Today, there are 1.88 billion websites on the internet and the number is rapidly increasing. There are 3.8 billion people in the world that <a href="https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/how-many-phones-are-in-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">own smartphones today</a> &#8211; which amounts to 48.16% of the world population.



The internet traffic from mobile (as compared to that from desktops) has also been increasing, and <a href="https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/mobile-desktop-internet-usage-statistics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">now stands at 56%</a>.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/A-nFpHbCMBvXRzXAuKPiTKgcB-r5kukZifePaGTODRcIx0S3nVs0rYZWYrO1yDru6_uEprn65MHo4D-ImanLs4RR-1b_P9cj7Nlwz_gD9MHGW_Z6uMLVFKLf7vYpMjNmil5dFO9h=s0" alt="internet traffic percent" width="600" /></figure></div>



The point I am trying to make is that if you have a website &#8211; it can be accessed from a web browser or a mobile browser. Or if you have a mobile application &#8211; it could be installed and used on a wide variety of mobile devices. 



Thus, you also need to ensure that your customers get the same experience &#8211; albeit a good one &#8211; anyway they decide to access your website or mobile application. How do you do it? You test your application on multiple browsers and mobile devices &#8211; including the various versions and operating systems that your users might be on.



Thus, <a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">cross-browser testing</a> is crucial, and seeing the number of browsers/devices you will have to execute it on &#8211; no easy feat.&nbsp;



But, there are <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/cross-browser-testing-manual-vs-automated-browser-testing/" target="_blank">multiple ways that cross-browser testing</a> can be done:



i. via chrome developer tools



ii. via emulators/simulators



iii. via own device lab&nbsp;



iv. via device lab on the cloud



The approach that we would talk about in this article is automated cross-browser testing via device lab the cloud because that is what Testsigma supports. If you’d like to read more about cross-browser testing on the cloud and if you want to know if it is for you &#8211; then here is an article for you: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/cross-browser-testing-on-the-cloud-advantages-and-disadvantages/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Cross-browser testing on the cloud: advantages and disadvantages</a>



There are multiple tools available for cross-browser testing on the cloud, but in this blog, we will talk about the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/automated-cross-browser-testing-tool" target="_blank">automated cross-browser testing tool Testsigma</a> and answer “Why is Testsigma a perfect solution for automating your cross-browser testing on the cloud?”



Let’s dive in.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#17_Reasons_Why_Testsigma_a_Perfect_Solution_for_Automating_Your_Cross_Browser_Testing_on_the_Cloud">1 17 Reasons Why Testsigma a Perfect Solution for Automating Your Cross Browser Testing on the Cloud</a><ul><li><a href="#1_Saves_cost_at_so_many_places_because_of_being_on_the_cloudnbsp">1.1 1. Saves cost at so many places because of being on the cloud&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#2_Option_to_choose_multiple_labs_for_test_automation">1.2 2. Option to choose multiple labs for test automation. </a></li><li><a href="#3_Built-in_additional_features_to_provide_you_ROI_as_soon_as_possible">1.3 3. Built-in additional features to provide you ROI as soon as possible</a></li><li><a href="#4_Test_cases_can_be_easily_created_in_minutes_by_anyone_in_the_team_You_dont_need_to_hire_additional_resources_for_that">1.4 4. Test cases can be easily created in minutes by anyone in the team. You don’t need to hire additional resources for that.</a></li><li><a href="#5_Test_case_maintenance_is_easier_with_added_features">1.5 5. Test case maintenance is easier with added features</a></li><li><a href="#6_Simple_or_complex_test_scenarios_8211_create_your_tests_in_simple_English">1.6 6. Simple or complex test scenarios &#8211; create your tests in simple English</a></li><li><a href="#7_Also_get_your_custom_features_tested_easily_with_the_option_to_add_custom_code_when_needed">1.7 7. Also, get your custom features tested easily with the option to add custom code when needed.</a></li><li><a href="#8_242157_support_that_does_not_let_you_suffer">1.8 8. 24&#215;7 support that does not let you suffer</a></li><li><a href="#9_No_extra_setups_required">1.9 9. No extra setups required</a></li><li><a href="#10_Execute_your_cross-browser_tests_in_parallel">1.10 10. Execute your cross-browser tests in parallel</a></li><li><a href="#11_Automate_all_your_cross-browser_cross-device_tests_in_the_same_placenbsp">1.11 11. Automate all your cross-browser, cross-device tests in the same place.&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="#12_Extend_your_tests_for_APIs_when_needed">1.12 12. Extend your tests for APIs, when needed</a></li><li><a href="#13_Very_intuitive_features_made_for_you_to_speed_up">1.13 13. Very intuitive features made for you to speed up</a></li><li><a href="#14_Easily_integrates_into_your_CICD_pipeline">1.14 14. Easily integrates into your CI/CD pipeline</a></li><li><a href="#15_Customize_the_reports_according_to_your_needs">1.15 15. Customize the reports according to your needs</a></li><li><a href="#16_Easily_manage_your_tests_in_the_form_of_test_suites_test_plans_requirements_priorities_8211_all_on_the_cloud">1.16 16. Easily manage your tests in the form of test suites, test plans, requirements, priorities &#8211; all on the cloud.</a></li><li><a href="#17_Built-in_workflows_such_that_all_your_team_members_can_contribute_to_the_test_automation_process_8211_review_collaboration">1.17 17. Built-in workflows such that all your team members can contribute to the test automation process &#8211; review, collaboration</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="h-17-reasons-why-testsigma-a-perfect-solution-for-automating-your-cross-browser-testing-on-the-cloud">17 Reasons Why Testsigma a Perfect Solution for Automating Your Cross Browser Testing on the Cloud</h2>



<h3 id="1-saves-cost-at-so-many-places-because-of-being-on-the-cloud">1. Saves cost at so many places because of being on the cloud&nbsp;</h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/fqN9ZKr2A5exe0RfcgCsGOFeLko6-X7fW75W-wDuP_4LdU75YRprbloETjwJBRzfGbVlCZtUipOFkrDjbRYm2ShXh7lKyqLYa6Iw6SuFxUhl0W82N_anZp9lQ-LYGsC9Qyl1qBk6=s0" alt="benefits of cloud" width="400" /></figure></div>



Testsigma is a completely cloud-based test automation solution that gives you access to all the test automation needs and device labs on the cloud. In terms of automated cross-browser testing, the benefits of being on the cloud are:



 i. No need to invest in infrastructure



ii. No need to invest in maintaining the infrastructure



iii. The cloud-based services can be accessed any time, from anywhere



iv. You only need to pay according to your usage



v. What you use can be scaled up or down according to your requirements



<h3 id="2-option-to-choose-multiple-labs-for-test-automation">2. Option to choose multiple labs for test automation. </h3>



When on the cloud, one thing you may worry about is the dependency on one cloud lab &#8211; what if there were some issues in some of their devices and that created bottlenecks for your testing? With Testsigma, you get the option to connect to the test lab of your choice at any moment.



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<h3 id="3-built-in-additional-features-to-provide-you-roi-as-soon-as-possible">3. Built-in additional features to provide you ROI as soon as possible</h3>



Being on the cloud provides you many benefits, but Testsigma’s benefits don’t end there, rather they begin there.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/z2-9oNMvphCMianPj7281ZOVOTqQL_fL2LKY5OBUOvC_DyslX2A6vl5yfZu1GZS1YEwWmF6zzbmk0qttcrvuXdlmZkD6aypX4aSzypdLkGeHttUIdKRuaKmdefDg5LFeNKILoaJn=s0" alt="Testsigma features" width="600" /></figure></div>



Testsigma has multiple features related to test creation, test maintenance that are designed to save your precious time and resources and thus enable you to achieve that return on your investment that much sooner.



We will discuss these features in the next points.



<h3 id="4-test-cases-can-be-easily-created-in-minutes-by-anyone-in-the-team-you-don-t-need-to-hire-additional-resources-for-that">4. Test cases can be easily created in minutes by anyone in the team. You don’t need to hire additional resources for that.</h3>



Testsigma is built with an NLP-enabled approach where test cases are created in simple English. Not only the approach makes test creation very easy to learn and get started with, it also makes it very easy to edit test cases for any needed maintenance work in the future.



Another feature that helps in easy test creation is automatic object recognition.



<h3 id="5-test-case-maintenance-is-easier-with-added-features">5. Test case maintenance is easier with added features</h3>



A few of the features that help in easy test maintenance are &#8211; self-heal, automatic identification of automatic resources, support for reuse via step-groups.



<h3 id="6-simple-or-complex-test-scenarios-create-your-tests-in-simple-english">6. Simple or complex test scenarios &#8211; create your tests in simple English</h3>



There could be some codeless test creation approaches that might not support test creation for complex scenarios but that is not the case with Testsigma. 



Testsigma, with its simple English approach and support for looping, structures, different types of waits &#8211; lets you even automate complex test scenarios easily.&nbsp;



<h3 id="7-also-get-your-custom-features-tested-easily-with-the-option-to-add-custom-code-when-needed">7. Also, get your custom features tested easily with the option to add custom code when needed.</h3>



Even though complex test cases can be automated in Testsigma, it does not limit you. Testsigma also gives you the option to add custom code to your test cases in JAVA and Selenium.



<h3 id="8-24x7-support-that-does-not-let-you-suffer">8. 24&#215;7 support that does not let you suffer</h3>



While you are using any service, it is natural that things might not work sometimes. What you need at that time is not to get blocked, or suffer but to have a support team that can understand the issues you are facing and unblocks you as soon as possible. That is how you can keep the processes working for you. When you start using Testsigma, you get access to a support team that is available 24&#215;7 and tries to keep your processes up and running as soon as possible.



<h3 id="9-no-extra-setups-required">9. No extra setups required</h3>



Testsigma is completely cloud-based and that means, we don’t even ask you to install a minor file to your system to get your test creation started. 



<h3 id="10-execute-your-cross-browser-tests-in-parallel">10. Execute your cross-browser tests in parallel</h3>



When you are executing your <a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cross-browser tests</a> on thousands of devices and browsers &#8211; it can take a long time, if done sequentially. But with Testsigma, you can schedule your test cases in parallel and drastically reduce the time to complete your test case execution.



<h3 id="11-automate-all-your-cross-browser-cross-device-tests-in-the-same-place">11. Automate all your cross-browser, cross-device tests in the same place.&nbsp;</h3>



Another aspect of test case creation with Testsigma, that will benefit you is that you can automate all your cross-browser tests for web and mobile from the same place. Yes and then execute them from the same place as well. This eliminates your need to include yet another test automation tool for mobile or web into your tools ecosystem and saves your time, effort and money.



<h3 id="12-extend-your-tests-for-apis-when-needed">12. Extend your tests for APIs, when needed</h3>



In addition to the above benefit, when needed &#8211; you can expand your test suite to also include API test cases easily.



<h3 id="13-very-intuitive-features-made-for-you-to-speed-up">13. Very intuitive features made for you to speed up</h3>



The main motive behind test case creation has been to make test automation easy and approachable for one and all. Another feature that helps Testsigma achieve it is the intuitive UI that is integrated to all its features. The intuitiveness of the UI helps you to speed up your tasks and complete them easily.



<h3 id="14-easily-integrates-into-your-ci-cd-pipeline">14. Easily integrates into your CI/CD pipeline</h3>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/XRR1xDYGNi7yhnKF09yT35sFIRlGp0DydlHL-IFy6YVTWrRcPX-dsb20gxjl3ELikcJK8I3FWIHFq4_0oL8dlV9t4mDEJHAWVfeSwK6W9sFceq2cLGBoUcYZM_bWRc-YJlBVvEvh=s0" alt="Devops" width="600" /></figure></div>



Another important feature that helps is that Testsigma supports seamless integration into the CI/CD pipeline. Also, it supports most of the popular CI/CD tools so integrating into your current CI/CD processes should be easy.



<h3 id="15-customize-the-reports-according-to-your-needs">15. Customize the reports according to your needs</h3>



One important aspect of test automation that is often overlooked is reporting. What use will the test execution be if the reporting is not up to the mark? Inefficient reporting can delay action on issues and can eat up on crucial time. Testsigma has highly customizable reporting that can be customized according to your needs because you know what information will help you the best.



<h3 id="16-easily-manage-your-tests-in-the-form-of-test-suites-test-plans-requirements-priorities-all-on-the-cloud">16. Easily manage your tests in the form of test suites, test plans, requirements, priorities &#8211; all on the cloud.</h3>



And then &#8211; even when you are starting or you have an already large suite of automated test cases in Testsigma &#8211; it will be an easy task to manage them because you can manage them in multiple ways &#8211; test suites, test plans, requirements or priorities.



<h3 id="17-built-in-workflows-such-that-all-your-team-members-can-contribute-to-the-test-automation-process-review-collaboration">17. Built-in workflows such that all your team members can contribute to the test automation process &#8211; review, collaboration</h3>



If you are short on testing resources then Testsigma is an ideal solution for you, because with Testsigma &#8211; manual testers can get acquainted with the tool easily and start test creation in minutes.



Your other team members would also be able to pitch in as it would be easier for them to review the test cases and add their inputs to them. This is because Testsigma also supports review workflow for test cases.



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Why is Testsigma a perfect solution for automating your cross-browser testing on the cloud?

The Ideal Solution for Cloud Based Cross Browser Testing : Testsigma

According to browser usage statistics <a href="https://review42.com/resources/browser-usage-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">here</a>, there are 4.3 billion internet users today. 



<a href="https://review42.com/resources/browser-usage-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Review42.com</a> also says that in 2008 there were 112 different types of browsers people were using to access the internet. 



Thus, it&#8217;s evident that people can be accessing the same website from multiple browsers at the same time &#8211; which makes <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing" target="_blank">cross-browser testing</a> very important.&nbsp;



Another part of cross-browser testing, cross-device testing is equally important &#8211; not only because people use mobile browsers but also heavily use mobile apps. Some stats to prove that (according to Statista <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/779/mobile-internet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">here</a> and <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/1002/mobile-app-usage/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">here</a>):



1. 54.18% of the global internet traffic is driven by mobile.&nbsp;



2. 218 bn mobile apps were downloaded worldwide in 2020, which grew from 140.7 bn in 2016.



3. Worldwide mobile app revenue in 2019 stood at 462 bn USD.



There can be two approaches to cross-browser testing:



i. Manual execution of your cross-browser/cross-device tests



ii. Automated execution of your cross-browser/cross-device tests



To know more about these approaches read <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/cross-browser-testing-manual-vs-automated-browser-testing/" target="_blank">here</a>.



For both scenarios above, you would need a test lab that could let you execute your test cases on multiple browsers &amp; mobile devices &#8211; the latest as well as legacy versions. 



The test lab can be constructed from scratch by you on your premises or you could choose a cloud lab. To know more about this, read the article <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/mobile-testing-lab-how-to-decide-which-way-to-go/" target="_blank">here</a>.



In this article, we will discuss <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/automated-cross-browser-testing-tool" target="_blank">Testsigma, an automated cross-browser testing solution</a>. And in what scenarios will it be a perfect solution for you.&nbsp;



Let&#8217;s dive in:



1. You are looking for an end-to-end test automation solution



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/DFsY7GN9CCE6alLMPZg0j5QJ2R8q4cQ7mPUyvevcM-CD_OvbJwiS45EhjETQRkVkBJwz19Sk6UuHGp8p4sku6fN141TJnWaUcvOZP744se3aeFat0xhMglVIB7PEYCfMTDwqxr32=s0" alt="end-to-end test automation solution" width="450"/></figure></div>



If you are looking for a solution that would let you automate your test cases, <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/how-should-enterprises-execute-cross-browser-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">execute them for cross-browser testing</a>, report them while giving you multiple other features that would improve your complete test automation process, then Testsigma is a solution for you.



To read more about its features, refer to more points below.



2. You are looking for a tool that can get you started very quickly.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/HOJXODct3ZMq7amsTXE523kMoP_L6fFU0oyhobJHrLyAQrztpp4ziocesY790Z1j1ChmBOrFv1nMskoLm39zp4e_Tqnxfr6XtgcVsaDGbhRzpoC2On5MLg508_ROUypzAubfiGtr=s0" alt="Use Natural language" width="450"/></figure></div>



If you are looking for a <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/top-tools-for-automated-cross-browser-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">test automation tool that lets you get your cross-browser</a> testing automated quickly, then Testsigma is a solution for you. Testsigma makes test creation very easy and quick because it lets you develop them in simple English.



3. You are looking for a tool that is very easy to learn.



Learning how to correctly use a tool for test automation can take up a lot of your crucial time. This can delay the actual automated testing execution. Testsigma is very easy to set up, configure and learn &#8211; you can start executing your tests within minutes of signing up.



This also helps fasten your test automation and execution process. And, can help improve your test automation ROI sooner rather than later.



4. You also want other team members to contribute to testing and automation.



Quality has to be everyone’s responsibility. And, when a tool lets other team members contribute to test automation as well, it takes your quality a notch higher.



Testsigma lets you automate your tests in simple English which can be easily understood by non-technical members of the team as well. Thus, other non-technical members of the team can easily review the test cases and provide their inputs for test automation.



5. You don’t have a big team and cannot spend a lot of time on test creation for automation



This point correlates to point 4. With Testsigma, your test automation efforts are greatly reduced. Thus, it is possible for even a small team to automate a big test automation suite and get it running real quick.



6. You have test cases for web, mobile as well as APIs. And, you want to automate from the same place.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/CxLXQG7yNYCyraWeTuDcR00fIYobPnDBJ8v--HrCXFPuB3tyiMXJbUeu9N118Lw6pauPsAT9-qpahCpRKTlz1op_LBbWbybuZ9vxWlV2jDWDVzdauSghv4ZyVklgQpadK2YyUaD3=s0" alt=" test cases for web, mobile as well as APIs." width="450"/></figure></div>



Setting up and maintaining different tools for automating different types of test cases can be a real hassle and can take up a lot of your time.



 Testsigma provides you the real advantage here because you can automate all your test cases for web, mobile as well as APIs from the same place, in a similar manner. 



7. You already have a CI/CD pipeline in place and want a tool that readily integrates into your workflow.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/3ngoL1tnsD_hKaCtV7Z9yMpO8uRFr3OGAHGIUtDcLjBa1y41VsGk_9aQKm3USBpexsuJipYvrZcQn4eU56P4I9CgsJyZajBtEr0FcwaeF-2JH4hxVr-nNfWS38ceIbvfcrlrEk3q=s0" alt="Integrate with CI/CD tools" width="450"/></figure></div>



Testsigma readily and seamlessly integrates with most CI/CD tools, it&#8217;s as easy as plug and play. 



8. Along with a codeless approach, you also want a tool that lets you customize and get started with complex test creation in the future.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/JZdnpHnvQFWYhkTH5_UeGrq23W2npSvPiFxEviUGAs-kq0m4xBqOjd2gA-N_3O_th46H46-zklpXVQwDdaDFz9awj7_HIyYAnn60gWcZvSwWmva1Aq4H4MLUYz7J5yEfln68cbJw=s0" alt="Codeless Approach" width="450"/></figure></div>



It’s a fact that every application is different. It is impossible to build one tool that can cater to all the test automation needs of an application.



 If you are a team that has some complex test cases and is worried if a tool would support it then here is a piece of good news &#8211; with Testsigma, you get the option to customize your test cases, the way you want to. Read more about it <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://support.testsigma.com/support/solutions/articles/32000021541-how-to-create-and-use-custom-functions-in-testsigma-" target="_blank">here</a>.



9. You don’t want to pay for extra infrastructure.



Testsigma is completely cloud-based and you only pay for what you use. The infrastructure you use can be scaled up and down according to your needs. And, you won’t have to invest in buying space or machines for your test automation needs.



10. You don’t want to spend a lot of time on communities and forums looking for solutions when you get stuck.



When you go about automating your tests, there would be a time when you would be stuck, sooner or later. The problem could be anything &#8211; related to the environment, assumptions, test automation approach, or some bug in the tool. 



You need a tool that gives you access to good 24&#215;7 support, such that you don’t find yourself waiting indefinitely for a solution on a community or a forum. Testsigma is one such tool that is backed by a specialized and dedicated support team.



11. You need a tool that only makes your test case creation easy but lets you maintain them easily and effortlessly.



 When you start with test automation, there are two activities that will take most of the time &#8211; test creation and test maintenance. Testsigma has carefully built-in features that help you create as well as maintain the test cases easily. 



We have talked about some of the test creation features above. The features that help you maintain the test cases are &#8211;&nbsp;



i. self-heal &#8211; your test cases heal automatically when there are some minor changes in application layout



ii. Affected resources &#8211; whenever some structures are changes, Testsigma figures out the resources that are impacted and presents them to you. This is done before your test cases start failing. And saves a lot of crucial time for you.



If you agree to one or more points above, then you should start trying out Testsigma.



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When to use Testsigma as a cross-browser testing solution for your organization?

Why Choose Testsigma for Cross Browser Testing?

<a href="https://adevait.com/blog/remote-work/adopting-agile-the-latest-reports-about-the-popular-mindset" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Most software development organizations now follow agile scrum methodology.</a> In most cases, they divide their work in sprints &#8211; a repeatable fixed time-box during which all tasks for a deliverable are planned and executed. After each sprint, the target is to complete as many planned tasks as possible and come up with a deliverable.  



A user story is the smallest unit of work in an agile framework. A user story is further divided into tasks to be taken up in a sprint. A recommended approach for considering a user story complete is when the corresponding feature that was being developed, is tested and automated too. 



When all of these activities for a story are planned for a sprint, the test automation comes to be known as ‘insprint test automation’.



As is obvious, the basic need for successful implementation of in-sprint test automation is speed. So, you also need to look for an appropriate tool that will help you achieve it. When looking for a tool for insprint test automation, you need to make sure that most of the features in your tool let you achieve your <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/automated-testing" target="_blank">test automation</a> results quickly and efficiently.



Ability to create test cases quickly: When test automation is implemented, the activity where a majority of the time is spent in test case creation or automation of test cases. Hence, the most crucial feature to look for is &#8211; how your tool enables you in speedy test case creation. 



The best way to ascertain this is to give a tool a try and automate a few end-to-end test cases or the type of test cases that you need to automate. This will help you to ascertain the usability of the tool and its compatibility with your team members. If you have a team that is trained in some tool already, then you might want to choose that same tool. In case, you are building a team from scratch and you want a tool that does not require much training, then you should go for a tool that lets you and your team create test cases easily.



Support for speedy test execution: There is no point in having a good number of automated test cases that take a lot of time to execute. If infrastructure is a bottleneck then your focus should be on executing high-priority test cases first and then the other ones later. 



But if the infrastructure is not an issue then you should use a tool (for insprint test automation) that can offer you speedy test execution as a feature. A couple of&nbsp; features that can help you there are &#8211;&nbsp; schedule test runs, parallel test execution, and good infrastructure (that is where cloud-based tools help),&nbsp;



Support for shift test:&nbsp; Shift left means that you are able to start automation of test cases even before development is completed. For insprint test automation, this is a blessing because it means testers can automate the test cases while developers work on development. It helps meet the goals of insprint test automation better.&nbsp;



Support for quick reviews: Quality is not just the responsibility of a tester. But, it is the responsibility of the whole team. So, it makes sense to get all the automated test cases reviewed by the team or stakeholders. 



This ensures that the automated test cases cover all important requirements and are created to satisfy all testing needs. When more perspectives are involved, it also means more thorough testing.&nbsp;



Thus, having a tool that allows other team members (even non-technical ones if possible) to review the test cases and provide them input will prove beneficial.



Easy and swift test case maintenance: The need for maintenance of already automated test cases comes up when features/functionalities in your application change. And that is why the second-most time-taking activity during test automation is test maintenance.&nbsp;



Thus, to meet the requirement of insprint test automation, it is essential to choose a tool that comes with features that make test maintenance easy.



Some features that you should be looking for easy maintenance are:



1. Self-heal: Certain tools come with features to automatically heal your test cases in case of minor changes in your application, like in XPath of elements. This feature certainly can help you to save a great amount of time.



2. Easy readability: Of course, the test cases will be easy to maintain for anyone if they are easy to read too. Here, it’s important to follow certain standard practices for test case creation to enhance readability. Focusing on this feature, certain tools are available that let you automate test cases in simple English for example, our own tool Testsigma. When test cases are written in simple English they give your test case readability a real boost.



3. Easy to understand for new team members: If you choose a tool that also has a big <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/automated-functional-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">learning</a> curve, then it might not be easy to understand for new team members. In such cases, you can choose to hire people who are already trained in the tools you use or you can choose to use a tool that has a low learning curve.



4. Easily editable: This is more to do with the UI, when you are working on a test case for maintenance, the major work is done during editing it. So, the IDE in use for test case creation should be easy to use and navigate for editing.



5. Easy and Quick to debug: Easy maintenance is only possible if the test cases are easy to debug. Some IDEs support step-by-step debugging while some others let you take screenshots/video recordings of the failures. If your application is majorly UI-based then having a video recording available for failures would be a good feature to have.



 Good Support team or a good, supportive, responsive community: Having dealt with test creation and maintenance, the next feature your tool needs is a good support team or a good, supportive, responsive community. Think about it, what if you are in the process of automating a test case, all set to meet your sprint deadlines and suddenly you see your test case failing without any understandable reason. 



You go to the support of your tool or its community and ask a question. But then you don’t get an immediate response. You wait till the end of the sprint but you don’t get a solution and the sprint ends without marking the story complete. 



That means you were not able to meet your insprint test automation targets too. Thus, a good support team can be the deciding factor for the success of your insprint test automation. Of course, after you have taken care of the aspects of test case creation and maintenance on time.



 Easy integration with different tools that you already use: Software development teams can end up using a variety of tools to achieve success in the highly competitive markets today. It also means that there could be multiple tools being used for multiple tasks that are performed during the SDLC. 



Insprint test automation is usually implemented by teams that would have already implemented CI/CD and bug reporting tools. Thus, the support of integrating your tool into all these tools can make a big difference in the ease of achieving the results of insprint test automation. 



Thus, when you go about choosing a tool to implement insprint test automation, do check out the tools that can be easily integrated with it.



Easy and Quick to Track: Sometimes while you are making changes, some bad commits go into your test automation code too.So, a tool that comes with a feature for tracking these changes would also make it easy to rectify any errors on time and would help achieve insprint test automation better. Another important feature for good tracking is good reporting, so you need a tool that will provide you with useful reports on time.&nbsp;



Support for future enhancements: The world of technology is fast-paced, and new technologies and techniques are introduced frequently.If by any chance, you decide to update any of the technology stacks you use for development, you should be sure that your test automation tool of choice would support it. An obvious need to be ready for the future isn’t it?



Easy and Quick to set up: This might not be directly related to insprint test automation, but quick setup does let you save time and Start other activities sooner. This is one aspect that you can look at while choosing a tool for test automation. 



<h2 id="in-sprint-test-automation-with-testsigma">In-sprint test automation with Testsigma</h2>



<a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">Testsigma, a cloud-based test automation platform for web and mobile apps</a> is specifically designed to help you achieve insprint test automation with ease.&nbsp;



Some Testsigma features that help you are:



1. Test case creation is done in simple English2. Parallel test execution that can be scheduled. Supports integration with multiple cloud device labs with thousands of real devices and browsers for exhaustive cross-browser testing.3. Cloud that can be scaled up and down according to your testing needs.4. Supports Shift left5. Features for easy maintenance like self-heal and reporting affected resources before they make your test cases fail.6. Support review and collaboration with the complete team7. Very Easy to Learn8. Supports integration with most of CI/CD and bug reporting tools9. Highly customizable reporting10. 24&#215;7 support team11. Platform agnostic &#8211; lets you automate for web, iOS, and Android from the same place.12. Cloud-based, hence you need to just signup and start automating.



Very affordable. You can check the pricing here: <a href="https://testsigma.com/pricing">https://testsigma.com/pricing</a>



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Insprint Test Automation what features should your automation tool have

Insprint Test Automation – what features should your automation tool have?

Comparison between Testsigma and Protractor alternatives

Top 6 Protractor Alternatives : Detailed Comparison With Testsigma

According to a <a href="https://www.softwaretestingnews.co.uk/new-survey-reveals-test-automation-trends" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">survey conducted on software test automation</a>, 51% of organisations prefer to retrain existing staff in test automation skills. While there are still 49% that would like to hire them specially for test automation related tasks.



Other findings from the same survey confirmed that organisations want to move to more of test automation and a minimum of manual testing.



To quote the findings, “Only 5% of survey respondents said they currently carry out 0:100 manual: automation testing. The majority (66%) are either at 75:25 or 50:50, and 9% said they are only doing manual testing.



When asked what they’d like to achieve in the next five years, the majority (73%) said they’d like to see 50:50 to 25:75 manual: automation testing.



And, 14% said they’d like to have no manual testing at all.” Similarly, with the working conditions changing during pandemic, automation testing is something that has seen a huge jump. Thus, it is clear that automated testing is the way to go for the software testing industry. 



We asked some of the industry experts how they thought was the best way for a manual tester to transition to automation testing.



Let’s see what they had to say:



1. Chaithra Rao (Chaithra is a Senior Manager of Test Engineering at Insider Inc.)



“I like to think of test automation as writing code with a tester’s mindset.



It’s not so much about a particular tool you use but choosing the one that best suits your needs, is simple to setup, use and maintain. 



For someone who is just getting started with test automation, I would recommend learning the basics of programming first. Once you know the fundamentals, you could learn about the different test frameworks and design principles that’s out there. Understanding how and why the tests are setup is more important than just writing automated tests.



Once you have this knowledge, it’s easier to write tests. When you are first attempting to write an automated test, start with a simple assertion and then build upon it. There are several online resources to get help like Udemy, Test Automation University etc.”



2. Samantha Connelly (Consultant &amp; Owner at Bug Hunter Sam)



“I think focusing on the manual to automation path is the wrong conversation. Technical skills are in demand, yes, but we don&#8217;t use manual/automation terms in any other profession. We don&#8217;t have manual doctors, lawyers or software developers. 



Also, the tools and technologies are always changing. I think focusing on software engineering skills are a better return on investment. 



The first skills I recommend improving for someone wanting to become more technical is git and the command line. Beyond that point, it really depends on what technology you want to learn. Understanding web protocols is also pretty useful.”



On her own website, Sam has compiled a <a href="https://bughuntersam.com/my-testing-career-cheatsheet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">testing career cheat sheet</a> which we recommend you to go through.



3. Ajay Balamrugadas (AVP Delivery at Qapitol QA)



A manual tester making a shift towards automation should:



“1. Understand the terms. Ask questions and /atleast/ know just enough to get started. Know what is method, function, loops, repo, principles, and basics of using the tools.



2. While you spend time learning the programming concepts and the language, use your testing skills to identify what to automate and what not to automate



3. Start with simple projects, shadow people working on automation projects and with enough interest, persistence and hard work, you will be able to make significant progress.”



At the same time understand that functional testing or automation, solving problems is the key. Both are needed in different contexts.&nbsp;



Let’s try to summarize and create some steps for you:



1. When you want to begin your automation journey, it means you want to start automation of your test cases. It is here, that comes to the big question &#8211; how are you going to automate those test cases?



The first logical step should be to know what tool you should choose to begin with automation. It will be an easy jumpstart with the tool you have heard most about. But the best way will be to research and analyse a few others. Here, we have compiled some points that will help you <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/10-points-to-help-you-choose-the-right-test-automation-tool/" target="_blank">choose the right automation tool for you.</a>



<a href="https://testsigma.com">Testsigma is a cloud-based test automation tool</a> that has all the features that will enable you to achieve insprint test automation easily and efficiently. To know more check the article here: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/why-choose-testsigma-as-your-automation-testing-tool/" target="_blank">Why Choose Testsigma as your Automation Testing Tool?</a>



2. By the time you choose the tool for automation, you would be able to understand the basics of the tool and automation. If not, make sure you <a href="https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/automation-testing-tutorial-1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">know the terms</a> and main features of the tool that will help you begin.



3. In addition to learning the tool &#8211; try to also observe people who are already doing automation. That is if you have such people in your organization. If not, better is to have a training session about the tool.



4. Start automation with simple projects and simple test cases and then build-up to the complex ones.



5. Along the way, there would be some basic tools for eg. git and command line. Try to have a hang of them. This will help you transition into automation faster.



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About tools, Ajay suggests, “I would like the testers to focus on the principle of&nbsp;



&#8220;Use tools where it helps you save time, effort and adds value&#8221; 



Also, do not wait for the need to hunt tools. Be prepared by exploring different tools across categories so that when you actually need them, you are ready.



Finally, I have realized that having at least 3 tools for every category helps especially when one of the tools doesn&#8217;t serve your purpose.



Two good sites to be familiar with are alternativeto.net and alternative.to”



We have compiled a detailed blog on <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="different types of tools that will help make the tester’s day-to-day life easier (opens in a new tab)" href="https://testsigma.com/blog/different-types-of-tools-to-help-testers-day-to-day-life-easier/" target="_blank">different types of tools that will help make the tester’s day-to-day life easier</a>. Do check it out!



Even though you see yourself as an automation tester in the future, there are few things that you should always keep in mind:&nbsp;



1. Automation is an activity that should support testing but automation is not all. Sometimes you may want to automate some areas while you need to test some areas manually. Thus, you don’t have to focus on 100% automation but on quality automation. That means you should be careful to choose what to automate and take up automation with the aim of providing an ROI in future.



2. Even though automation tester might be a separate profile, there are some skills that it shares with manual testing which are: Inquisitive thinking, collaborating with the team and ensuring customer success.



3. Participate early on in the software development life cycle



4. Make sure to be well versed in the software development methodology being followed in your team. For e.g. Scrum or Kanban.



5. Understand the project toolset



6. Keep yourself updated with new developments in the testing industry. This can be done by attending testing conferences, meetups, following influencers in the field and talking to people working in the same industry.



We hope these tips will help you make your transition to automation in testing a smooth and delightful one! 



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Skills of a tester- Manual to Automation testing journey

How To Plan Your Transition From Manual To Automation Testing

Testers, in their day-to-day lives, have to do many types of tasks. And to enable them to do those tasks there are many types of testing tools in the market too. These tools usually specialize in helping the testers perform a certain task. Sometimes these tools can be used to completely automate the tasks while at other times these tools can make the tasks easier.



In this article, we will try to broadly categorize these types of testing tools. The categories have been created according to when these tools are used.



<div id="toc_container" class="no_bullets">Table Of Contents<ul class="toc_list"><li><a href="#Types_of_Testing_Tools">1 Types of Testing Tools</a><ul><li><a href="#Test_Case_Management_Tools">1.1 Test Case Management Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Test_Case_Generation_Tools">1.2 Test Case Generation Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Test_Data_Preparation_Tools">1.3 Test Data Preparation Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Test_Execution_Tools">1.4 Test Execution Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Cross_Browser_Testing_Tools">1.5 Cross Browser Testing Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Coverage_Measurement_Tools">1.6 Coverage Measurement Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Performance_Testing_Tools">1.7 Performance Testing Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Bug_Reporting_Tools">1.8 Bug Reporting Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Project_Planning_and_Tracking_Tools">1.9 Project Planning and Tracking Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Incident_Management_Tools">1.10 Incident Management Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Screen_CaptureRecord_Tools">1.11 Screen Capture/Record Tools</a></li><li><a href="#Tools_for_Analysing_Logs">1.12 Tools for Analysing Logs</a></li><li><a href="#Other_Tools">1.13 Other Tools</a></li></ul></li></ul></div>
<h2 id="types-of-testing-tools">Types of Testing Tools</h2>



<h3 id="test-case-management-tools"><a href="https://testsigma.com/test-management-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Test Case Management Tools</a></h3>



A tester&#8217;s life moves around test cases and bugs. For the management of test cases of different features, the test case management tools are used. Some examples of test case management tools are TestRail, Practitest, TestCollab.



<h3 id="test-case-generation-tools">Test Case Generation Tools</h3>



To begin with, test cases are created manually but when there are some patterns that can be repeated for test case creation, test case generation tools are used. Some teams create these tools in-house while there are some available in the market for standard test case generation techniques.



<h3 id="test-data-preparation-tools">Test Data Preparation Tools</h3>



When test cases need to be tested with a good amount of test data,&nbsp; use of test data preparation tools proves beneficial in many ways. They could specially be very useful for data generation during performance or reliability testing. These tools can also be used during functional testing and acceptance by testers as well as developers.



Features or characteristics of test data preparation tools are as follows:



<ul><li>Extraction of required data records from databases and/or files;</li><li>For “data cleansing” of production data such that it can be used for testing purposes without any fear of data theft;</li><li>For rearrangement of data and records to facilitate testing;</li><li>Setting up of existing data or generation of&nbsp; new data according to requirements&nbsp;</li><li>To generate similar test data (from a template) in bulk for volume testing</li></ul>



Some majorly used test data preparation tools are:&nbsp;



<ul><li>MOCKAROO: Generate up to 1,000 rows of realistic test data in CSV, JSON, SQL, and Excel formats.</li><li>DATPROF: Data masking, subsetting, provisioning and discovery</li><li>Informatica: Enterprise cloud data management and data integration</li><li>CA Test Data Manager (Datamaker): High-performance data subsetting, data masking, test matching, etc. The tool generates, stores, and reuse the test data in the test data repository.</li></ul>



<h3 id="test-execution-tools">Test Execution Tools</h3>



 These are the tools that are used to execute tests. These tools are also called “Test running tools”. Originally, these tools started with recording and playing test steps hence these are also called record-and-play tools.



Though as the requirements changed and tests became more complex, just record and playback was not sufficient. Then there was the need of some scripting support to create the steps such that the steps could be edited as and when needed.



Selenium was one of the first tools that supported conversion of the recorded tests to required scripting language. This made the test cases easier to maintain according to changing requirements.



Now, there are codeless/scriptless testing tools too that allow maintenance of these tests even without writing code or script. They use different technologies for this. <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/scriptless-automated-testing-is-not-the-same-as-record-and-playback/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read here about all such technologies in detail. </a>



One such tool is <a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Testsigma</a> that lets you write test cases in simple English language. The test cases are easy to edit and maintain too as Testsigma uses AI in the backend to add to the efficiency for all maintenance related tasks.



<h3 id="cross-browser-testing-tools"><a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cross Browser Testing Tools</a></h3>



These tools help execution of test cases on different browsers and devices. Some examples are Browserstack, Browserling. When a test execution tool integrates with the cross browser testing tools, the tool becomes more beneficial.



There are tools that do like Testsigma which supports integration with 5 Browserstack and 4 other testing labs for <a href="https://testsigma.com/cross-browser-testing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cross browser testing</a>.



<h3 id="coverage-measurement-tools">Coverage Measurement Tools</h3>



Coverage Measurement Tools are used to measure the thoroughness of testing by measuring the number of items that the testing covered. The item can be a number of lines of code or methods or components or conditions.&nbsp;



One example of these tools are code coverage tools. There are different code coverage tools according to the programming language in which the code is written. These tools are integrated with other software development tools. For example, They can be&nbsp; integrated with building tools like Ant, Maven, and Gradle as well as with <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/ci-cd-tools/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CI/CD tools</a> like Jenkins.



Examples of some open source code-coverage tools are: Cobertura for JAVA



Codecover for Java and COBOL



Coverage.py for Python



EMMA for JAVA



<h3 id="performance-testing-tools"><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/performance-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Performance Testing</a> Tools</h3>



The purpose of performance testing is to make sure that the application is able to perform according to expected standards even when the load is varied. The performance testing is used to measure the metrics that ensure that the system is stable and performing as expected. These can vary depending on the functionality of the application. But the most commonly measured metrics are: &nbsp;speed, response time, reliability, resource usage, scalability.



Some examples of famous performance testing tools are:



LoadNinja



<a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/jmeter-vs-selenium/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apache JMeter</a>



WebLOAD



LoadUI Pro



Gatling



<h3 id="bug-reporting-tools">Bug Reporting Tools</h3>



When testers execute test cases or do ad-hoc testing, they find bugs and a tool is needed to report these bugs. These tools also easily integrate with the other tools in the software development life cycle.



Examples of some majorly used bug reporting tools are:



Bugzilla



BugHerd



Mantis Bug Tracker



The Bug Genie



<h3 id="project-planning-and-tracking-tools">Project Planning and Tracking Tools</h3>



These are the tools that are used to plan and track the software development activities. Examples of widely used tools are JIRA, Trello, Microsoft Project Planner.



<h3 id="incident-management-tools"><a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/incident-management-systems/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Incident Management Tools</a></h3>



Whenever a customer faces an issue and reports it, they are handled by incident management tools. These tools integrate with other software development processes and improve the efficiency and productivity of the team. Some examples of these tools are crisis control, freshservice.



<h3 id="screen-capture-record-tools">Screen Capture/Record Tools</h3>



When testers report bugs, they need to give all information they have such that the developers and management are able to understand the bug completely. For this, the best way is to send screenshots and <a href="https://www.veed.io/learn/how-to-screen-record-on-windows" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">screen-recordings</a>.



Testers use many tools for this purpose. Some of most used ones are:



Screencastify: for recording your screen from a Chrome extension.



Apowersoft: Unlimited for mobile screen capture.



Snipping Tool : A windows tool for screen capture and recording



<h3 id="tools-for-analysing-logs">Tools for Analysing Logs</h3>



	Every application generates some logs during use. When testing, these logs can prove very useful for testers. They might need to add some logs to the bug reports too. To check and analyse these logs there are multiple tools that testers can use, some of which are:



Graylog



Nagios



Elastic Stack



LOGalyze



In addition to this, testers also use different tools in their day to day life to ease their day to day tasks. For eg. if a tester has to test the HTTP responses, they would use an HTTP proxy tool that will let them check the responses at a granular level. This is when they don’t need to automate the test cases. The examples of such tools are Fiddler and Charles.



<h3 id="other-tools">Other Tools</h3>



Another tool that has been designed to help think better is mindmaps. It helps testers to represent their notes in a easy to review, graphical format. One can note the test ideas, bugs, testing notes in the form of mind maps.



In the categories of types of testing tools we listed above, there are n number of tools in the market but all can not be used in all circumstances.



Many factors need to be considered before choosing the best types of testing tools for a purpose, most important of which are:



<ul><li>Optimized testing costs</li><li>Increased <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/test-efficiency/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">testing efficiency</a></li><li>Highest standards of Quality</li></ul>



Is there some tool that you would like mentioned in this list? Do let us know in the comments!

Different types of tools to help testers day to day life easier

12 Different Types of Testing Tools (Recommended by Tester’s)

Cucumber vs  Testsigma : Behaviour Driven Development Compared

Remote work has been steadily gaining popularity for some years now. According to an article published by <a href="https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/remote-work-statistics/#gref" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">smallbizgenius</a>, in 2019, the number of people who work from home has increased by 140% since 2005.



Now, most of the population is working from home. For most of the companies that had not adapted work from home before, this time has been an eye-opener. Many companies including the big ones like Twitter, Barclays, Mondelez are allowing employees to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/01/major-companies-talking-about-permanent-work-from-home-positions.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">continue work from home</a> indefinitely. as there is a wide range of tools that support organizational productivity, allowing employees to work remotely. From employee onboarding software to training tools, everything is geared to <a href="https://snacknation.com/blog/human-resources-management-software/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">make workforce manageable</a>.



Here, I am sharing a some remote working tips that I have learnt in my five years of remote working experience that could help you make your work effective personally and professionally.







<ul class="list_style_disc"><li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Follow a routine: When we go to the office, the routine comes naturally to us. While in the comforts of home, it can become a tough task. Having a routine in place will not only <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" href="https://thoughtcatalog.com/brianna-wiest/2015/10/the-psychology-of-daily-routine-7-reasons-why-people-who-do-the-same-things-each-day-tend-to-be-happier-than-those-who-chase-adventure/">keep you in a better mood</a> but your teammates will also know the right time to contact you.



You may have to put in conscious efforts to keep up a routine till the time it becomes a habit for you. Read here to know <a href="https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/18-tricks-to-make-new-habits-stick.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">how to make new habits stick</a>. A general rule of thumb to make a habit stick is to repeat it for 21 days without fail.



For me, personally, having a fixed sleep time and wake up time helped to schedule other tasks better.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Work when you are the most productive: If you have been working for some time, you would know what hours of the day are most productive for you.Some people feel most productive in the silence of the night while some feel most productive in the early morning hours. Any time when you are able to <a href="https://www.timedoctor.com/feature-employee-monitoring" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> get your work done </a> without distractions is the best time. Try to get the most important tasks of the day done during these hours.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Take breaks: <a href="https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-reasons-you-should-stop-working-long-hours-today.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Working continuously for a long duration</a> is actually known to reduce productivity. So, instead of trying to do all the tasks in one go, try to break your work time into chunks of smaller duration.For eg., you can work for an hour on one task then take a break for 10 minutes, check your <a href="https://napoleoncat.com/blog/instagram-dms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Instagram DMs </a> or listen to music, and then work on another. Or you can pick some other duration depending on your tasks and personal suitability.</li>



Taking regular breaks lets your brain and body relax and also gives you the opportunity to spend some time with family at home or friends on a call.



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Every day, have a plan of what tasks you will accomplish. Before you go to sleep, jot down the tasks for the next day, so when you wake up the next day, you know where to start. This way, you will be able to be productive as soon as you start your day. Also, you can use the RescueTime time management tool or check out some <a href="https://timingapp.com/blog/rescuetime-alternatives/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RescueTime alternatives</a> to plan your work ahead and keep track of your working time.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 30px">Do other tasks when you are not at your productive best: Checking emails is one task you can do at this time. You can schedule reading them at the end of your workday or just before you take a break or do some household chores.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Take up only what you can manage: This point is especially for those who try to juggle many things at once. We are humans and even if we work 24 hours a day, the number of things we could accomplish is limited.



The best solution is to keep a list of tasks you need to do with priority assigned to all of them. Do the most important tasks first, including the tasks you need to take care of at home.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Don’t hesitate to delegate: There will be some tasks that you must do but there will be some that you can easily delegate to others. Delegating tasks also helps you focus on the important tasks.</li>







<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Have a place where you can work without disturbance: After routine and task management, the workplace plays the most important part of your work life. When you are in your workplace, you know you are supposed to work and, there are fewer chances of you getting distracted. Thus it becomes important that you plan on investing in setting up a workplace at home.To begin with, you can <a href="https://www.thespruce.com/small-desks-4155171" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">set up a mini DIY work station</a>.Checkout <a href="https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/get-to-work-13-diy-workbenches-craft-counters-and-potting-tables-47343#diy-bookcase-bench" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">some unique DIY workbenches ideas here as well</a>.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Minimize distractions: For me, the biggest distractions are social media websites and apps. I open the phone to check one notification and then get stuck going through all the updates. This could also mean that while I was sitting in my workplace, I was not being productive and I end up spending a longer duration for the same task.



To keep myself away from any distraction and to be my productive best when it matters, I try to keep my phone away from me whenever I am working. Eventually, I stopped feeling the urge to check the phone now and then.



For some people, this distraction could be Netflix. A solution could be to plan for your work to be completed at a fixed time every day. At that time, you can switch on your Netflix and go binging without any guilt of not giving your 100% to your work. Know what distracts you from your work and keep away from it during work hours.</li>



Communicate: Being remote, communication is what suffers the most. So, you will have to be proactive to chase away any delays due to a shortage of communication. The best way is to communicate with the risk of over communication. One solution to enhance communication when working remotely is using&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/what-is-ringcentral/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">RingCentral</a>, a communication platform that provides messaging, <a href="https://trueconf.com/blog/reviews-comparisons/video-conferencing-software.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">video conferencing</a>, and phone systems, among other features. When you are working remotely, people cannot see you working. They also won’t know if you are available or not. Communicate this beforehand.



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Communicate: Being remote, communication is what suffers the most. So, you will have to be proactive to chase away any delays due to a shortage of communication. The best way is to communicate with the risk of over communication.</li>



When you are working remotely, people cannot see you working. They also won’t know if you are available or not. Communicate this beforehand.



If you have a doubt, ask. If you find some valuable information, share. If you feel like talking, ping someone. This way, you will also be able to bring your water cooler conversations to your home.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Never guess or leave anyone guessing: If there is someone who needs to know the status of your task, don’t wait for them to ask. Ping them and let them know the status. If you are dependent on someone’s tasks, don’t assume their status. Just ask them.



This is also a perfect time to start using a collaboration tool like Slack, Asana, Trello etc to avoid any gaps in communication</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Have patience: With remote work, also comes work time flexibility. People work according to their own schedules. What could be a suitable time for you to work might be someone else’s time to feed their kids.



So, If you ask someone a question, give them time to return back to you. Meanwhile, you can work on some other tasks.</li>







<li style="padding-bottom: 30px">Stay visible: If there are group conversation, participate in them. And, always communicate your work status to your manager.</li>







<li style="padding-bottom: 20px">Talk to people: Even though you are working remote, you are part of a team. Being part of the team, you should know your team members and your team members should know you. So, whenever a situation comes where you can talk about yourself or ask about someone, act on it swiftly.Strengthen your <a href="https://krisp.ai/blog/virtual-team-communication/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remote team communication </a> to ensure productivity.You should also ping your team members individually sometimes to just build up on those friendships that you might be otherwise missing by not going to the office.</li>



<li style="padding-bottom: 50px">Take care of yourself: To end the article on the most important note, all the remote working tips above would work for you only if you take care of yourself too. So, take out time for your hobbies, spend time with your family and friends. Have an ergonomic chair for a good posture. And do something to be happy every day.</li></ul>



If you are a tester, we also compiled some tips for <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/make-testing-remote-friendly/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="making testing remote-friendly (opens in a new tab)">making testing remote-friendly</a>.

15 Remote Working Tips From Experience

Time suddenly took a U-turn and did when we least expected it. While just some time ago, millions of people were travelling across the globe, now we are forced to stay at home for our good.



If expert opinion and news analysis are to be believed, remote work is expected to become the new norm at least in the near future.&nbsp;



We need to equip ourselves to better adapt to the situation in the best way possible.



In this article, we have compiled some tips for remote QA testing teams to keep testing effectively.



1. Communicate



With teams working from physically different situations, the aspect of remote working that has the most impact is communication.



Schedule a short meeting daily to plan the work and practice sharing work status with your team. Make sure every team member is involved in it. A good practice is to share a summary of the discussion in case someone misses to join.



It is important that a remote QA testing team provides timely feedback. For testing specific tasks, always communicate the completion status on time when possible. A better way to do it is to update your teams on the progress of your work using a test management tool. Team members can access and check the status of the tasks anytime, anywhere. This will be particularly helpful if their tasks are dependent on yours.



2. Make your testing reports clear and concise



Some part of a tester’s daily activity will always involve reporting. Whenever a bug is found they will be logging bug reports. When executing test cases, they share execution reports. The execution reports will also be of different types &#8211; for eg. functional testing reports, performance testing reports, regression testing reports, release certification reports.



To make the reports useful while working remotely, they must highlight the issues and convey the test behavior. This prevents any to and fro between people to understand what the reports mean. This also helps teams to stay productive while working remote.



3. Automate workflow where possible



Depending on the type of project you are testing, and the role you are in, you would have a lot of workflows already automated or many might be pending.To improve the quality of remote testing work, try to automate the processes that would help other team members perform better.For example, having an automated CI/CD workflow where after every check-in, a regression test suite is executed automatically will save testers and the developers a lot of time.



4. Reduce potential blockers and individual dependencies, where possible



With remote work, all team members cannot be available at the same time. Keeping this in mind, individual dependencies should be removed as much as possible. For eg, if there are test automation scripts or test cases &#8211; they should be hosted at a location that is shared with all. The hosted locations and folder structures should be easy to understand and communicated to all beforehand.



5. Enable selective access to the testing machines on need-basis



There are organizations where testers need access to different machines and servers for testing. These machines could be hosted on the cloud or hosted in the organization’s headquarters within a private network. To keep the security intact, enable access to these testing machines and environments with the people that need to access it. Make sure to not share any potentially sensitive files/data on these machines.



6. Use secured tools



Now when people have no other way than to work remotely, people are also using various tools for making remote work easy. They could be <a href="https://trueconf.com/features/collaboration/instant-messaging.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">messaging apps</a>, meeting apps, task management tools, or collaboration tools.



 Though it&#8217;s good to use such <a href="https://callhippo.com/blog/business/productivity-tools" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tools for better productivity</a> and reduced communication barriers, ensure that your tools are always secure. You need to keep yourself and your internet self safe and secure.



If you have not already, you should think of investing in a test management tool that allows you to host and manage your manual &amp; automated test cases, test execution reports, and analysis.



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<a href="https://testsigma.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Testsigma </a>is a unified test automation platform that allows you to:



1. Automate test cases on the cloud.



Testsigma allows you to automate test cases in simple English via NLP. These test cases are created and hosted on the cloud and can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, anytime.



2. Execute test cases on a cloud-hosted test lab that has 1000+ screen sizes to test on.



Testsigma has an in-built test lab with all the latest devices and browsers that you might need to test on. It can also easily integrate with BrowserStack and Sauce Labs.



3. Get comprehensive execution reports and access them anywhere anytime.



The execution reports are created keeping the most important stuff highlighted and the needed references attached which prove to be useful for testers as well as managers.



4. Easily integrate with other CI/CD tools you might be using.



If you have an already set up continuous integration/DevOps workflow, Testsigma can integrate seamlessly with it.



5. Debug your failed test cases on the cloud.



Testsigma attaches screenshots, video recording of test execution and logs to execution reports. It also supports pause and play of test cases for better debugging experience.



Testsigma offers On-Demand Automation Expert Services &nbsp;to address complex situations and growing requirements. The dedicated expert will work with you remotely and in the time zone you are comfortable with.



We are in tough times. Some of us could seem better than others but the fear of the unknown is worrying us all. So, let&#8217;s understand each other and have empathy for each other too, every moment of the day. If someone is not available, let&#8217;s understand and ask them when they will be available instead. In place of calling for a meeting without any notice, ask for time when they are comfortable and then schedule a meeting. If people don’t turn up, it&#8217;s ok.Make everyone feel inclusive and comfortable. Respect and appreciation might be something that might be needed more frequently in these times.



Know More: <a href="https://testsigma.com/blog/tips-to-overcome-remote-testing-challenges/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tips for Remote Testing</a>

Make Testing Remote Friendly with Testsigma