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1Cast

Mobile App Testing Made Easy (OK, easier)
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Testing Project @ a Glance

  • Testers: 15-20 testers per release
  • Testing Type: Functional, Usability
  • App Type: Mobile
  • Devices: iPhone, Andriod
  • Wireless Carrier: AT&T, Verizon

Customer Spotlight

  • Location: Seattle, WA.
  • Industry: Mobile News Video
  • Company Size: 10+ employees (QA Manager, no testers)
  • Methodology: Agile; SCRUM

“Mobile applications come with their own unique set of challenges,” said Travis McElfresh, VP of Technology at 1Cast, a Seattle start-up delivering news videos to mobile devices. “Between Wi-Fi, 3G, Edge and all their different behaviors, there are so many angles you have to cover.” Knowing this, Travis realized that his mobile app would require testing by dedicated QA professionals.

At the same time, he understood that assembling an in-house QA team was somewhat unrealistic, especially for a start-up in the mobile space. And like any good leader, Travis was hesitant to relinquish control of the testing process to an outsourcing firm. Seeking an alternative to the status quo, Travis caught wind of crowdsourced QA in January of 2009, and signed up as a uTest customer.

With uTest, Travis found that he could, in fact, cover nearly every angle of the testing process without spending money on staff or losing control through outsourcing. Instead, he opened up his release to the uTest community and specified the type of devices he needed tested. Within days (48 hours to be exact) Travis was able to view and approve dozens of bugs. So impressed was 1Cast, they would ultimately test nine more releases over the next three months, including a web and desktop version of heir application.

Interested in learning more about how uTest can compliment your existing QA efforts? Here are a few relevant links to get you started:

On mobile app complexity:
“Mobile app testing has become so complicated that even a company as large as Microsoft couldn't really cover every angle. But with uTest, we get substantial mobile testing coverage for a fraction of the cost.”

On QA costs:
“I needed a solution that would scale, and being a start-up, I needed something that could keep the cost down. uTest made perfect sense.”

On the capability of the crowd:
“We’d heard about getting bug reports back in 48 hours with crowdsourcing, but until you see it actually happen, it can be hard to envision. We were very impressed with the process.” - Travis McElfresh, VP of Technology, 1Cast