Software development is a very complicated process. Developers use various complex functions and codes to make the application interactive and attractive. However, these functions can be faulty due to their complex nature. It is essential to ensure that your application’s operation is working correctly and is ready for public release. There are various testing methods to test software, but automation testing and manual testing are prime categories. Many prefer Automated testing, as they are more superior to manual testing. However, this doesn’t seem right. Both of them are equally important as they serve different purposes.

Moreover, there are certain areas where you cannot implement automation testing. Many experts believe that no technology can replace the capabilities of a watchful human eye. Thus, manual testing is still prevalent in the testing industry. In case you are still confused about the importance of Manual testing, this article is for you. In this article, we are going to discuss the prominent advantages of Manual testing.

What is Manual testing?

Here, the name speaks for itself. In manual testing, the tester does all the tests individually and manually and uses no predefined tools or test scripts. After that, he checks all the results to find any errors in the software.

In manual testing, the process mainly involves the comparison of results. The tester compares the various test results with the application’s expected or predicted behavior in simple terms. You can validate these predetermined results in the SDLC stage of development.

Manual testing is the most primitive form of software testing. It is effortless to use, and you don’t need any way of knowledge in programming languages. So, even a novice in the testing industry can use manual testing. Furthermore, students who are learning testing find manual testing very useful. However, being easy to use doesn’t mean that it is of lesser value. There are various areas where it is necessary to conduct manual testing. Furthermore, it is essential to test an application manually before moving to transfer it for automation testing. Now, let us take a look at some of the advantages of manual testing.

Benefits of Manual Testing

Manual testing has been the backbone of the testing industry for several years now. Many people consider that Manual testing has been limiting the potential of automation testing. Manual testing doesn’t have the speed of automation testing, but that doesn’t determine its reliability. There are various areas where manual testing shines over automation testing. Some of those areas are as follows:

1.      Eyeball Testing

Manual testing involves finding errors in the application with the human experience and watchful human eyes. So, it has its share of advantages. For instance, various GUI issues and the UX cannot be tested by any form of automation script. So, you will need manual testing to test these features by going through them visually. In the case of E-commerce websites, this is a crucial factor. For instance, in these apps, you have to design the UI is such a way that you can attract the attention of your customers. Many companies tend to use complex functions and features for this UX design. Thus, it is essential to ensure all the parts are working correctly.

Eyeball testing proves the importance of manual testing in all major companies.

2.      Short Life Cycles

There are specific applications which aren’t meant for long term use. In most cases, these applications are used by governments or organizations to meet some needs temporarily. Thus, it is pointless to invest vast amounts of money for testing these applications as they aren’t meant to stay in the online market. Furthermore, these apps will not collect any form of revenue, and there will be losses if you invest too much in this application. So, manual testing is the best option for these apps because manual testing involves minimal testing expenses. Moreover, this is the only way in which you can create high-quality applications at low costs.

3.      Applications with constantly changing GUIs

There are various applications where visual aesthetics is of higher priority than performance. In such applications, the developers implement different innovative methods to achieve this goal. One such way is the inclusion of changing GUI. In simple terms, the application’s graphical interface will vary depending on the task you’re doing or some other criteria.

We already discussed that it is almost impossible to test GUI and UX with the help of automation testing. However, even if we assume that you create an automation script that will help you to test GUI that remains constant in almost all the apps, you can’t implement it on apps with changing GUI. You can never predict the change that will happen in the UX of the application. Thus, it is impossible to develop an automation script for anything you cannot predict or foresee.

4.      Inductive reasoning

A human being possesses specific skills that are impossible to implement in a machine. For instance, we humans have skills like intuition, inference, and inductive reasoning. These skills are essential for app testing. For example, various areas in the testing process remain unpredictable. Furthermore, you can counter specific errors in the process that you didn’t foresee. In cases like this, human instincts are very useful.

We, humans, use our experience and intuition to deal with issues that we haven’t encountered before. Technology has come a long way, but it is impossible to hone these skills in a machine. Thus, we can justify that there are certain areas where no machine can replace human skills.

5.      Variable Courses

Testing an app is a long process. It is a chain of procedures and testings. In some instances, there is particular development in testing that forces the developers to change their initial approach. For a human, it is effortless to adopt to this testing. On the other hand, automation testing is based on a predetermined testing script. If you change your testing course in the middle of the process, you have to rewrite the entire script. Thus, you will lose a lot of time and effort in this process.  Furthermore, in this competitive world, you must keep up to your promises of timely delivery. In case you take long periods to develop a simple application, you might end up losing the contract and risk harming your company’s reputation.

6.      Variable Project Size

It is quite challenging to implement Automation testing in large projects as you need to develop a separate testing script for every minor change in the application’s primary framework. Additionally, the industry is still adapting to automation testing, and so testing script development is still considered a complex fusion. Thus, manual testing will be a priority for companies that develop large software daily. It helps them to avoid the unnecessary hassle of developing multiple test scripts for automation. In large projects, there are specific complex UI codes that you cannot test with automation testing. The main reason is that you will need the observant human eyes to find errors in these UX features.

7.      Updating Test Case

It is not simple to predict the test case of complex projects, which means that you may need to change the test case as the project moves on.  In some instances, you might face certain situations that you haven’t encountered before. It is impossible to use automation testing in new and unique testing scenarios. In automation testing, you have to create a predefined testing script based on the common assumptions and directions you will make for the project. Thus, manual testing is highly flexible, allowing you to make instant changes in the testing process.

8.      Easy to start

Various new companies are emerging every day. In some cases, certain developers dream of creating software independently without being part of an organization. So, it is evident that start-ups cannot invest a considerable amount of money and knowledge in software testing. Automation testing will need massive financial investment and years of experience. A new company cannot afford to waste so much time learning a more modern method.

On the other hand, Automation testing is straightforward to afford and use. It is so simple that even a student can use it.  Thus, this is the most favorable form of testing for any IT novice.

9.      Cheap

The most attractive advantage of manual testing is costing. In manual testing, you don’t need to use any form of expensive tool or testing scenario. Thus, you can easily afford it. Many companies will argue that the cost of Automation testing is worth it, considering the reduced work time. This isn’t a massive factor, as manual testing is mostly meant for small businesses. Thus, development time isn’t a factor for small companies as they don’t have such a tight schedule. In such cases, compromising the development time or such a low-cost testing method is a hefty profit.

10.  Easy to learn

This is yet another advantage of manual testing that it is targeted to small businesses. In a small business, it is natural to have testers with comparatively lesser work experience. Thus, you need to invest several hours in programming language classes if you want to introduce your developers to the world of Automation testing. On the other hand, manual testing requires no such learning curve. It is effortless to use, and you don’t need any form of programming language knowledge to use it.

11.  Reliability

Finally, manual testing is known for its reliability.  Automation testing is fast and efficient, but you cannot wholly rely on it as there are massive chances of bugs or other fatal errors in the testing script. On the other hand, manual testing might be slow, but it is highly efficient. It is because there are always watchful human eyes supervising the entire testing processes. Furthermore, it is easy to track the testing activities as you would be organizing them manually.

The verdict

So, we can conclude that manual testing is equally important in the present testing industry.  There are certain areas where automation testing can never replace manual testing. Thus, if you want to be successful in the development industry, you need to acknowledge the importance of manual testing.