Advice for Digital Quality Initiatives in 2024 and Beyond

Try as quality assurance professionals might, 2023 was another year packed with software defects. No, it was not a perfect year in digital delivery — if there is such a thing — despite the sophisticated efforts of software development teams around the world. But the brands who appeal to their customers and limit the proliferation of defects can surely succeed in the digital landscape.

At Applause, we’re passionate about helping brands across many industries meet their digital quality goals. Not only do we help clients all around the world improve testing coverage, but we share our insights in various forms: blogs, ebooks, podcast episodes, reports and more.

Let’s recap some of the top Applause content from 2023. Catch up on what you missed with the links below — it might just be a difference-maker in your digital quality strategy in 2024 and beyond.

Internal and external testing expertise

There’s no shortage of places where a functional defect can occur. The proliferation of mobile and smart devices around the world, not to mention the many browsers they support, allows defects to escape to the user, even with a sophisticated and comprehensive digital quality strategy. Add to that the many different features and integrations modern apps entail, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for defects.

The onus is on organizations to be as thorough as possible in identifying and remedying defects. This means being resourceful and efficient with testing resources to ensure as little wasted time as possible. It takes the effort of the full organization to succeed in digital quality — not just testers. And that means adopting shared goals and measuring yourself against digital quality benchmarks to ensure success and progress over time.

When the might of the internal organization isn’t quite enough, crowdtesting lends a huge hand in filling gaps. Whether you need a pool of international testers for a new-market launch or domestic testers that possess a specific device, crowdtesting opens up a literal world of possibilities. Because of the gigantic scope, many organizations don’t know how to get started with crowdtesting, or how to onboard a partner effectively. Once these challenges have been overcome, it’s essential to measure the operational efficiency of crowdtesting services to drive value over time.

The internal testing practice must also stay sharp, which can sometimes mean a return to the basics. Determine the objective of testing in the first place. If an individual or team lacks the skills to test effectively, a variety of resources can help them learn, which not only helps the business but can boost motivation and happiness.

Testers are a creative bunch. They use unique perspectives and approaches to discover defects that eluded designers and developers. Tester creativity goes a long way toward helping organizations achieve their digital quality goals, which is why all tests can’t just be set on autopilot. The human perspective is key, and inspiration can come from all sorts of strange places, even a galaxy far, far away.

Usability for all

One huge digital focal point is motivated by a combination of ethical, regulatory and profitability concerns. Digital accessibility is a growing imperative for many businesses, but it’s not easy to keep up with evolving global regulations and new technologies that can help or hinder your customers’ ability to access digital products.

Start with the basics to grasp the component tasks of accessibility testing. Develop a plan to educate and prioritize accessibility within the organization. As with functional testing, accessibility testing isn’t an ornamental feature slapped onto the end of a build. The earlier you plan for accessibility, the better you can develop, test and release with best practices that enable the largest number of potential customers to use your products.

Organizations that build an inclusive design program can unlock business benefits, reduce risk and prove they value customers of all abilities. In all, most organizations are making progress with digital accessibility, according to respondents in our Digital Accessibility and Inclusive Design Survey. Effectively testing these equitable experiences, however, requires some sophistication. Some elements of accessibility testing can be automated to reduce the burden on existing teams, but limitations hamper that approach.

If you encounter internal pushback with accessibility initiatives, remember that the approach is a value-add in the long run, especially as industries start to invest more money in inclusivity programs Better usability through accessibility testing not only encourages customers to return to your products or services, but also helps stave off costly court battles.

The potential and danger of AI

When we look back, experts will regard 2023 as a monumental year in AI advancement. AI and machine learning, and the ease with which they can be applied, will disrupt industries for years to come — including software development and testing.

The businesses that embrace generative AI will likely find themselves at a competitive advantage, but it will require a thoughtful and resourceful approach. With billions of dollars set to push expansion and evolution in the generative AI market, a nimble test plan is necessary — one that can evolve with regulatory standards and emerging technology.

Many AI optimists will see generative AI as a means to optimize usage, but it also introduces quite a bit of risk. Potential generative AI missteps include:

• bias

• hallucinations

• irrelevant data

• inaccessibility

• privacy violations

• copyright infringement

• customer dissatisfaction

Poor-quality, or even problematic, data sets will undermine even the most intelligent data operators, be they human or machine. This underscores the importance of high-quality and representative data, not always a given, even in our data-obsessed world. As more public- and private-sector decisions are informed by AI, it’s paramount not to underscore the dangers of harmful data, particularly when it comes to underrepresented or repressed classes.

It’s no easy feat to mount a full-scale data collection operation, particularly if the collection encompasses multimedia artifacts or other difficult-to-gather data. When in doubt, data quality must be the North Star that guides decisions from the top down.

Get payments right, or pay the price

The myriad touchpoints in the digital payments world introduce many potential locations for friction or defects. Global fragmentation in payment instruments, growing popularity of rewards programs and emerging digital payment options further complicate the task of securing and optimizing payment flows, an area notoriously difficult to visualize.

The sheer complexity of modern digital payments requires comprehensive testing. Unlike other forms of testing, however, payment testing must often be done in live environments, as there’s no effective way to simulate a multi-touchpoint payment flow.

Organizations must strategize for several key considerations, including the local preferences, laws and customs in each market. A simple incorrect assumption about one market’s payment flows can have a devastating effect on customer adoption. And with many industries, such as retail and media, embracing subscription-based payment models, failing to account for the local market’s nuances is a recipe for failure — some customers won’t onboard, others will churn.

The growth of digital wallets and BNPL provide an extra wrinkle in payment testing. Convenience and security will be key drivers for consumers looking for an easier way to pay. However, the drive to digital payments heightens the need to get it right, as consumers have demonstrated consistently that payment friction leads to payment abandonment. The keys? Test in-market with real accounts and find defects as soon as possible to shore up revenue streams.

Know the customer

Friction kills sales. Whether it’s a show-stopping defect or simply a sub-optimal experience, customers don’t need much of a nudge to abandon one brand for another. It’s easy to cancel, and it’s hard to gain back lost trust.

Learn about the four primary types of customer journey friction to bolster your defenses against lost revenue. Most customer journeys fall into one of three categories: in-field, digital-only, or a digital/physical hybrid. Thus, the task of customer journey testing requires a real-world, blended approach.

Speaking of a real-world approach, what good is your product if it doesn’t resonate with an in-market audience? Creating a product that a customer wants to use means understanding their individual desires and concerns, which can be exceedingly difficult in a non-native market. As with other aspects of digital quality, assumptions will not serve you well. Take a thoughtful approach to localization as part of planning and development, and again in testing, to deliver products or services that an in-market customer will understand and want. If you’re in the subscription management business — today, who isn’t? — cater to those customers with UX and localization testing to understand how they perceive your product.

The digital landscape will continue to evolve — there’s no denying that. New devices, new products, new customer demands and new regulations will shape the moving target of high-quality customer experiences. Succeeding at a point in time is meaningless if the approach can’t modernize.

Scale and evolve your testing approach to the best of your abilities, including through the use of the world’s largest crowdtesting provider, Applause, which offers a digital community of more than one million global experts. Summon crowdtesters with the demographics, expertise, capabilities, devices, payment instruments and locales you require, on demand and at scale.

Contact us today to get started building your enterprise-grade crowdtesting dream team.

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