Why Crowdtesting is a Top Trend in 2022

While crowdtesting is not a new testing concept, it is top of mind for companies interested in developing quality digital assets. According to a Gartner® “Market Guide for Application Testing Services” report, published in January 2022, “The importance of crowdtesting grew during the pandemic as clients looked to diversify their services delivery. This will continue to be a relevant option for many clients looking for flexibility, speed and user experience, among other benefits.”¹ Applause was named as a Representative Vendor in the “Pure-Play Crowdtesting Services Providers” category in the same report.

As a pioneer and leader in crowdtesting since 2007, Applause has partnered with some of the most notable digital innovators in the world to provide actionable, real-world insights that help them build better software, faster.

From years of experience, we know that crowd-based testing introduces a human element that helps uncover issues that lab-based or structured test cases can miss. This is crucial to helping better understand how real users interact with an app or digital asset, and to ensure the best user experiences.

Inherently, crowdtesting surpasses more traditional testing methods – like lab-grown and offshoring – in several essential ways:

Provides access to a customized community of skilled testers. A specialized community based on industry or use case, can test and assess digital experiences from the perspective of a brand’s targeted customers.

Improves digital performance. Authentic feedback from users in real-world settings helps teams to improve app performance and ensure that the asset will work the way customers expect it to.

Enables diverse insights. Testing with a large, diverse group can represent a nearly limitless variety of demographic and psychographic characteristics – including countries of origin or residence, ages, abilities, genders, cultures, languages, and socioeconomic statuses, plus a variety of devices and operating systems. Lab-based testing can be very limited in this way.

Brings faster go-to-market times with fewer bugs. Through rapid testing and feedback, QA teams can be more efficient and speed the pace of development, achieving faster release times with higher-quality digital assets.

Reduces costs and streamlines testing efforts. Sourcing distributed teams provides test coverage quickly and efficiently without adding unnecessary overhead spending.

With all the potential benefits crowdtesting brings to companies who recognize the ever-expanding need to provide their customers with excellent digital experiences, it’s no wonder that experts are identifying crowdtesting as an important key market trend in 2022.

Watch how Applause helped Dow Jones uncover critical bugs across more than 750 device combinations and 70 countries.

[1] Gartner, “Market Guide for Application Testing Services,” Jaideep Thyagarajan, Susanne Matson, Gunjan Gupta, Brett Sparks, Akshit Malik, January 31, 2022.

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