'Mobile Usability Testing: Problems and Solutions' - Ukrainian Version by BugHuntress QA Lab

"Usability is a winning competitive advantage of software products but it is still underestimated by vendors," noted the report "Mobile usability testing: Problems and solutions" which was presented by the Ukrainian software testing company BugHuntress QA Lab at the international conference "Quality Assurance: Management & Technologies" (QAMT 2007) held in Kiev, Ukraine.

Ivan Lysenko, a project manager at BugHuntress QA Lab, stated in the report that 6-year BugHuntress experience in independent software testing showed that high-quality user interfaces occurred in about 70% of desktop applications. At the same time a similar figure for mobile applications is merely about 40%.

Meanwhile, the software market is quite saturated. Competing programs often provide almost identical functionality. That is why top notch usability can be a decisive argument for buying an application and for its success in the highly demanding and competitive market.

Why usability is still unappreciated by software developers especially in the mobile industry? Speaking about the reasons, the reporter emphasized the following:
- No established mobile usability culture;
- Lack of trained specialists;
- Direct usage of PC-approaches;
- Direct porting between different mobile and embedded platforms;
- Fast-paced software market environment.

Most of these obstacles cannot be overcome immediately. As a result, a reasonable solution for software vendors can be cooperation with specialized testing companies. At their disposal such companies have scarce specialists in the field of software usability. These specialists can provide expert recommendations on how to improve user interface. Moreover, a fresh, comprehensive and unbiased view on the software is a proven way to mitigate go-to-market risks.

The report "Mobile usability testing: Problems and solutions" attracted a lot of attention of the QAMT 2007 conference attendees and stimulated a lively discussion. The complementary presentation for this report can be found at http://www.bughuntress.com/files1/Mobile_Usability_Testing.pdf.


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BugHuntress QA Lab is a Ukrainian testing company founded in 2001. BugHuntress offers outsourcing software testing services as well as dedicated testing teams leasing. The core expertise is testing of software for mobile and wireless devices, home multimedia complexes, WAP portals and Web 2.0 e-Business applications. BugHuntress performs automated and manual functionality, usability, load, performance, localization and other types of testing. BugHuntress QA Lab is a division of QArea Group.

"Quality Assurance: Management & Technologies" (QAMT Ukraine 2007) is an international conference in the field of quality, testing and safety of the software, QA outsourcing, modern QA management and QA technologies as well as other accompanying directions of the international IT-cooperation in Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the USA. The attendees at QAMT Ukraine 2007 were companies from Ukraine, India, Latvia, Poland, Denmark, the USA. The official partners were "IT Ukraine" Association, Global Association for Software Quality, World Congress for Software Quality.