Appium is the leading open source and de facto framework for cross-platform iOS and Android mobile functional test automation. That’s nothing new.

With constant changes in the mobile space, and together with the ongoing DevOps transformation, teams are challenged with the objective of enhancing test automation coverage, stability, and delivering valuable feedback to the mobile app developers as quickly as possible.

Additionally, quite often app developers and testers naïvely approach testing by following test steps, rather than testing from the end-user perspective.

Lastly, the testing ecosystem is divided into various practitioners with different skillsets following different methodologies.

About the session: One of the first things you learn when you enter the quality assurance space is the famous triangle breakdown with Unit test at the bottom, Acceptance Tests based on API on top of that (in some places this layer is integration tests but the idea is the same) User Interface (UI) Tests at the very top. This Pyramid has been the main principle on how to approach testing activities (mainly automation) for the past two decades. Flash forward to the present, and we have all been taking part in the "Digital Transformation" happening all over the industry. Mobile Native applications, as well as web applications, take part in almost every activity we do throughout the day, so businesses are building their strategy and shifting resources to deliver applications, while maintaining cost and market share. So what changed? Users are no longer static, they are interacting with apps while on the train heading to the office, while waiting for a flight at the airport, or drinking coffee before their next meeting – these “interactions” are done mostly the user is on-the-go with mobile device. Additionally, applications can now take advantage of sensors within the device to provide a better user experience. The environment where our end users use our application has significant impact on the functionality and performance of our application. At the end of the day, we call this "quality". In the last year we developed a new approach for digital application testing – The “Hourglass” – This new approach expands the well-known "Pyramid" and updates it to the digital era. The client side is now richer and contains many components that impact quality of application. It redefined the definition of coverage. At the top of the pyramid we added 2 additional triangles (to give the hourglass shape). The first triangle is devices – what devices should we test? How we should approach the changes that happens in the device market? The second triangle is environment - where will our end user interact with the application? We've leveraged our investment in automation to get real digital coverage, which helps you reach high quality applications.

One of the first things that you learn when you enter the quality assurance space is the famous triangle braked down to Unit test at the lower, on top of it Acceptance Tests based on API (in some places this layer is integration tests but the idea is the same) and at the top of the Pyramid we have the User Interface (UI) Tests. This Pyramid, in the last two decades was the main principle on how to approach testing activities (mainly automation).

In the last couple of year we are all taking part in the digital transformation that is taking place all over. Mobile Native applications as well as web applications take part in almost any activity that we are doing during the day, business are building their strategy on this channel and shifting resources and budgets to deliver applications maintained and expend their market share.

So what changed?

The users are no longer static, they are interacting with those apps while they are on the train on their way to the office, while waiting for a flight at the airport or drinking coffee while waiting for their next meeting – those “interactions” are done most of the time while they are on the go working with mobile device. In addition the application take advantage of the sensors that those devices provide in order to provide better user experience. The environment where our end users use our application has significant impact on the functionality and performance of our application which at the end of the day we call quality.

During the last year we developed a new approach for digital application testing – The “Hourglass” – This new approach expend the known Pyramid and update it to the digital era – The client side is richer and contains many components that impact the quality of application. It redefine the definition of coverage. At the top of the pyramid we add 2 additional triangles (the gives the hourglass shape) – The first one is devices – what devices should we test, how we should approach the changes that happens in the devise market. The second is the environment, the places that our end users will use and interact with the application. We leverage the automation investment and get the real digital coverage which will help to reach high quality applications.