Simplifying E2E user journey testing for multi-device apps

Modern end-to-end user journeys are all about creating seamless experiences for applications that work across different platforms and devices. User workflows are never linear. With so many browsers and devices, there are several pathways a user can take across several platforms to accomplish a single task on an application.

You just have to look at the last flight you booked for a clear example of an integrated web and mobile experience. You might have booked a flight while browsing on your laptop but would have needed to use your phone at the airport to retrieve it when checking in.

So when it comes to testing, the whole user journey matters from start to finish.

The current approach and its gaps

The architecture behind web and mobile apps are different, and both use different APIs and protocols. So teams usually test both applications individually. But this also leaves a gap when trying to test a workflow or scenario that spans multiple devices.

Example user scenario

Let’s say Lily wants to use Amazon to order a pair of bathroom slippers. So she fires up her laptop, types in the URL, logs in and places her order. An hour later she realizes she’d rather try them on in her local footwear store so she decides to cancel. Since she’s travelling, she decides to log in to the Amazon android app and cancel the order.

The usual way such a scenario would be tested is by individually creating & executing two test suites

• Place order test suite on web app
• Cancel order test suite on the mobile app

The problem with this is the incoherent data that is not synced since both these test suites are for different application types which breaks the testing flow since its split across systems and executions and is not performed in one continuous flow. This leads to latent bugs in actual user stories that might be missed until production.

How this scenario should be tested?

Ideally, you would want to test the entire workflow that starts and ends like this:

• Login (web app) -> Place Order -> Logout -> Login (mobile app) -> Cancel Order -> Logout
• Similarly, test the 3 other permutations and combinations of performing this workflow

Integrated test workflows for E2E multi-device user journeys

A great way to test multi-device user journeys is by ensuring that creating and running the tests corresponding to the different devices or applications are in the same order as the real-world scenario. That’s exactly what we have re-created that capability in Testsigma.

Distributed, cross-device test plan

In Testsigma, you can create multiple projects for multiple application types based on the devices it supports. For example, if you have a travel application that works on the web, Android and iOS you can create a test flow using test cases or test suites from all three different applications and order them based on your scenario.

Here we’ve created a test plan that starts with

1. The user booking a flight on the web app
2. Modifying it on his android app
3. Cancelling the flight on his iOS app

Below we’ve already added the configurations for the web app (highlighted in green) & next then we’re e adding the Android device configuration (highlighted in red) to cover the part of the journey that happens there.

Once you’ve added all your test cases for different devices being used in the journey your test plan will look like this:

As you can see there are three devices and the order execution will follow the one displayed here. So we now have a test scenario for a user journey that starts on the website and ends in the iOS application.

E2E testing has to account for real-world scenarios

E2E user journey automation solves for testing fragmented workflows that are spread across different platforms. In the real world, how users interact with applications is not linear which is why splitting up testing by the device might not be the most accurate way to ensure your application works how it should.

By combining all your device-specific test cases into one integrated test plan you can close the gap between real-world user stories and simulate them in your application.

Though being, a very common scenario today, this has not been so easy to automate. Testsigma has come up with a way to let you automate these easily.

Want to know how? Join us LIVE on 29th June 2022, 3 PM IST