Testing software during development and prior to product launch is an essential part of the process. It ensures software meets user needs and works as intended. Automated testing, using technology such as AI and machine learning, has become increasingly popular in recent years, but there are many reasons why manual testing is still crucial.
Exploratory Testing
Manual testing is well-suited for exploratory testing, where testers use their domain knowledge, intuition, and creativity to identify unexpected issues and defects.
Usability Testing
Evaluating a software product’s user experience, usability, and design often needs human testing. The idea is to mimic a user’s real-world experience with the product, which often involves considering emotional responses that machines aren’t good at identifying.
Ad Hoc Testing
Manual testing is necessary to identify and validate issues when there are no predefined test cases for automated systems to work with.
Edge Cases
Human testing can better identify and test edge cases, which are often hard to automate, as they require a deep understanding of the application’s context.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
UAT is typically done manually to ensure that the software meets end-user needs and business requirements. Machines aren’t as good at identifying how a user may feel when using software.
Early Stages of Development
When applications and programs are in the early stages of development, they aren’t always stable. In this environment, manual testing is more practical than automation.
Complex Scenarios
Some complex test scenarios may be too costly or time-consuming to automate, making manual testing a more viable option.
Automated testing plays a valuable role in software development, especially where repetitive, regression or load testing is required. However, human judgement is still essential in many testing processes. This is the perfect example of humans and machines working together, leveraging the benefits of each to achieve a better result.
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