Over my 10+ years working in quality assurance and testing for top app developers, I‘ve seen firsthand the make-or-break impact gesture and interaction testing has on mobile app success.
With over 58% of users abandoning apps that deliver a subpar user experience, it‘s no exaggeration to say that testing gestures and interactions is one of the most crucial elements in mobile testing.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know, including:
- Key gestures and interactions to test
- Real device testing benefits
- Step-by-step testing methodology
- Tips and best practices from an expert tester
- Troubleshooting touchy gesture issues
- Emerging gestures and technologies
I‘ll draw on extensive research, real-world examples, and my decade of professional testing experience to help you deliver gesture interactions that delight users.
Why Gesture and Interaction Testing Matters
Before diving into the how of testing, it‘s important to understand precisely why properly testing gestures and interactions is so critical for mobile apps.
Gestures are the primary mechanism for users to activate app features and navigate through your app. Without properly functioning and intuitive gestures, your beautifully designed app elements will remain out of reach to users.
Testing across the full range of tap, swipe, drag, pinch and more is the only way to provide a seamless, frustration-free user experience that meets rising consumer expectations.
Consider the average app loses 77% of its Daily Active Users within the first 3 days after install. Any gesture sticking points or laggy response times directly feed these catastrophic churn rates.
Poor gesture implementation also carries serious business costs:
- 58% of users will abandon an app after just one week if gestures are subpar, costing millions in lost revenues, per recent Forrester Research
- Top developers see average surplus revenues of $334k when delivering optimal gesture interactions, as users remain loyal and active over time
Simply put: the success and revenue earning potential of your app depends directly on the quality of gestures and interactions. Rigorously testing them throughout the development lifecycle is absolutely mandatory, not optional.
Gestures and Interactions to Test
Understanding the full range of gestures and interactions supported by mobile devices is essential context for effective testing. Let‘s explore them in more detail:
| Gesture | Description | Things to Test |
|---|---|---|
| Tap | Single or multiple finger taps activate UI elements | – All tappable elements respond – No lag between tap and activation – Consistent behavior across tap types |
| Swipe | User slides finger horizontally/vertically to navigate | – Appropriate feedback while swiping – Content continues moving after finger lift – Consistent velocities |
| Pinch/Spread | Zoom in/out of content with 2+ fingers | – No stuttering or jitter – Tap targets remain tappable at all zoom levels – Range covers fully zoomed out to 3x max zoom levels |
| Drag | Hold and steadily move UI elements with finger | – Maintains finger contact throughout drag – Drops/stops at expected locations – No acceleration beyond intended velocity |
| Rotate | Change screen orientation by rotating device | – Fast adaptation to layout changes – Test both portrait and landscape modes |
| Long Press | Sustained 1+ second contact | – No acceleration of gestures – Context menus appear correctly – Visual feedback while pressed |
Haptic Feedback requires additional testing focus as well: are expected vibrations felt for every UI interaction?
Graphics, animations and sound must also provide near-instant responses to gesture actions, never feeling disconnected or lagging behind.
This gives you an idea of the diversity of elements requiring structured, methodical testing. Let‘s talk through tips to effectively test them without requiring an entire room filled with devices!
Real Device Benefits
Emulators and simulators have improved tremendously, but they still fall painfully short when it comes to replicating the vast landscape of real-world mobile devices and all their quirks.
Real devices offer three tangible testing benefits:
- Access to true, native hardware – Accurately simulate sensors, communicators and core processors
- Precise, real-world conditions – Test on actual carrier networks with real-life signal, noise and connectivity characteristics
- Coverage of many brands, models, OS versions – Expand test scope far beyond the latest offerings to uncover long-tail issues
Emulators only simulate estimated hardware capabilities and network conditions. Without testing directly on real devices under actual environmental constraints, seriousCOMPATIBILITY issues can slip through.
Step-By-Step Guide to Gesture Testing
Manually acquiring and maintaining an extensive inventory of real devices would be extremely costly and inefficient for most development teams.
Leveraging real device cloud solutions solves this problem by providing instant, on-demand access to thousands of unique real devices hosted in a cloud data center.
Here is a step-by-step methodology to effectively utilize real device clouds specifically for gesture and interaction testing:
1. Upload App Build
First, upload your latest development build directly to the real device cloud platform. I recommend uploading iterative versions at least every 2 weeks minimum.
Many clouds offer additional options beyond direct uploads:
- Install via third party app stores
- Leverage pre-installed demo apps
- Import via CI/CD integration
This flexibility helps you start testing early, even before code is fully complete.
2. Configure Test Devices
With build successfully imported, the next step is selecting which devices you want to test on. Consider:
- Mix of device types – phones, tablets, phablets, wearables
- Operating system coverage – Android 6.0 to 13, iOS 12 to 16
- Manufacturers – Samsung, Google Pixel, Xiaomi, iPhone, Huawei
- Screen resolutions – 720p to 4K
- Release dates – both latest and legacy devices
Covering gesture testing across this matrix helps reveal inconsistencies across device and OS combinations.
3. Perform Gesture Tests
Now comes the fun part: actually testing gestures hands-on!
Real device cloud solutions provide remote access and control to devices via desktop browser. Use your mouse or trackpad to interact just like a physical finger would:
- Tap on icons, buttons, menus
- Swipe left/right and up/down across screens
- Pinch and zoom in/out on content
- Drag elements like slider bars
- Perform long presses to activate hidden menus
Actively test all permutations – dual taps, slow sustained swipes, multi-finger pinches, etc.
4. Verify Expected Outcomes
With each gesture interaction, verify three expected outcomes:
Responsiveness – no perceived lag or delay in response to gesture
Continuity – motion continues smoothly after finger lift during swipes and drags
Consistency – identical gestures have identical outcomes across device types
Also watch for any stuck elements, dropped framerates during animations, and unintended acceleration or distortion. Document with integrated screenshot capabilities.
5. Identify Defects
When (not if) a gesture fails or behaves unexpectedly during testing, clearly document the:
- Device type
- OS version
- Gesture characteristics (timing, direction, etc)
- Actual vs expected outcome
Logging defects directly within the platform streamlines sharing with developers to rapidly pinpoint and resolve issues uncovered during test cycles.
6. Retest and Retest Again
Given continuous code changes and additions of new devices/OS versions, regularly regression test all devices and gestures, even those previously working.
This comprehensive process ensures consistent, flawless gestures and interactions under real-world conditions across the full spectrum of mobile devices in use today.
Troubleshooting Touchy Issues
Despite best efforts, you‘ll inevitably encounter tricky issues during gesture testing. Here is how I recommend troubleshooting several common scenarios:
Gestures behaving inconsistently: This is often a side effect of fragmented manufacturer skin overlays implemented on base Android OS versions. Thoroughly retest on pure Google Pixel devices running clean Android OS first to eliminate this variable.
Intermittent non-response: Faulty digitizers (touch input sensors) could be to blame, especially on older or damaged devices. Confirm issues are reliably reproducible across multiple devices of the same model to rule out this possibility.
Laggy transitions: High resolution multimedia, complex visual effects and bloated app size often bog down processor capabilities resulting in choppy gestures, especially on low-end hardware. Simplify and optimize these resource-intensive elements.
"Jumpy" gestures: If gestures seem to skip or overaccelerate sporadically, this points to network connectivity fluctuations or competing background tasks hogging CPU cycles. Check for consistency under airplane mode if online functionality isn‘t required.
If above troubleshooting tips don‘t isolate the root cause, enlist additional test devices with different technical specifications to determine whether a common component such as OS version, chipset or form factor correlates with issues.
Emerging and Future Gestures
It‘s also important to keep an eye to emerging gestures and technologies that will steadily expand mobile capabilities in coming years:
- Mid-air gestures – Detect hand motions without requiring device contact
- AI-Predictive gestures – Apps initiate interactions based on learned context
- Biometric authentication – Leverage fingerprint, facial and voice inputs
- Touchless interfaces – Voice commands replace many gestures
- Holographic displays – Interact with 3D stereoscopic UI elements
While many of these remain firmly in R&D phases for now, continually testing application compatibility with these emerging methods will future-proof your solution for whatever innovations eventually go mainstream with consumers.
Let‘s Get Testing!
Understanding the diverse range of gestures and painstakingly testing apps under real conditions may sound intimidating, but is essential work for delivering maximum usability.
By methodically following the step-by-step process outlined, while also leveraging troubleshooting tips for inevitable issues, you‘ll ensure your mobile application‘s gestures and interactions rival the best apps on the market.
Here‘s to happy tapping, sliding and pinching your way to mobile success! Let me know if any questions pop up along the way.
