Ever since EUROSTAR I have become intrigued about crowdsourcing. How can I use crowd sourcing in software testing? According to Wikipedia crowdsourcing is: “An English-language contamination, a recent development used to indicate which organizations (government, enterprises, institutions) or individuals using a large group not previously specified individuals (professionals, volunteers, interested) for consultancy, innovation , policy and research”. A complicated and too long a sentence, but when I focus this on software testing is actually is “using strangers to your software testing”. When reading this, testers will directly have alarm bells go off: risks! Unknowns … people I do not in any way have control … But also, I can have experts to run tests. Not only testing experts, but matter experts. The question that arises is: how effective crowdsourcing can be to test software applications? Because crowd sourcing is cheap and there are many resources available in their ‘free time’ for me to test.

How do I actually use crowdsourcing for testing applications?

How do I actually use crowdsourcing for testing applications? First, it is important to determine at what moment you want to deploy the software for crowdsourcing. Of course testing should start as soon as possible in the development process, but it comes down to what status the product is in when you want the testing to be done. With crowdsourcing it is important that the product is at that quality that you do not risk to affect your company’s goodwill. You should at least have confidence in the product. This product doesn’t have to function flawless because, others are going to test it. Thus, I should have a product that already has undergone a system test.

Which type of person do you want to test for you?

After this it is important to know who you want to test for you. Which type of person do you want to test for you? Are this the prospected users or just people with technical knowledge. As an example; you can to carry out security tests by approaching hackers or crackers to do this for you. It also is important to know the size of the group. How many people do you want to test? So who I want to execute the test and with how many people is important to me.

Why do these person test for you?

Once we know who you want to test it is important to approach this group with a reason why they go for you test. By game for suppliers may be because it is fun to try a new game, because that’s basically it. Because your application to let people try it they will. Another reason may be that the human race, given that innovative software can use. And of course the beautiful clincher: money. If you for some time test that gives them a sum of money. All these things are ‘plea adopters’, reasons why people you want to spend their free time to test. So do I determine my target audience pleaser of.

How can the test be controlled?

But the most important thing about crowdsourcing software testing is control. Not the control of people, but control of what is being tested. I need to know what is being tested. The analysis of the testing during the process is important to track the testing. With this the focus is on during because, afterwards it is not possible to give a response. So I need to follow the test process, maybe not in real/time, but at the end of each day I want to analyze the results of the tests. This possibility is needed to use crowdtesting. When during testing I find out that people are always coming down to do the same when there is no need for it, because it has been working perfectly, there are no risks or is not important, I can respond. Experience teaches that to kindly ask not to do certain things 9 out of 10 times this is ignored. So I need to make things attractive to test it or make other things less attractive. For example, I could temporarily remove some things. I must therefore think in advance how to do this. This can be done by giving what I would like to be tested, like test cases …

In order to set crowdsourcing properly, I actually am doing things structured. I already need to determine in advance the following:

1. Which state is to test my product?
2. Who should test it and how?
3. What is the rewards for these people?
4. What do I test and what not?

Tip: Jeff Howe’s blog (http://crowdsourcing.typepad.com/)

Crowdsourcing is a possibility to carry out tests at perhaps a low cost. There are however a number of risks to consider. These risks can be constrained by determining what you really want to do with crowdsourcing. If the risks have good measures it is possible to have a large group of potential resources at a low price and you can start testing!

1. Software Testing Services Says:
   July 20th, 2010 at 11:54

   Thanks for posting the information. I really liked the information that you have shared above. Its really helpful as it has cleared me both the concepts.

2. Trackbacks Says:
   February 5th, 2012 at 22:35
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