QA for Media and Entertainment: How to Test Your Digital Platform

Brief Overview of the Entertainment and Media Market

In 2017, 67% of smartphone users utilized gaming, entertainment, news, and sports apps, coming back to the apps 2x to 3x times a day, according to Ipsos MORI research. 55% of people reported using entertainment apps while relaxing.

PWC predicts that during the next five years traditional TV will lose up to 25 million subscribers. Meanwhile, the OTT sector (over-the-top media services, such as streaming platforms, etc.) is expected to see a 6.9% CAGR increase by 2025. While the fast internet is becoming a common thing in more and more regions, traditional gaming becomes overtaken by social and casual gaming (it happened first in 2020).

In other words, the media and entertainment landscape is highly competitive, and this fact is not going to change in the near future. On the one hand, those who come up with the new E&M services have a huge prospective audience. On the other hand, it is easy to get lost in the abundance of digital entertaining options.

To create a product that stands out, a company needs to start with thorough research, maybe hire QA entertainment technology consultants to help brainstorm the ideas or test the viability of the concepts. Then comes determining the USP and highlights, followed by the development and quality assurance.

Testing for media and entertainment is of the utmost importance. It becomes one of the key competitive advantages that help to win over users exploiting competitors’ services for a long time. Needless to remind that a digital platform with bugs and glitches is rather stressful than entertaining – in other words, it doesn’t fulfill its purpose.

QA for Media and Entertainment: How It Works

The variety of E&M services is huge. News websites, multimedia players, streaming services, social media, photo and video editing apps, reading apps, virtual tours, video and mobile games, edutainment resources – those are just the ones on the top of mind.

Naturally, the quality assurance processes will vary greatly depending on the type of product a QA company gets to review. It won’t be possible to cover all the details and nuances in one article, so we’ll focus on the general aspects.

Types of Testing for Media and Entertainment Resources

Usually, QA for entertainment and media starts from functional testing. Its purpose is to check what a product does. QA specialists test features and functions, verifying against the customer requirements. Functional testing encompasses the following:

• Feature testing – the evaluation features described in the requirements as present or not, determining what behavior is a feature and what is a bug.
• UI testing – the inspection of the frontend elements that enable interactions with functionality on the backend (buttons, forms, text inputs, links, checkboxes, etc.).
• API testing – the check-up of integrations with the third-party services, databases, operating systems, libraries, etc.
• Acceptance testing – the final check before release, when a product is handed to users outside the development team: they can look at it from a fresh perspective and share the initial feedback.

Non-functional testing focuses on a different aspect of software behavior. It helps to learn how a product works, evaluating its speed, usability, accessibility, and so on. In a way, it helps to determine whether a product meets end-user expectations. Some of the commonly used activities that fall under this category are:

• Performance testing – the set of tests used to estimate a product’s ability to handle different user loads, learn how it behaves under heavy traffic, how it scales, etc.
• Compatibility testing – the testing, run on devices with different hardware specifications, operating systems, browsers and their versions, etc.
• Localization testing – the inspection of a product from a perspective of a certain audience, usually residing in a specified region, using a particular language, and with certain cultural peculiarities.
• Usability testing – the check-up meant to show how easy and pleasant to use a product is, considering both design and implemented logic.

Post-Release QA for E&M

It is significant to remember that QA activities for media and entertainment services don’t end with the product release. After the release comes software maintenance and support. Most companies keep developing and updating their products. It can involve enhancing an app with new features, adding more content, changing the design, entering new markets, and so on. Some of the QA processes that can take place at this stage are:

• Smoke testing – a minimal set of tests for obvious errors conducted upon receiving a new build after bug fixing or updates.
• Regression testing – the type of testing meant to discover bugs in already tested functionality after code changes (bug fixes or implementation of new features).
• Business analysis – the estimation of a product’s features and performance, working with trends and user feedback and looking for ways to scale and improve the product.
• QA audit – the process of systematic estimation of the product quality conducted by an independent department or company to objectively access product performance.

Things to Focus On

• Main functionality. Every service and application comes with a different set of features. It is essential to test the core functionality – features and highlights that make your product special and are expected to attract users.
• Platform performance. The loading speed, response time, and related parameters are crucial for all the E&M services, not only streaming platforms.
• Smart personalization. Users are getting spoiled. They expect that service providers will become aware of their interests and preferences quickly, showing the relevant content and offers.
• Payment functionality. The payment gateway should be secure and offer a variety of payment methods. It is also important to make sure that billing works correctly.
• Privacy. Last but not least, users are worried a lot about their privacy and security on the web. E&M service providers deal with a lot of sensitive information, and it is of the utmost importance to prevent any leakage or security breaches.

To Sum Up

The media and entertainment sector offers limitless opportunities for software and content providers. However, these opportunities come with a huge number of competitors. In such an environment, software quality becomes one of the highlights that help a product stand out. That’s why it is crucial to test the software before it goes live. If you’ve already released a product without realizing how important testing is, make sure to find a QA provider that will check it as soon as possible.