Full Stack Testing

Chapter 6. Visual Testing

Visual quality amplifies brand value!

The visual quality of an application shapes a customer’s first impression. When the look and feel are palatable, they tend to explore the application further. Imagine a customer has to make a payment online, and the Continue button looks like it does in Figure 6-1. Do you think they will have the trust to proceed further? I very much doubt it. I would choose a competitor’s website to get my job done rather than risk losing my money!

Figure 6-1. A sample payment UI where the button text is cropped

With businesses spending a lot on strategies to acquire more customers through advertisements, freebies, campaigns, and more, software teams forgetting to focus on visual quality is equivalent to building a luxurious house and forgetting to paint it. An application’s visual quality is a critical factor that takes the business closer to the customer and helps gain their affinity—and the customer’s affinity directly amplifies the brand value. Visual testing is all about validating an application’s visual quality, using both manual and automated testing methods.

Note

Note that validating the user experience (UX) design falls under usability testing, not visual testing, and is discussed in Chapter 10.

Visual testing involves confirming whether the application sticks to the expected appearance as per the design in terms of ...