focus on Engineering

Testing is now commonly integrated into connected product development, from software to mobile devices, IoT applications, product ecosystems and networks. The focus on improving quality is to be welcomed of course, from a consumer perspective quality and user experience are paramount. But unfortunately, testing can also be a major burden for development engineers. However, with careful use of automation, valuable engineering time can be saved that would otherwise be spent on repetitive and inefficient manual testing.

The Burden Of Testing On Engineers

Engineering time is best spent on product and software development and innovation. But with complex interoperability and rapid integration demands, rigorous testing is required to ensure products are stable and ready for market. Often this can result in engineers repeatedly going over the same test cases, spending as much time on testing as on actual development.

Integrating automated testing into the product development pipeline can save engineers a lot of time and stress. Once the test process is defined and configured, automated tests are fast, accurate and efficient. They can be repeated as often as required with only a button click required to initiate a new test run. Plus, large volumes of tests can be carried out concurrently, often across networked automated test platforms. Results are provided immediately to facilitate timely fixes and product improvements.

When To Introduce Automation

It is important, however, to consider the best time to introduce test automation capabilities. Automation requires investment, and time is required to set up and configure automated test cases and scripts.

In general, the advantages of automated testing are most apparent where there is a large volume of tests required to capture real-world complexity and high numbers of use case permutations. Machines thrive on the kind of repetition that humans hate. So automated tests are ideal to liberate engineers frustrated with the demands of repetitive testing. The entire production process is accelerated and engineers can focus on what they do best, developing new products and innovative solutions.

Automated testing is also of great value where there are multiple product configurations. Different hardware platforms, networked ecosystems or operating system variations can all play havoc with a product’s real-world stability. Realistically, it can be next to impossible to account for every possibility and boundary condition in manual tests. In contrast automated tests can run concurrently with every conceivable variable, bringing big savings in engineering time. Plus, they improve product quality and provide confidence for robust performance in real-world settings.

The burden of manual product testing can leave engineers stressed and overworked, and less able to focus on what motivates them. And yet testing is ever more important for product development. Automated testing releases engineers to focus on engineering and innovation and delivers a leap in performance for development teams that enables better quality products.

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Please contact us today to speak with one of our specialists about how automated testing can help maximise the time-value of your engineering team.