Mobile has become the most indispensable item of the century, and definitely one of the most disruptive for Travel industry with applications at the core of every business. When it comes to Travel, the on-the-go traveler’s mobile defines experiences, entertainment and efficiency. There’s an app for everything – from searching hotels to keyless entry, booking to baggage tracking, in-flight to in-destination activity. To put that into numbers, Mobile bookings in travel have grown by 1700% between 2011 and 2015, moving from 1% to 18% of online revenues. As Travel becomes more personal, local and social, the potential of apps to influence decisions, leverage information while creating revenue opportunities for travel providers is adjudged at USD270 billion by 2020. But a single failure, crash or stall at a crucial point in a mobile transaction, can put a stick in the wheel, leading to thousands in lost sales and customer goodwill. Mobile App testing therefore becomes an absolutely critical element in ensuring that app is device-agnostic, software and applications perform as detailed; is market ready, and business continuity is not threatened. 
MOBILE SEARCH TO GROW BY 2018
In 2016:
- 87% OF TRAVELERS USED THE INTERNET FOR THE BULK OF THEIR TRAVEL PLANNING
- 30% OF TRAVELERS HAVE USED MOBILE APPS TO FIND HOTEL DEALS
- 29% OF TRAVELERS HAVE USED AIRLINE MOBILE APPS TO FIND FLIGHT DEALS
- 44% OF DEFECTS ARE FOUND BY USERS
Testing mobile apps is far more complex and vast than testing web applications. In this, cost optimization and market readiness remains a top priority, as apps need to support multiple devices, software, OS platforms, and networks. Add to this the rapid pace of OS updates; proliferation of new devices and the customer expectation of new features require additional test cycles. Mobile Testing covers:
- Type of app – Native, Hybrid or web
- Test across multiple permutations and combinations for OSs, devices and compliances
- Test across regions, networks and connectivity
- Manage competitiveness & differentiation with timely updates, bug fixes and new features
- Periodic test-run across new OS updates, new devices, partner tie-ups
The complexity of mobile testing can be addressed by a test strategy that combines and automates these elements with deep domain expertise for effective testing. For ex: Approx. 80% of new software bugs duplicate on all supported platforms. So, performing mobile testing on one or 2 large audience platforms can pinpoint bugs quickly, and remaining 20% are found on smaller platforms. Let’s automate: For Travel organizations such as Airline, app testing are actually a business initiative but testing automation is a strategic initiative. A bad app with bugs or compatibility issues with an OS can cost companies big and releasing mediocre apps can frustrate your users. But why should you automate your mobile apps? The reasons for automated mobile app testing are arguably the same as for going digital.
- Speed to market: Manual testing is slow, resource heavy. Managing it can be cumbersome, but automated testing can bring speed that allows processes and bugs to be marked so that business continuity is not affected in a 24/7 world. In fact 66% enterprises believe that increasing test automation is the key to faster app releases. (Perfecto Study 2016)
- Scaling: Testing in different environments, devices, geos and connectivity requires scale and skilled manpower. But automation allows economies of scale and in time with market advancements
- Cost: Automation reduces the cost of skilled labor in managing testing
Sharing the Risk: As businesses look to build more innovative, localized and personalized apps to provide products and services to their customers, it’s understood that the risk factor and complexity goes up. This is mirrored in the kinds of application testing services as demand becomes more intense and dynamic. Testing, therefore must be as the user will experience it. Partnering with 3rd party partners like IGT, with deep domain expertise helps in the long term app management. By expediting the testing process including deployment of mobile app testing automation and the combination of deep technological expertise with business goals and sector insights, can rapidly identify and deliver exactly what is required. Strong providers have solutions for testing applications in production as well as source code reviews in development. Automated Mobile apps testing entail the following:
- Target Device – A multi-device testing (Android, iOS). Includes using reusable scripts to run on multiple platforms. Ideally this includes an average of 5-7 iOS devices (iPhones and iPads,) and 10-15 Android devices (compatibility with screen sizes and resolutions)
- Test Automation – Test automation on diverse sets of native/hybrid apps and responsive web applications. Choose from open source to lower the cost of testing and scalability, and repeat testing to maintain competitiveness
- Network Environment –Testing across networks and connectivity using pre-defined or simulated test case. Browser-agnostic, screen resolution, responsiveness, wi-fi all mark the importance of an app’s functionality in a selected network
- Pre-designed Testing – Pre-designed mobile application events
IGT mTAF is a robust and extensible framework to support test automation on diverse sets of native/hybrid apps and responsive web applications across different platforms (Android, iOS). It is an in-house hybrid automation framework which leverages open source tools like Appium to help automate applications on multiple platforms. Its easily extensible to other mobile automation tools. 
The Roadmap: IGT outlines the service roadmap around the following: • Fully aligned with organizational and project goals to generate business value; • Detailed test scenarios, automated test environments, domain-specific KPI targets and crucial transformation steps; Beyond the backend testing, Travel also needs to take in account multiple front-end factors for app testing as its audience is on-the go. For example airline mobility solutions include localization, personalization and performance are a top requirement. For ex: Your app needs to be compatible with different region’s language, compliances, conversions, currency among others. IGT’s global travel experts work to identifying and testing the right reach and capabilities of the app. Today’s organizations are developing a host of web applications, from external-facing corporate websites, value-add apps to internal-facing portals. Apps can have multiple goals or purpose, but if they take longer than 3-seconds to provide action, resolution or information, you’ve lost the customer. Therefore it is imperative to automate testing with built-in real-case scenarios for any and all real-world challenges. The risk of scalable mobile testing remains constant and requires an educated and mature testing partner to leverage tech expertise, domain understanding and knowledge of the changing mobile ecosystem to justify your investment. Dig a little deeper at our website to find out more on how mobile automation works, and on how to optimize your process.
About the Author:Renee Kishore is digital marketing specialist, and a published author. A researcher and writer of change tactics and technologies in travel and other verticals, she frequently posts across the digital ecosystem.
