6 Types of Manual Quality Assurance Testing

When building a new website, Quality Assurance (QA) testing is an imperative step to ensuring you have a successful project. QA testing exists to trial software and assess whether specific requirements and expectations are being met. Performing these tests is an integral part of the software development process. There are two types of QA testing: manual testing and automated testing. 

Automated testing is performed via code and scripts, as explained in our recent blog titled “Five Types of Automated QA Testing Your Site Needs." On the other hand, manual testing is performed by humans who can perform several different kinds of manual tests based on the desired result.

There are six separate kinds of manual QA testing: 

• Smoke  
• Functional  
• Integration  
• Regression 
• Exploratory 
• User Acceptance 

Many of these methods will be used on the same project, for each test is unique and designed to test different facets and functions of a site. 

As you take on the process of building a website, it’s important to know how these tests differ, and what they can offer throughout the development process. Below, we’ve outlined the 6 standard types of manual QA testing. 

Smoke Testing: This is a straightforward, manual evaluation of whether the code was built well. Every new software build needs smoke tests to identify whether to keep the code or send it back for improvements. This is a check developers might already have in place, but QA testers can still go in and check functionality. A smoke test is generally the first test QA engineers perform on new software before proceeding with deeper testing. 

Functional Testing: Functional testing goes through each outlined requirement to make sure the site works like it is supposed to. All the features on a website, like a submission form or a page layout, will be tested manually to evaluate their functionality to ensure it meets the site requirements. 

Integration Testing: This type of manual testing makes sure components integrate and work together on a site. When performing an integration test, a QA engineer might make sure the fonts are correct or that the right images are loading. Testing the visual elements of a site usually falls into a manual integration test. Generally, when this is done manually, the components will be tested on several pages and not the entire site.  

Regression Testing: If possible, regression testing should be automated. This type of test occurs before and after a code push to ensure that everything is still working the way it should. To do this manually, the test engineer will create a list of high-priority features on the site and go through them after any updates in the code. It’s worth noting that regression testing won’t check everything. At Hoodoo (now Rightpoint), we aim to ensure the top 10% of the site is still functioning properly as a baseline. 

Exploratory Testing: This type of manual testing lives up to its name. A QA engineer will go into a session of exploratory testing without a specific goal or task in mind, exploring a site, looking for visual bugs or coding errors. They might click around, resize the browser, open different browsers, test the interactions of a site, etc., all the while looking for bugs.  

User Acceptance Testing: User Acceptance Testing is the last step before a software goes live and is typically performed by the client. At Hoodoo Digital, we provide our client with a URL and detailed step-by-step instructions on how to use and test the site. The client will run their own manual testing to identify any bugs or glitches. Once they are sure the site is sound, the customer will sign off, completing the final test before the site’s deployment. 

A solid QA test plan  should include both automated and manual testing methods. The benefits of manual testing include the ability to mimic a user’s experience, the chance to find errors existing outside of the code, and other perks of having a human behind the screen. Curious about how to approach QA testing? We have a team of QA engineers that are eager to answer questions and help with your site’s manual and automated testing.