What is the first thing a website visitor engages with? It’s the user interface. The appearance and feel of the website are the first things that users notice. It isn’t just about the UI, but the whole experience users have while using a web application, which is why companies should spend extra effort on user interface testing.
This blog will go through UI testing tools and their practices in depth.

What Is User Interface Testing?

User interface testing, also known as UI acceptance testing, is a sort of testing in which we verify if the web application UI works well or if it has any defects that interfere with user behavior and do not satisfy the specified specifications. For example, we can perform UI testing on a text field that receives user input or a dropdown that slides down when the mouse is hovering over it.

User Interface Testing Tools

There are a few good online tools for testing your website’s user interface:

  • UI testing on the cloud- This applies to all types of software testing. However, given the importance and scope of UI testing, it demands special attention. It allows you to test iOS and Android user interfaces on over 2000 genuine devices and browsers. Selenium UI testing on various devices allows testers to see exactly how their website works in real-world scenarios.
  • Grunt- Grunt is a Selenium automation GUI and UI testing tool based on Javascript.
    It comes with a plethora of plugins that make work completion simple.
  • Karma-Karma is a Javascript-based tool that assists with GUI and UI testing. It can also run Jasmine tests. Karma comes with a number of useful test-running tools and capabilities.

Selenium IDE- Selenium IDE is a free Chrome plug-in that leverages the power of Selenium. Users can export any developed test as a script, making it a very powerful tool for creating user interface tests.
For each element it records, it provides numerous location strategies.

User Interface Testing Practices

Quality assurance professionals have long struggled with the stability and reliability of UI testing.
Getting your test case right while guaranteeing broader test coverage can be laborious, time-consuming, and complex.
Now, thanks to UI test automation, you can now run your tests quickly and smoothly in a repeatable manner across several platforms.

  • Use UI Testing Sparingly- Low-level tests such as unit tests and API tests should always be prioritized for faster execution and feedback. This allows you to spot problems early on, reducing costs and increasing ROI.
  • Consider Using the BDD Model- For UI testing, BDD (behavior-driven development), commonly known as the acceptance test, is recommended. It is an approach that aids team collaboration and a complete understanding of tests and requirements.
  • Use Sleep Timeout Only When Absolutely Necessary- Regardless of the software’s complexity, this is the golden rule to follow. In UI testing, the sleep timeout or thread.sleep() function interrupts your test thread for a defined number of seconds, allowing you to halt your tests and causing instability and prolonged execution time.
  • Replace Repeated Tests With Data-driven Testing- A data-driven approach is highly handy when you need to test the same workflow with various data. Data-driven tests, unlike repetitious tests that get unmanageable when testing several combinations, require only a test and an array of data to run all of the distinct data combinations.
  • Generate Screenshots to Aid in a Failure Investigation- Implementing a system that makes a browser snap a screenshot whenever a test fails will save a lot of time when it comes to determining why a test failed.

Taking things together

The task has become more complicated and risky as applications are now created and developed for a variety of platforms and user interfaces. In a nutshell, UI testing requires testers to simulate user behavior by evaluating the website.
The top UI testing service provider, QASource, can help you automate UI testing for software and mobile applications with ease.