Checklist For Mobile Usability Testing

When people get introduced to the term ‘Mobile testing’ for the first time, they mistake it for some highly technical job. In reality, mobile user interface testing is almost same as the traditional website testing on the desktop computer. The smartphone growth has exploded in world lately. People from the developing countries are consuming lot of content on the smartphone directly. These people have skipped desktop, laptop and table as their primary screen and directly move to the mobile. Lot of innovation is happening in the smartphone usability space due to increased use of applications, browsers and websites. Here are things you must know about it.

Those who are absolutely new to the mobile usability testing should understand that it is basically about how the platform works on the smartphone, which is the primary screen for people today. Today, people are accessing everything from television shows to medical insurance updates on the smartphones. Therefore, all companies, governments and service providers want to make their website compatible for smartphones. You can do that by using simple tools such as usability software. Running these tests with actual user will give some valuable inputs. Conduct some basic usability tests such as scrolling, tapping and zooming.

If you want to document the mobile usability testing, then use smartphone screen recorder app. This app creates a video file of all activities happening on screen. You may face problems with screen recorder on testing apps on the iOS platform. You can use some third party recorders after jail breaking the Apple product. But screen recorders are not perfect. These recorders fail to show user’s expressions and gesture on the screen which are crucial for the test. Developers are countering this with most basic idea. They are just mounting another camera over the screen while people are using the app or website on phone.

Conclusion: Mobile usability testing is a must today. The smartphone market has exploded in last five years and majority of services are planning to move online. Screen recording and user interface tests with actual people is a way to go.

Summary: Screen recorder is a best tool for mobile usability testing. It records all the screen movements during the testing. Some testers also record the gestures and expressions of the user during the mobile usability test.