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E-learning QA: What You Should Know About Testing Your Platform - 1

E-learning QA: What You Should Know About Testing Your Platform

  1. The Importance of QA in E-learning
  2. Factors to Consider in E-learning testing
  3. Final Thoughts

Any product is created for the end-user, which means the user experience is what matters most if you want your app to be people’s first choice. In products built for studying and learning, user expectations are even higher. Before the release, you have to make sure that everything works properly and there are no bugs. In other words, you need to have your product checked by QA specialists.

In this UTOR blog post, we’ll explain the role of QA in e-learning products and how to test e-learning applications based on our expertise. We’ll also examine the main errors that can appear in the e-learning product and discuss how to cope with them.

The Importance of QA in E-learning

Let’s imagine you have created an e-learning app and you are going to release it to the market soon. Of course, you want to deliver the best quality product. How are you going to achieve it?

Start by thinking about your audience. Who are the people that will take your courses? Where are they from? What devices do they use? What operational systems do they prefer? There are many issues to think of before you launch your e-learning service. QA specialists try walking in your learners’ shoes to detect defects and bugs in your application.
QA specialists use special tools and testing methods that help them find even those mistakes which no one could suspect.

QA in e-learning has its particularities. E-learning products are complicated for testing because they usually include many elements such as texts, photos, illustrations, interactions, and videos. A thorough check-up of each of the elements is needed.

To find bugs, QAs need to conduct a complex analysis. Let’s figure out what this analysis includes.

  • Performance
    A customer expects a fast and responsive platform, which loads smoothly on every device and provides a seamless user experience.
  • View on different devices and browsers
    If you want your user to enter the course from a desktop and mobile, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, be ready to test the product for adequacy in each needed browser and for all the devices. Define your audience’s preferences first.
  • Text
    There’s nothing easier than making a bad impression because of the poor grammar or typos. Interface texts, descriptions of courses, explanations of the study process must be correct.
  • Visuals
    Pictures and photos help learners to perceive information faster and more efficiently. Make sure that the quality of the images is good, that they are relevant and up-to-date.
  • Audio/video
    To make the studying process more engaging, other multimedia tools such as audio or video explanations are commonly used. However, this part requires additional attention. Is the quality of video good enough? Are video transcriptions correct? A good QA considers these issues too.
  • Interactions/links
    A cohesive platform is the one you can easily and predictably navigate: from one course to another, from one category of knowledge to another. You have to make sure that there are no problematic issues. QA specialists have special tools that won’t let even the smallest bug spoil a user’s experience.
  • Contact forms/FAQ
    Your users’ opinion is valuable for you, isn’t it? Making sure that users can easily reach you and ask their questions is absolutely important to master your product.
e-learning qa
Image: Codoid.com

Factors to Consider in E-learning testing

There is an opinion that there are positive and negative types of testing. Negative testing is about finding mistakes and the positive one is about checking if everything works properly.

Let’s look at the negative testing issues that might occur in your product and recommendations to avoid them.

The common E-learning Errors and Tips to Deal with Them

  • Spelling and grammar mistakes
    Check and then check once again. The more the better. You won’t have a chance to make another first impression. Pay attention to all types of texts you have in the course.
  • Mixed fonts
    Mixed fonts on a page look tasteless. Sometimes the difference is not significant, but don’t underestimate an attentive user’s eye. Make sure the fonts are picked right.
  • Cluttered design
    Too many images on one page, too many colors, not matching colors… This is just a short list of problems with the course design. Test and ask for other people’s opinions to avoid negative comments in the end.
  • Broken hyperlinks, inactive buttons
    Click everything that must be clickable to make sure it really is. There is a big disappointment for a customer to find inactive elements on the page.
  • Missing navigation buttons
    Navigating from one page to another is a crucial factor in shaping up the user experience. That’s why the buttons to navigate the course require special attention.
  • Massive text blocks
    Trying to understand the main idea of a huge text block is a challenging task. And an extra challenge probably isn’t a thing your clients are looking for. Make text simple and readable.
  • Dim task instructions
    We all like to be well-instructed. And one of the most irritating things is unclear instructions. Make sure that your users know what to do by testing the product.

What Approaches to Use for QA in E-Learning

We’ve mentioned the most typical errors that can occur on the e-learning platform. Are there any approaches that can help you reduce the mistakes? There is not a single answer. The approaches vary from company to company. However, there are a few common factors that influence the quality of any product. Based on our experience on testing software at UTOR, these factors include:

  • Proper communication
    People don’t read thoughts, that’s why it’s necessary for product owners to explain their needs to their QA team. In their turn, the QA engineers have to report about the mistakes in a clear way.
  • Use the right tools
    If you expect huge traffic on the platform, you may need stress testing to check whether your platform can cope with the high load. The QA team can pick relevant automated testing tools for your project needs.
  • Provide end-to-end reviews
    Encourage the team to do several end-to-end reviews. It’s more difficult to notice a mistake if you deal with the same product and the same functions for hours. QA engineers should make a few cycles of checking to find all bugs and prevent them from recurring again.
  • Divide the roles
    One of the secrets of productive work is the correct division of roles in a team. Dealing with a QA team, learn about the main roles and responsibilities of the testing specialists to set up efficient processes.
  • A new perspective
    Let other people see your product and speak out about its interface, content, and usability. If you get perspectives from people with various backgrounds, you’ll get a chance to make your product fit different audiences.

Final Thoughts

QA is a necessary procedure in any product. In particular, it’s important in creating e-learning platforms because the expectations of customers towards the studying resources are naturally high. To achieve the prime results, you may hire a QA team with the needed expertise and be sure that your clients will get a flawless product.

UTOR is a software testing company. We have experience in conducting quality assurance for e-learning platforms. You can learn more about the process of testing and the results of our work in our e-learning QA case study. If you’re interested in trying out our testing or QA services, contact us.

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