Crowdtesting, also known as crowdsourced testing, has emerged as a popular approach to software testing, including video games. It traces its roots back to the early 2000s when companies began harnessing the power of online communities to test their software products. Since then, Crowdtesting has evolved into a robust and efficient method for ensuring the quality and reliability of video games across various platforms.
Crowdsourced testing is utilized by a wide range of companies in the gaming industry, including indie developers, established game studios, and publishers. It offers a cost-effective solution for testing games on diverse hardware configurations, operating systems, and network conditions, ensuring compatibility and optimal performance for players worldwide.
Technology Companies: Tech firms, including software startups and established technology companies, leverage crowd testing to validate their applications, websites, and digital platforms across different devices, browsers, and operating systems.
Gaming Industry: Video game developers and publishers utilize crowd testing to conduct comprehensive testing of their games on various platforms, including consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. Crowd testing helps identify bugs, gameplay issues, and performance optimizations across diverse hardware configurations and network conditions.
E-commerce Platforms: Online retailers and e-commerce platforms employ crowd testing to ensure the functionality, usability, and security of their websites and mobile applications. Crowd testers help identify user experience issues, navigation glitches, and potential security vulnerabilities.
Financial Services: Banks, financial institutions, and fintech companies use crowd testing to validate the performance, security, and compliance of their banking applications, trading platforms, and payment systems. Crowd testers help identify potential risks, vulnerabilities, and regulatory compliance issues.
Healthcare Sector: Healthcare organizations and digital health startups utilize crowd testing to validate the functionality, usability, and data security of their telemedicine platforms, health tracking apps, and patient portals. Crowd testing ensures that healthcare applications meet stringent regulatory requirements and provide a seamless user experience for patients and healthcare professionals.
Automotive Industry: Automotive manufacturers and technology companies developing connected car solutions rely on crowd testing to validate the functionality, safety, and user experience of their infotainment systems, navigation apps, and driver assistance features. Crowd testing helps identify issues related to connectivity, voice recognition, and software integration.
Travel and Hospitality: Travel agencies, airlines, and hospitality companies leverage crowd testing to ensure the performance, usability, and reliability of their booking platforms, mobile apps, and customer service portals. Crowd testers help identify bugs, user interface issues, and performance bottlenecks that may impact the customer experience.
Education and EdTech: Educational institutions and edtech startups use crowd testing to validate the functionality and usability of their learning management systems, educational apps, and online courses. Crowd testers help identify usability issues, content errors, and accessibility barriers that may hinder the learning experience for students and educators.
Crowdsourced testers, often referred to as "crowdtesters," are individuals from around the globe who participate in testing projects through dedicated platforms and communities. These testers come from diverse backgrounds and possess varying levels of expertise, allowing for comprehensive testing coverage and real-world feedback.
They bring with them their own histories of gaming, personal devices which help to add further to the diversity of your test suite and .
Crowd testing can be beneficial at various stages of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and can complement other testing methodologies. Here are some key stages where crowd testing can be particularly effective:
Pre-Launch Testing: Prior to releasing your software product, crowd testing can help identify issues, bugs, and usability concerns that may have been overlooked during internal testing. Crowd testers can provide valuable feedback on the user experience, functionality, and performance of the application across different devices, platforms, and network conditions.
Compatibility Testing: Crowd testing is valuable for ensuring compatibility across a wide range of devices, operating systems, browsers, and screen resolutions. Crowd testers can help identify compatibility issues that may arise on specific hardware configurations or software environments, allowing developers to address them before release.
Localization Testing: If your software product targets a global audience and requires localization into multiple languages, crowd testing can help validate the accuracy and cultural appropriateness of translations. Crowd testers from different regions and linguistic backgrounds can identify language-related issues and ensure that the product resonates with users worldwide.
Usability Testing: Crowd testing is particularly effective for gathering feedback on the usability and user experience (UX) of your software product. Crowd testers can perform tasks, navigate through the application, and provide feedback on the intuitiveness, accessibility, and overall usability of the interface.
Load and Performance Testing: Crowd testing can supplement load and performance testing efforts by simulating real-world usage scenarios and traffic patterns. Crowd testers can help identify performance bottlenecks, scalability issues, and response time delays under varying load conditions, allowing developers to optimize the performance of the application.
Post-Release Monitoring: Even after your software product is released, crowd testing can be valuable for monitoring its performance, gathering feedback from real users, and identifying any issues that may arise in production. Crowd testers can report bugs, provide suggestions for improvements, and help maintain the quality and reliability of the product over time.
Crowdsourced testing offers several advantages for video game developers:
Diverse Testing Environments: Crowdtesting enables games to be tested on a wide range of devices, platforms, and network conditions, ensuring compatibility and performance across various setups.
Scalability: With access to a global pool of testers, Crowdtesting can scale quickly to accommodate large testing projects and tight deadlines.
Cost-Effectiveness: Crowdtesting offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional testing methods, allowing developers to pay only for the testing they need without the overhead of maintaining an in-house testing team.
Real-World Feedback: By leveraging the diverse perspectives of crowdtesters, developers gain valuable insights into user experiences, gameplay issues, and performance optimizations.
Crowdsourced testing differs from both outsourced testing and in-house testing models:
The crowdsourced testing process typically involves the following steps:
Crowdsourced testing can be an effective staffing model for video game developers looking to leverage diverse testing resources, scale testing efforts, and gain real-world feedback from a global community of testers. However, it’s essential to consider factors such as project requirements, budget constraints, and the need for quality control when evaluating the suitability of Crowdtesting for your specific testing needs.
Crowdtesting is not needed for every game or application, and depends on the size and complicity of your game or application as well as your intended target audience. However, Crowdtesting is a great means of letting a largest audience play, test and evaluate your game, and can provide new insights into what audiences like and did not like, as well as uncovering issues that only a larger user base, using different devices and Operating systems along with game configurations will uncover.
If you would like to know more about Crowdtesting, please feel free to ask us at XQA, we have successfully organized Crowdtesting and managed the feedback and interaction with the Crowdtesting team and can help you get the most out of your experience with this QA type.
