If you are into software development, then you must be aware of how crucial the testing process is to the overall development process. Let me brief you on the basics! Software testing is a proven way to find the bugs that are affecting the quality of software. There are two types of software testing - manual testing and automation testing. The major difference between manual and automation testing is that in manual testing, humans perform the tests step-by-step, and in automation testing tests are executed automatically using automation frameworks along with other software and tools. 

In this post, we’ll be talking all about manual software testing and how it can help in delivering a bug-free product. Let’s find out the details.

All About Manual Testing And Its Role In Software Testing

Manual testing is when the QA experts manually execute the test cases to identify the bugs. It is done to find critical bugs, identify the software defects, and understand where exactly to fix the problems. Basically, it aims to check the flaws and ensure the high quality of the product.

By doing manual testing, any business can gather accurate feedback from the client and identify the problems that usually went unnoticed. Not just that, the best part of using manual testing is that it helps in saving time and costs in the whole testing process. 

Benefits of Manual Software Testing

High-Quality Software: Manual testing helps in finding defects in software. This ensures that the end-user always gets high-quality software.

Early Bug Identification: Manual testing helps in identifying the errors before embedding other functionalities. This helps in saving the time and cost that might happen if the changes are made at a later stage.

Checks Both Functional And Non-Functional Requirements: The QA needs to think and act like the end-user perspective to analyze the product’s usability, performance, and user experience.

Stages of Manual QA Testing

Integration Testing

In the integration testing stage, the QA understands how the various components of the software work. The primary purpose of this stage is to check the communication between the system components and the transfer of data systems. 

System Testing

It involves the testing of a system of integrated modules to find if it meets the product requirements. The QA team performs several tests such as - stress, regression, and functional. During this stage, the tester can test both the business requirements as well as software architecture to complete the end-to-end testing procedure.

Acceptance Testing

This stage gives a real view of the software. Before you make the software go live, you need to analyze how the world will perceive it. The main motive of this type of testing is to find whether the software meets the customer requirements. Basically, it is the final phase of product testing.

Not just that, the acceptance testing helps to identify the bugs before making the final release of the product. This includes both the internal and external acceptance testing, helps in determining the customer needs, and analyzes the ways that can help them in providing satisfying results.

How to do Manual Testing

Here is the list of steps that are taken in the manual testing process. 

• The first step to begin the manual testing process is requirement gathering. This begins by understanding the app and what exactly the end-user expects. In this step, all the documents are reviewed, the study of existing integrations and systems is done, and interacting with the stakeholder is carried out to analyze the business requirements clearly. After gaining this information the testing strategy and implementation plan are formulated.

• Next, a requirement analysis is done to formulate a testing strategy and testing implementation plan. It has been observed that the sooner the tester analyzes the bugs, the cheaper it is to fix them. Plus it saves time as well. The test strategy or test plan helps in determining how the QA will carry out the testing process. The document so created holds the testing scope and goals that describe how the testing will be performed.

• Now, the test cases are created based on both the non-functional and the functional requirements.

• Execute the log defects and the test cases.

• Here, the retest of the bug fixes that are implemented by the developers are considered and regression testing is performed to ensure that all the features work perfectly and don't impact other functionings.

• The test reports are shared with the stakeholders for feedback and recommendations. This should be a detailed document covering all the information on the test cases as well other details.

• Lastly, to create action items so as to prepare the notes improving the product and taking corrective actions.

Final Words

All in all, manual software testing helps in checking the product’s quality and speed and provides users with a bug-free product. It also helps in identifying the software nuances much earlier than required, thus saving the overall cost and time in the software development process.

If you are looking for some expert manual testers, then we can back you with the best team of experts. Contact us to get acquainted with the best resources. Good luck!