Software Testing Blog

Between our office March Madness bracketology and the Bug Battle of the TV Networks rocking the headlines, it’s been an exciting week here at uTest! The Q1 Bug Battle peaked the interest of several leading pundits and bloggers, including TechCrunch’s Robin Wauters (@robinwauters), VentureBeat’s Robert Mullins (@SiliconMoon) and BostInnovation’s Kyle Psaty (@bostinnovation):

• uTest Finds 908 Bugs In Web Apps Of Major U.S. TV Networks

• uTest Rates Best TV Network Web Sites, And Catches Bugs

• uTest Finds 1,000 Bugs in Web Properties of TV Networks

• “Battle of the TV Networks” Uncovers Nearly 1,000 Bugs

Additional press coverage includes Radio Business Report, NewTeeVee, Broadcast Newsroom and VentureFizz.

Thanks again to all of our cunning uTesters for exploring these web and mobile apps voraciously and hunting down some very crafty bugs. And congratulations to all the winners of the Bug Battle of the TV Networks!

Until the next Bug Battle, happy bug hunting!

With roughly 24 hours left in the 1st quarter Bug Battle, here is a brief summary of the results thus far: Nearly 800 bugs from over 400 participants.

Remember, the software testing competition ends Friday, February 12th at 11:59am ET, and there’s nearly $4,000 in prize money at stake. So if you have not participated yet, seize the opportunity now by reporting at least one bug to qualify for prizes.

If you were not able to submit a bug, but have strong opinions regarding the usability and functionality of the major TV networks, you may also qualify by submitting a request for the feedback survey. Don’t forget, there are separate prizes allocated to testers submitting the best feedback.

Special Note: For those who have participated in this competition, be sure to share at least one bug in the uTest Forums. This is shaping up to be one of our best Bug Battles yet. Good luck the rest of the way!

Update: We’re roughly 72 hours into our latest Bug Battle, which is comparing and evaluating the top TV networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX.

With just under four days remaining in the week-long competition, we’ve already had more than 400 testers participate and well over 500 bugs reported. This is shaping up to be the most exciting Bug Battle ever, both in terms of the quantity of bugs submitted and the quality of the reports themselves.

Remember, the Bug Battle ends Friday, February 12th at noon ET, and there is nearly $4,000 in prize money at stake. It’s not too late to win the top prize so get started today (remember, it’s the highest quality bugs that matter, not the quantity)!

To join or catch up on Bug Battle discussions, be sure to check out our testers-only forums.

There’s no shame in being a couch potato (every now and again). After all,the competition between the major TV networks has been extremely entertaining. But now is the time to get up off the couch and onto your desktops, laptops and smartphones – it’s time for the very first Bug Battle of 2010!

That’s right, we’re pitting the four major TV networks against each other in this quarter’s bug-hunting competition. And while there are multiple sources to find out which network has the highest rated shows, we’re going to compare their web and mobile apps to see who distributes that content best.  Here are the networks, in alphabetical order: ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC.

As an added twist, we’re introducing a mobile testing component to the Bug Battle. For more details on this – as well as info on rules and prizes – check out our Battle of the TV Networks page.

It’s now time to pull back the curtain to determine which network sites have the most bugs, the most critical bugs, and the best usability and feature set. And so uTesters, best of luck to you all as you begin another exciting bug hunting mission. May the best network win and may the top testers prevail. Good luck!

Special note: This competition is available only to members of the uTest community.  uTesters can get complete details and discuss the Bug Battle with their peers in the uTest Forums.

The major networks have been engaged in a decades-long struggle to win the hearts and minds (and eyes) of viewers. Whether it’s news, sports or sitcoms, these battles are now being fought on multiple fronts – including the distribution of their content through their web and mobile applications.

Which brings me to our latest bug-hunting competition. This quarter’s uTest Bug Battle will challenge testers to find bugs on the web AND mobile apps of the four major TV networks: CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX.

The competition gets started this Friday, February 5 at Noon (ET). At that time, testers from our community will be given one week to search these sites for the most compelling bugs, and to report them through our online platform. We’ll be dishing out nearly $4,000 in prize money for categories like Top Tester, Best Bug and Best Survey Feedback. As an added twist, we’re also including prizes for the Best Mobile Bugs.

More details on this Bug Battle – as well the rules, prizes and deadlines – after this commercial break. Just kidding, you can find them in the “Bug Battle” thread in the uTest Forums and we’ll be sharing more details here in the next few days.

So testers, you’ve got a few days to prepare for our most challenging competition to date. Until then, stay tuned.

It’s no surprise to our community that social networks have the potential to pose big security threats this year. During the “Battle of the Social Networks,” uTesters found a combined 718 bugs in Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn; and an additional 300+ bugs were discovered in the top five Twitter desktop apps during the Q2 bug battle.

To add more fuel to the fire, today the company Sophos, which surveyed 500+ organizations, came out with a new report stating that in the past year:

• 57% of users report they have been spammed via social networking sites
• 36% of users claim they’ve been sent malware via social networking sites
• 72% of survey respondents think social networks are a danger for their companies (see Mashable article)

What’s the solution? Tina Fey, in her show “30 Rock,” recently spoofed social networks with her creation of “YouFace” (combo of Facebook & MySpace). Terms such as “finger-tagged,” “weirdsie,” and “pho-lo” (for photo and hello) had many ROFL. See video clip after the bump!

Read more…

When the dust settled on our Battle of the E-Tailers last month, Amazon.com performed exceptionally well – scoring high marks for its usability, feature set and a host of other categories. In fact,  74% of our testers said they trusted Amazon most for their holiday shopping in the post-Bug Battle survey.

But despite the fact that hundreds of testers were scouring their site for flaws, at least one MAJOR software bug went unnoticed: a $3 billion validation error, as recently reported by NetworkWorld.

Apparently, a Californian software engineer in the market for a Discovery Channel ‘Cells’ CD-ROM was able to find an edition on Amazon. No surprises here. The only problem (aside from the fact it only runs on Windows 98), was that the price tag for the item was about $3 billion. Plus $3.99 shipping and handling, of course. Seeing the price, and knowing full well that Amazon would settle the issue in a fair and timely manner, he decided to purchase the item on a lark. Here’s his first hand account:

Read more…

Breaking news! This week, we officially announced the results of our Q4 Bug Battle – Battle of the E-Tailers – along with a few prominent media outlets, including USA Today, Fast Company, Mashable! and eWeek.

Curious about the results? Check out the articles below:

• Study: Amazon Most User Friendly by Byron Acohido (@lastwatchdog)
  

• Amazon Trumps Target, Walmart in Bug Battle by Kate Rockwood (@katerockin)

• Holiday Shopping: Amazon FTW! [STUDY] by Christina Warren (@film_girl)

• Amazon Is Least-Buggy Retail Site, Says Report by Nicholas Kolakowski (@eWEEKNews)

So, the battle begs the question: Which e-tailer do you trust the most?

The Battle of the E-Tailers – our latest bug-hunting competition – is now one for the history books! Over the course of a week in November, a total of 505 bugs were reported in three of the world’s top online retailers: Amazon, Walmart and Target. For complete details, be sure to check out the Q4 Bug Battle Report.

While millions of shoppers were making leisurely holiday purchases, our global community of testers were hard at work – reporting a wide range of functional, usability and GUI bugs, as well as providing  user feedback. In doing so, you’ve once again demonstrated the value of comprehensive testing performed by skilled professionals. Well done!

The media, by the way, are all over this story, so we’ll be sure to provide a wrap-up of all the news coverage later this week.

To the Victors Go the Spoils
The prize for Top Tester went to Brad Sellick of Canada, while Tuyen Tran of Vietnam took home the new Judge’s Choice Award. Other cash-prize winners included Gaurang Joshi and Ranchhod Prajapati (both of India) for Best Bugs, as well as Gizem Sahin (Turkey) and Jaya Dinu (US) in the Best Feedback category. There were over 30 winners in this quarter’s competition, so be sure to check out the results page for the complete list.

And now, a few more top-line findings:

Read more…

A wise man once told me, “The real money’s in mini robotic hamsters. You’ll see.”

As it turns out, he was spot on. As this story confirms, the now-famous Zhu Zhu hamster is flying crawling off the shelves at an unbelievable rate. In fact, the little bugger is actually selling for 6X retail price on a few auction sites, with supplies dwindling each passing minute – and it’s not even December yet! Surely one could have found this item cheaper had they done their research…

Which leads me to our most recent Bug Battle. As part of this quarter’s bug-hunting competition, we asked testers to evaluate price comparison tools – among a bunch of other features – in three of the largest online retailers. As promised, we’ll soon be awarding prize money (i.e. Zhu Zhu cash) to testers who submit the most compelling bugs, as well as for valuable feedback.

As I write this, we are carefully reviewing each of these survey responses. Thus far, we’ve been particularly impressed with the feedback regarding the usability/functionality of these price comparison tools. I can’t imagine another community with this much expertise when it comes to software – truly remarkable.

Anyway, the judging is still in process, but when it’s complete, you’ll be the first to know (in the uTest Forums).

In the meantime, I strongly advise you to buy as many Zhu Zhu hamsters as humanly possible, while they’re still “cheap.” It’s the investment opportunity of a lifetime. I know I said that about Beanie Babies, Furbies and Trolls, but this time is different.