Automation is most advantageous for regular and repeated testing, which may be very time-consuming and tiresome when done manually. However, automation cannot match a human’s intuitiveness, broad knowledge, and iterative assessment skills.

1. The Continuing Relevance of Manual
Testing

2. Automation is most advantageous for regular and repeated
testing, which may be very time-consuming and tiresome when
done manually. However, automation cannot match a human’s
intuitiveness, broad knowledge, and iterative assessment skills.
Additionally, some testing has to be done manually, and both the
setup of automated testing need human involvement.
So today, we are going to talk about why manual testing remains
a must for software development.
Importance of Manual Testing
Manual testing is of continuing relevance for software
developments, some of which are enumerated below:
1. Usability and User Experience Testing
Usability/UX testing is the process by which testers determine if
a website/software performs as anticipated by the designer
when used by a real-world user. An observer watches invited
user test participants while they complete a set of pre-designed
activities.

3. The tester keeps track of how well they do and encounter any
difficulties with the assigned activities. Additionally, they may
collect valuable data, such as if the route to a destination has
more steps than the user desires and whether navigational
signposts are easily identified and successfully chosen.
However, technologies such as eye-tracking software that
measures visual attention across a page may be beneficial. In
contrast to the test experts who conduct the sessions, it is
recommended that no one associated with the build does
usability/UX testing. This is because the most valuable test data
comes from users with no previous knowledge of the product,
who are more likely to identify unanticipated problems and are
not influenced by unconscious bias.

4. 2. Issues Occur in the Most Inconspicuous Places
The success of manual testing may be measured by how a
human being is involved in a project. Simultaneously,
automation’s most significant contribution is a robotic adherence
to specified sequences that would be tedious and time-
consuming for testers. It is precisely this consistently non-
thinking feature of automated testing, which makes it entirely
inappropriate for use in ad hoc or exploratory testing.
Testers are urged to use their curiosity and initiative to pursue
spontaneous lines of inquiry and investigate areas that are not
routinely examined. When an issue does arise, human testers
can rapidly alter their lines of inquiry.
This is not feasible in automated testing since the script would
have to be paused to rewrite sections before testing could
continue. Occasionally, common sense is needed, such as when
something seems to be correct during the authoring process but
requires modification throughout the coding process.

5. Humans have an innate sense of when something is wrong,
highlighting another reason for the continuing necessity of
manual testing.
3. Appreciating the Bigger Picture
Nothing beats a tester’s ability to synthesize a comprehensive
overview of a product or project simply by drawing on their
training, on-the-job expertise, and life experience. No automated
system can duplicate this kind of manual testing, which does not
need test plans and relies on a gut sense that something is
wrong. Further, structured testing will be conducted to isolate the
issue before notifying the developers, but the initial impetus
comes from the tester’s unique and unquantifiable skills.
4. Automated Tests Might Include Errors and Gaps
Regardless of the benefits of automated testing, automated
scripts can only test what they were designed to test. This
means that there is always a chance that the person writing the
script will overlook an important detail.

6. Because omission errors are common, scheduling a manual
testing sweep as part of the setup procedure is critical before
testing can be approved and then begun. Even then,
inaccuracies in a script may not be discovered until testing is
well underway.
When automated testing is running, it cannot deviate from the
script, which means any errors or holes in the writing will
eventually result in an inaccurate test report. Such
circumstances necessitate exploratory testing performed
exclusively by humans.
5. Device & Browser Testing
Cross-browser testing is critical to the overall testing process for
bug identification. A cross-browser testing tool is used to
repeatedly run the same script on a potentially infinite number of
browser, device, and version combinations.

7. However, manual testing is the ideal choice for testing the more
physical, visual, and tactile aspects since human testers
possess the characteristics that enable them to take the initiative
and explore utilizing their senses of sight and touch.
Occasionally, a choice requiring compromise will have to be
taken. Because a site may not appear flawless on every
browser, a judgment decision about what is acceptable must be
made.
Manual Testing Variations
In most cases, automated testing will not stray from the test
script’s route, which may be good or bad depending on the
circumstances. The way a person physically tests anything, even
if they adhere to test cases, may differ slightly because of
human impulses and the fact that they may have to process
various inputs, and so on.
This human ability to be non-robotic may sometimes result in
mistakes, but if any human-caused testing problems arise,

8. . Troubleshooting Connection Issues
As there is the availability of diverse options in terms of
technology, manual testing becomes the best testing method.
All connectable devices make use of web browsers, which
sometimes experience connection speed dips and connectivity
problems. When dropouts occur, a site or application must
already have a fallback mechanism to prevent the system from
total failure. Due to the variety of fallback plans’ kinds and
applications, manual testing is the only viable alternative.
2. End-User Support
End-user support goes beyond lab testing. It also includes the
stage of product finishing and delivery. This stage in the market
and is a closely connected and essential element of testing.
Unfortunately, consumers may find stray bugs if their purchase
fails somehow, detracting from their user experience. Because
the client is satisfied

9. When is manual testing more cost-effective?
When it comes to low regression or low testing cases, manual
testing can be highly cost effective. This is especially true for
cases where some defect is visible to the user, or in cases
where tests have to be run only one or twice.
Consider this- there is a learning module that contains several
chapters. However, the logo of the application is different in
some of the chapters. Manual testing can spot such issues
easily, and hence, the issue can be resolved fast and leading to
better ROI.
For even small bugs or issues like differences in name, id or
class of a button- the script for automation testing has to
undergo significant changes, which drives up costs. In case of
manual testing, no change is required which helps keep costs
under control.

10. Manual testing is also preferred by small companies who have
limited IT staff and budget. It also does not require any programming
knowledge- which is a must for automation testing. Last but not the
least- you can go for random testing when doing it manually. The
same cannot be done with automation testing.
And finally, when it comes to human experience of the product- pre-
scripted automation tests may not be the best gauge. Observations
from manual testing can be applied to other applications that aim to
be user-friendly.
Conclusion
It is now clear that manual testing is how value judgments are made
about technical errors. At the same time, automated testing can free
up the tester from the repetitively boring aspects of software testing.
Like other businesses, if you too are looking for testing solutions,
Mindfire Solutions can be your partner of choice. We have deep
expertise in manual testing. We have a team of highly skilled and
certified software professionals that has developed many custom
solutions for our global clients over the years.

11. Thanks You
Content Source: Medium
Contented by: Mindfire Solutions