Why Software Testing Is Necessary For Your Success

Software Testing in the Software Development Cycle

When you think about developing custom software, a lot of topics come up. For example, what is the purpose of the software? What technologies are required for your software? Or how to make it attractive to the end users? There are plenty of progresses and stages to consider, yet most of the time people tend to forget one of the most important stages of the software development cycle: software testing.

Software Testing is Different From Software Development

But shouldn’t the developers do the testing themselves - one may ask. Yes, but that’s not enough. The basic knowledge that all developers know is it is very hard to test your own software. It’s like trying to criticize your own baby. You gave birth to it, how can it ever be wrong?

Another issue is that not all developers are trained to find bugs. Testing is a very repetitive process that requires patience and an unbiased view on the software. Developers are trained to develop not only the best and most effective software, but also solid and adaptable in all situations. Testers, on the other hand, are trained to break down software and find any possible ways that software can fail to deliver certain tasks.

Reasons Why Software Testing is Important

Let me break it into details why software testing is vital to your success and required for the best quality possible for your software.

Improve the Quality of the Software

As above, software testing is needed to find out any possible bugs that exist even in unforeseen situations. Some bugs cannot be found in normal circumstances, until a problem happens and it’s too late to fix. It is almost impossible to have bug-free software, and sometimes testing and fixing software brings about even more bugs (crazy right?), but it is still better to prevent than facing and fixing your issues at the last minute.

For example, your software allows people to shop online and get their items delivered to their doorsteps. Your UIUX is flawless, and initially, people love using it. However, after a few days, reports start flying in. “If I put something in my cart and cancel the transaction, the item is stuck in my cart”, “I got charged twice”, “I cannot figure out if I am getting my refund or not”, etc. Your rating goes from 5 stars, to 1 star, due to all the small bugs that you never noticed during development.

This shows that in order to launch a good product, it is important to test your software properly. It is harder to restore trust in your end users if they experience a buggy software, especially early on as they are less likely willing to come back after all the improvements are done.

Security

Security leaks happen. If you are running a software that has information related to people’s financial or credit documents, you are risking the safety of important data. Hackers have known to target software that has access to personal information, whether it is your customers’ identities, or their bank accounts, and if your software is vulnerable, you are losing out on a lot more than just information.

This is why security testing is one of the most important steps before launching any product. Failure to do so might net you a huge fine and reputation loss from your users. Sometimes, it is not even about superficial materials such as money, but lives are at stake. If you are running software that can affect people’s life, for example, airplane software, or a surgeon software, you are in charge of real lives which are impossible to compensate for.

Customer Satisfaction

Yes! What is the use of software when your customers aren’t satisfied? Have you ever downloaded an app and absolutely loved it until you run into very, very stupid bugs? Sounds common, right? Sometimes, it’s the UIUX that gives your users bad vibes - sometimes, it’s the payment system. While sometimes, something just doesn’t feel right, you know?

For example, I love booking my flight tickets with Expedia, but their refund process is just… you know. It’s not that major that I just ditch Expedia as a whole, but it makes me sigh a lot when I have to go through the process of filing for a refund because the app fails to make it easier for its users. 20% of the time, people stop using an app for its customer service, while 80% of the time, it’s the app itself.

So please, test your software before you launch, especially if you are not very well-known in the market. The technology world is so advanced and competitive that even a small bug is enough to make people switch to another app that offers the same benefits, but better user experience.

Costs

A big big plus for any business is the importance of costs. Why would software testing save costs? It’s easy to explain. Imagine having a bug that is so game breaking that you have to rebuild your whole software from scratch. Sounds horrible right? That is also one of the reasons why software testing should be done through the development and not just at the end.

Simple Math, if it costs $100 to build a software within 10 hours, and $10 to test the software for 1 hour, and the software runs smoothly, it costs $110 total for your software. However, if it costs $100 to build the same software within 10 hours, then rebuild the same software for… another 5 hours because there is a bad bug that makes the game unusable, the cost goes up to $150. Don’t wait till the last second to fix things, because that wastes more time and money than checking everything before your next step.

Imagine if you download a banking app, then somehow, the app rewards you with $10,000 in CASH! Wow, that might sound like an amazing surprise for your users, but how much would it cost you to fix that bug? Let that sink in a little.

So Yes, Test Your Software

Software testing is a must, not an option. It boosts your software quality, consistency, and is crucial to your success. Furthermore, it gives developers a sense on what to work on to improve the software quality and attract more customers. In addition, from time to time, a bug might be game-breaking, or life-threatening, that it will be too late to fix it once you have figured it out or after the accident is caused.