Crowdtesting for Efficient Quality Assurance: How Companies Improve their Software Despite Budget Cuts

Zwei Geschäftsmänner in einem modernen Büro beim Handschlag, als Symbol für erfolgreiche Partnerschaft im Bereich Softwarequalitätssicherung und Crowdtesting.

Are you facing the challenge of ensuring software quality in economically uncertain times? Discover the game changer: crowdtesting.

Software companies are currently facing major challenges: Sluggish digitalization, uncertain sales markets and a shortage of skilled workers are forcing them to optimize budgets and reprioritize. As a result, quality assurance typically comes under pressure as it is often classified as less urgent. Yet, especially in economically uncertain times, high software quality is crucial in order to retain the trust of customers and remain competitive.

How can companies achieve effective quality assurance despite reduced budgets? One innovative option is the use of crowdtesting as a flexible and cost-efficient solution. It helps to reduce testing costs, shorten time-to-market and increase customer satisfaction.

The Challenges of Quality Assurance in Difficult Economic Times

The omnipresent cost pressure leads to budget cuts, which often also affect the test departments. They are forced to achieve more with fewer resources, which leads to a reduction in test coverage and an increased risk of errors.

The shortage of skilled workers is also exacerbating the situation. Qualified test personnel is often difficult to find and usually associated with high costs. Companies must therefore develop new and creative solutions to maintain their testing processes. The volatile market situation also requires flexibility and agility, as companies have to react quickly to changes and adapt their test strategies.

This combination of challenges has a direct impact on quality assurance. A lack of resources, insufficient test coverage and a lack of agility often lead to delayed releases, functional problems and ultimately to dissatisfied users. To counteract this risk, a smart, scalable and resource-saving solution such as crowdtesting is needed.

Crowdtesting as a Solution

In view of the challenges described, companies are looking for effective and cost-efficient solutions for their quality assurance.

Crowdtesting is a quality assurance method in which companies access an external community of testers to test their software under real conditions. These testers come from different countries and work with different devices. They are put together into specific panels depending on the target group and provide authentic user feedback. Crowdtesting service providers maintain large communities that are organized at short notice for typical test tasks. In addition, crowdtesting service providers specialize in conducting short-term campaigns to recruit specialized tester panels.

With the help of crowdtesting, companies can thus save internal resources and flexibly adapt test capacities at the same time. Customer satisfaction is increased as error states and general inconsistencies in the test objects are identified in advance.

Crowdtesting offers the following advantages:

Resources: Internal resources can be saved by using external testers.
Flexibility & Scalability: Test capacities can be adapted to development cycles at any time.
Real Test Environments: The crowd covers a large number of different end devices, operating systems and application scenarios.

While internal tests are often restricted to a limited number of test subjects and test environments, crowdtesting enables broader test coverage and authentic user feedback.

Crowdtesting with a Fully Managed Service

Crowdtesting can be carried out at various service levels and degrees of independence, depending on the needs and capacities of the company.

The fully managed service offered by msg.passbrains is the most comprehensive form of crowdtesting. The following services are typically included in the fully managed service:

Briefing: Recording of company specifications.
Test Procedure Planning: Time structuring according to the framework conditions.
Recruitment: Selection of the test panel according to the target group definition.
Test Plan and Instructions: Organization and, if necessary, preparation of documents in close coordination with the company.
Test Environment and Object Deployment: Provision of access to the test subjects in coordination with the company.
Test Execution: Managing the activities in close cooperation with the test subjects throughout the entire process, including supervision of the test subjects.
Results Validation and Analysis: Review and evaluation of the results, if necessary in consultation with the test subjects.
Preparation of Results: Creation of a final report or direct transfer to the customer defect management system.

Practical Tips for the Implementation of Crowdtesting

The successful introduction of crowdtesting requires careful planning and implementation. Here are some key aspects that help companies to implement crowdtesting.

Choosing the Right Crowdtesting Service Provider

Choosing the right service provider is crucial to the success of crowdtesting. It is advisable to pay attention to factors such as experience, data protection and industry expertise. Service providers who can also support further testing measures, such as performance tests, test automation, security tests and, if required, the provision of test managers to support the internal team, are also a good choice.

Some crowdtesting service providers, including msg.passbrains, often offer a free test cycle to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of using crowdtesting. This allows companies to experience the benefits and added value of this method without initial investment and to make informed decisions.

msg.passbrains offers a wide range of services for different industries and combines experienced test managers with a global crowd of real users.

Clear Definition of Test Objectives and Scope

A clear definition of the test objectives and scope forms the basis for an efficient test strategy. In difficult economic times, it is advisable to concentrate testing on business-critical functions in order to deploy resources in a targeted manner.

With msg.TestcaseGen.ai, the AI-supported test case generator from msg.passbrains, test cases can be automatically derived from requirements documents. This not only saves time, but also ensures optimized quality assurance thanks to high test coverage.

Integration into the Development Process

Companies benefit from not considering crowdtesting as the last step in the development cycle. The integration of crowdtesting iterations across the entire product life cycle enables development that meets the requirements of potential customers right from the early prototype phases. In addition, regular regression tests allow weak points to be identified and rectified at an early stage.

Companies that integrate continuous testing into their processes reduce the risk of costly rework and accelerate time-to-market.

Quality Assurance in the Crowdtesting Process

Not only the testing itself, but also the evaluation of the test results plays a central role in the success of the project. An experienced service provider ensures that test reports are carefully analyzed and that well-founded recommendations for action can be derived from them.

msg.passbrains goes beyond simply checking the results: experienced test managers not only analyze the test results for completeness and plausibility, but are also in direct contact with the test subjects to clarify any queries and clear up any ambiguities. In this way, companies not only receive reliable data, but also benefit from individual recommendations for action.

Case Studies and Success Stories from msg.passbrains

msg.passbrains has successfully demonstrated in numerous projects how crowdtesting can help companies achieve their quality assurance goals.

In a test project for an e-commerce company, for example, msg.passbrains was able to significantly improve the user-friendliness of the online store through comprehensive usability tests. Based on the feedback from the test users, weaknesses in the navigation and ordering process were identified and rectified, which led to a significant increase in the conversion rate.

In another test project, msg.passbrains supported a software development company with the localization of a mobile app. By using the crowd from different countries, the app could be tested for linguistic and cultural peculiarities, which contributed to a smooth market launch in new markets.

msg.passbrains was also able to impress in the area of functional tests. Extensive tests were carried out for a customer in the financial sector to check the stability and security of an online banking platform. Costly downtimes were avoided thanks to the early detection of errors.

In a test project for a large media company, msg.passbrains was able to uncover critical errors in an app at an early stage, which occurred in particular on a current generation of devices from a smartphone manufacturer. This early identification allowed the company to fix the issues in time and ensure a smooth user experience before the app went to market.These case studies show that crowdtesting is a versatile and effective solution for companies across various industries. msg.passbrains has the expertise and experience to provide customized crowdtesting solutions that meet the specific needs of each company.

Checklist for Choosing the Right Crowdtesting Service Provider

Choosing the right crowdtesting service provider is crucial for the success of the quality assurance measures. These criteria are particularly relevant in the selection process:

Criteria	Question
Experience of the Service Provider	Wie lange ist der Dienstleister bereits im Bereich Crowdtesting tätig? Hat er Erfahrung mit ähnlichen Projekten und Branchen?
Data Protection and Security	How are the company's data and test results protected? Does the service provider comply with the relevant data protection regulations (e.g. GDPR)?
Range of Services	Does the service provider offer the required level of service (e.g. fully managed service, self-service)? Are supplementary services such as test automation or security tests also offered?
Technology and Tools	Does the service provider use modern technologies and tools to optimize the test process (e.g. AI-supported test case generation)?
Communication and Support	Is the service provider easily accessible and does it offer competent support? How is communication organized during the test project?
Costs and Pricing Models	Are the prices transparent and fair? Are there different pricing models that meet the needs of the company?
Test Reports and Analysis	How detailed and informative are the test reports? Are specific recommendations for action given?
References and Case Studies	Can the service provider have successful reference projects and case studies?
Test Cycle	Does the service provider offer a free test cycle to demonstrate the effectiveness of crowdtesting?

Optimizing Quality Assurance - Even with Limited Budgets

In economically uncertain times, crowdtesting enables cost-efficient and scalable quality assurance that also works under budget cuts. With msg.passbrains, companies benefit from: