Taxi Booking App Testing: A Quick Guide

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As a part of a taxi app project, you are well aware of the amount of resources needed to build such a product. Without diving into technical details, remember:

Uber’s “God View” incident that revealed locations of high-profile individuals.
Careem’s data breach that disclosed personal info of 14 million users.
And Taxify’s buggy app that randomly adjusted pick-up locations and set incorrect prices.

Clearly, there is much to pay attention to when creating taxi apps. That’s why software testing services are essential for the product’s proper functioning. While developers, project managers, business analysts, etc., are paramount for the overall quality of the product, every listed position would need to do the work outside of their duties and expertise.

Why You Should Hire a Professional QA Provider to Test Your Taxi App

In this article, we’ll share practical insights regarding mobile testing services. It will shed some light on the technical particularities of the process and can become a guide for teams forced to test their apps without relying on professional QA for some reason – for even superficial testing is better than no testing at all.

A List of Critical Testing Types for Taxi Apps

To cover all the particulars of software testing, we would need one to four years (the average study timeline for QA engineers), so let’s focus on the essentials.

Smoke Testing

It verifies that the basic functionality of the application is working as expected. When it comes to taxi apps, you can check the following via smoke testing:

Confirm that the app can handle a basic ride booking process (e.g., pick-up location, drop-off location, fare calculation, driver assignment, and ride completion).
Make sure that the app can show the driver’s location on the map and more.

UI Testing

It ensures that the user interface of the application is functioning correctly. For taxi apps, it focuses on:

Securing the app’s visual appeal and user-friendly interface.
Inspecting all buttons, menus, and icons’ operational state.
Ensuring the app’s responsiveness to different screen sizes, etc.

API Testing

It validates the application programming interface’s requests and responses. Simply put, it investigates how well your app communicates with other systems, platforms, programs, and so on. Here, you can:

Ascertain that the API can handle requests for booking rides, obtaining ride details, and canceling orders.
Prevent API errors and safeguard consistent responses, among others.

Compatibility Testing

It evaluates how the app runs in different digital environments, including hardware, operating systems, browsers, etc. Meaning that you should test:

The app’s behavior on a range of physical devices (e.g., Android and iOS smartphones and tablets) to maintain a designed and stable flow.
The app’s execution on different browsers to amplify the potential user pool and avoid bugs for particular platforms, etc.

Compatibility Testing: Why Is It Crucial for Your Software?

Performance Testing

It assesses whether the app can handle a large number of users and requests. In other words, you will need to center on:

The app’s load capacity to see how many users it can handle at once.
The app’s ability to handle spikes in traffic (e.g., during peak hours, after marketing campaigns, or special deals).
The app’s scalability to learn how it performs when the number of users increases or declines, providing for operational consistency, and many more.

Security Testing

It appraises your app’s defense systems, locates vulnerabilities, and defines potential threats and how to mitigate them. Since taxi apps work with sensitive user data, such as addresses, routes, and payment info, security testing is critical. For example, it can:

Verify that the app stores user data securely and leverages encryption to protect customer records.
Ensure that the app has implemented security features like two-factor authentication and SSL/TLS encryption, and suchlike.

End-to-End Testing

It checks the application wholly by simulating the user journey. For instance, from the moment the user signs up and to the finalized payment, i.e., from start to finish. So, for taxi apps, this testing could cover:

Reviewing the entire booking process, from the user entering their location to the ride being completed, to ensure that there are no errors or bugs.
Examining the app’s separate processes, like showing the fare at the end of the ride accurately, launching the feedback form on time, correctly deducting in-app payments, and so on.

What Is End-to-End Testing and How Does It Benefit Your Product?

Regression Testing

It prioritizes affirming that implemented changes did not cause any new issues or unexpected behavior. Say you have added a fully novel function or needed to slightly tweak the info icon. Even small alterations can lead to significant (often unforeseen) shifts in the app. Hence, you will need to:

Confirm that new features or bug fixes do not cause any mistakes in the existing functionality.
Verify that the app still works as expected after updates or code modifications, and so on.

Acceptance Testing

It determines whether the application meets the requirements and expectations of consumers, stakeholders, managers, and other users. Specifically, this testing measures the level to which your app is satisfactory for:

End-users, for whom of utmost importance are the app’s ease of use, ability to provide a good user experience, solve their problems, etc.
Stakeholders, who take care of the “business side” of the project, thus focusing on the app’s profit-related functions, e.g., accurate fare calculation, driver assignment, and many more.

Accessibility Testing

It evaluates how the app conforms to accessibility standards. Briefly, you need to consider small adjustments that would make your product more comfortable for people with disabilities and individuals working in distracting/challenging conditions. For instance:

A driver who works night shifts would benefit from color modification features that would make driving during dark hours easier.
Another function that would make their job safer is voice recognition, voice commands, speech-to-text, etc., which would reduce the likelihood of disturbances when on the road.
And for users who rely on assistive technologies (ATs) to interact with software, you should make sure that your project can support such programs and provide seamless UX for individuals with particular conditions.

All You Need to Know About Accessibility Testing

Ad Hoc and Exploratory Testing

While distinct in approaches, they try to break the testing process or freely browse the app to find unexpected/unforeseen bugs, respectively. Those carrying out these tests depend on prior experience and creativity to locate errors. Specifically, you could check:

How the app reacts to text (addresses, customer info, etc.) written with mistakes, i.e., can the product quickly decipher “broken messages” and still produce accurate results.
How the app behaves during irrational user requests, e.g., inconsistent/unordered booking procedures, multiple bookings for the same customer, and situations alike.

And do not forget about user experience testing, which evaluates how easy and enjoyable it is for users to interact with your product. After all, it is the overall experience your customers receive that allows them to decide whether to stay or leave.

Basic Test Scenarios for Taxi Apps

Compared to test cases, use cases, and test scripts, test scenarios are an easier way of tracking what should be checked. Simply put, they are objectives that users need to complete to utilize your app. All four options require considerable expertise, yet test scenarios could be the optimal decision when testing without a professional QA team.

Let’s break down the first possible test scenario to better grasp this technique.

#1. User Registration

Verify that a new user can successfully register with valid information. This task is straightforward and does not call for any external actions.
Verify that a user cannot register with invalid information, such as an invalid email or password. This line, on the other hand, means that during testing, you should think about the conditions that could influence the outcome. For example, what happens when the user types in an incorrect password/email or leaves these fields incomplete?

While these questions may appear identical in their results, the user cannot register, even tiny deviations and differences can produce curious events, errors, and crashes.

Verify that a user cannot register with an email or phone number that is already registered. Similar to the above, in this case, you would need to account for unfortunate incidents, for instance, database glitches or phone number expiry policies.
Verify that the registration process is secure and that user data is stored properly. This scenario is much more extensive. It would require reviewing the encryption mechanism, data storage, digital defenses, and more.

As you can see, although test scenarios are written in simple language that any employee could understand, they necessitate ample thinking. Denoting that the person tasked with testing still needs at least some level of proficiency and skills to complete the tests effectively.

Now, we move on to other crucial test scenarios you should review to secure a stable taxi app.

#2. Logging In

Verify that a registered user can successfully log in with their correct credentials.
Verify that a user cannot log in with invalid credentials.
Verify that the “remember me” feature functions correctly.

#3. Booking a Taxi

Verify that a user can successfully book a taxi with valid information, such as pick-up location, drop-off location, and payment information.
Verify that the app provides an estimated fare for the ride.
Verify that a user cannot book a taxi with invalid information.

#4. Real-Time Location Tracking

Verify that the app can accurately track the real-time location of the user’s device.
Verify that the app can accurately track the real-time location of the taxi driver’s device.
Verify that the app can provide live updates to the user regarding the location of the driver and the estimated time of arrival.

#5. Payment Processing

Verify that the app can securely process payments for rides.
Verify that the app can handle different payment methods, such as credit cards or mobile wallets.
Verify that the app can provide receipts and confirmations of payments to users.

#6. Cancellation

Verify that a user can cancel a ride before it has started.
Verify that the app can handle cancellations properly, such as by refunding the user’s payment and notifying the driver.
Verify that the driver is notified about the cancelation.

#7. Driver App

Verify that the driver app can accurately track the driver’s location and the location of their assigned rides.
Verify that the driver app can properly handle ride requests, such as by accepting or declining them.
Verify that the driver can manually alter their routes in cases of customer requests, increased traffic, or road accidents.

These are only a few examples of test scenarios for taxi apps you could include. For exhaustive testing guidelines, your testing team will need to be on personal terms with the functionality, requirements, business goals, target audience, etc., of the app.

A Brief Guide to QA Automation for Taxi and Delivery Apps

Positive and Negative Test Cases

You may have noticed that most of the test scenarios have a certain duality to them, e.g., registering with in/valid data. This phenomenon is called positive/negative testing.

Positive testing involves testing the software using valid inputs and expected outputs to ensure that the software is functioning as intended.

For example, to create a user name, customers must use only letters. Thus, during testing, you need to type in just that and confirm that the app reacts appropriately.

In contrast, negative testing involves intentionally testing the software using invalid or unexpected inputs to determine how it responds to such scenarios.

Here, the testing procedure purposely strays away from the predicted inputs. Hence, at the time of testing, you type in letters with numbers, just numbers, symbols, etc., to see whether the app displays errors, explanation messages, or crashes.

The combination of positive and negative testing leads to a robust and secure product that can handle all possible anomalies.

Examples of Positive Test Cases for Taxi Apps

Here, we will explore some positive test cases for taxi apps to serve as a guide for understanding this concept and how it works.

Test Case Example #1: Successful Booking

ID: TC-1

Summary: Check that a user can book a taxi.

Pre-conditions:

The app is opened.
A user is registered and logged in.

Steps:

Select the option to book a taxi.
Enter the pickup location.
Enter the destination location.
Select the preferred type of taxi.
Choose the preferred payment method.
Press the “Book the Taxi” button.

Expected result: The app displays a success message. A user gets ride details: information about the car, driver’s location and arrival time, traffic jams, and expected arrival time.

Test Case Example #2: Selecting a Specific Driver for a Taxi Booking

ID: TC-2

Summary: Check if a user can select a specific driver.

Pre-conditions:

The app is opened.
A user is registered and logged in.

Steps:

Select the option to book a taxi.
Enter the pickup location.
Enter the destination location.
Select the preferred type of taxi.
Choose the preferred payment method.
Select the option to view available drivers.
Select a specific driver from the list.
Select the option to book the taxi with the selected driver.

Expected result: The user can select a specific driver from the list.

Examples of Negative Test Cases for Taxi Apps

And here are a few potential negative test cases for taxi apps you might use.

Test Case #3: Invalid Pick-Up Location

ID: TC-3

Summary: Check if the app doesn’t allow booking with an invalid pick-up location.

Pre-conditions:

The app is opened.
A user is registered and logged in.

Steps:

Enter an invalid pick-up location.
Enter a valid destination.
Select the preferred type of vehicle.
Choose the payment method.
Click on the “Book Now” button.
Verify that the app displays an error message indicating that the pick-up location is invalid.

Expected result: The app displays an error message indicating that the pick-up location is invalid.

Test Case #4: Payment Failure

ID: TC-4

Summary: Check if the app rejects booking with invalid card data.

Pre-conditions:

The app is opened.
A user is registered and logged in.

Steps:

Book a taxi for a specific pick-up location and destination.
Choose the “credit card” payment method.
Enter an invalid card expiry date.
Click on the “Book Now” button.
Verify that the app displays an error message indicating that the payment has failed.

Expected result: The app displays an error message indicating that the payment has failed.

How to Write Test Cases for Login Page

To Sum Up

Developers, PMs, BAs, etc., can certainly contribute to testing efforts. But they may not have the same level of expertise or focus on testing as dedicated QA professionals. To ensure that every necessity of your app is fully covered, you should allow each part of your team to take care of aspects they are qualified for.

Daria Halynska