The first impression is the last impression, especially in today’s world, where everyone is trying to make a mark online. It is no longer a case that an app or a website is simply a tool that performs a specific task. In the modern world, it is all about how appealing the brand looks and how easy it is to navigate through it from the consumers’ perspective. According to Forbes, 88% of users will leave your site if they are not satisfied with the experience you provide. Consequently, it becomes a requirement for testers to do visual testing to ensure that any application or product is a success.

Visual testing is a type of testing that focuses on the layout and appearance of the application’s user interface, its color scheme, and font type and size. This testing method assists the developers to identify any gaps or issues that might affect the users’ experience negatively.

In this blog, we will explain how AI in visual testing has revolutionized the testing world and introduce you to a few of the most trusted visual testing tools that organizations frequently employ.

Visual testing can be described as a testing technique that is aimed at checking and guaranteeing that the visual part of an application is correct. While other testing methods are more concerned with the functionality, visual testing checks to ensure that the layout, design, colors, fonts, images, and other graphical aspects of the UI are properly displayed and aligned irrespective of the devices, browsers, or screen sizes.

Mobile and web applications need visual testing to make them perfect in the present world. It makes sure that your application or software works as it is supposed to work and also feels right to the user who is interfacing with it.

AI in Visual Testing and the Changes that it Brings

AI automation has become a norm in testing and has influenced visual testing at various tiers. With this advanced solution, you can now:

• Analyze the data provided to determine regularities
• Forecasting to make better decisions
• Designing intelligent test cases

Moreover, the use of AI in visual testing has brought in a plethora of benefits, including:

Efficiency
AI testing tools allow continuous automation which reduces the time and effort invested. By eliminating the need for manual testing it allows testers to engage in other important tasks.

Accuracy
The use of AI in the automation of visual testing does not have an aspect of error as it is done by the computers. They effectively execute test phases in line with the script and hence provide accurate and reliable results in the test cases across all the levels.

Better Test Coverage
AI visual testing can provide excellent coverage of areas such as regression and edge cases, thus improving the qualitative assessment of the software in a way that is difficult to achieve when done manually.

Regression Testing
Through regression testing using artificial intelligence, it is possible to ensure that the modification of a particular functionality does not influence other functionalities in a negative way, thus maintaining the software’s integrity.

Improved Reliability and Quality
AI in visual testing enhances the quality of software by pointing out and eliminating visual defects at an early stage in development and reducing the reliability of the software by not allowing it to reach users.

Visual test script generation
AI tools can help in identifying an application’s UI and then develop the test scripts for visual testing that may include various visual scenarios.

Scalability
This is because automation offers the capability to test at the same time across different scenarios and different environments, configurations and platforms.

3 Best AI-Driven Visual Testing Tools You Should Know

Are you looking for an efficient and reliable AI visual testing tool? If yes, then this section is for you. Here, we’ve listed a wide range of AI-powered automation tools for visual testing that come with unique features and specifications, let’s have a look-

TestGrid
TestGrid helps software development teams in making their visual testing process more manageable. It is compatible with most of the common CI systems and other automation testing tools in the market. TestGrid guarantees cross-browser and cross-platform compatibility, which means that teams can easily maintain the visual cohesiveness and quality of their applications.

Features:

• Detects the slightest difference in looks to guarantee seamless experiences for users
• There is no need for additional SDKs and modification of the functional test case code
• It only requires a couple of lines of code, and the rest will be handled by TestGrid’s AI.
• Verifies all the objects of the page, images, texts, videos, layouts, and much more
• Make sure your interface looks good on any resolution or screen size.
• Preventing the occurrence of flaws and inconsistencies at an early stage also eliminates the risk of having visual bugs in the final stages of production.

TestGrid’s CoTester™ is the first AI designed for software testing and is ready trained in the modern approaches to software testing, testing architecture, and testing tools to facilitate the testing process. CoTester™ will revolutionize the software testing activities across the globe.

Applitools
Applitools is an innovative visual testing solution for software teams that sets out to revolutionize the way the quality and consistency of applications is assessed. With the help of its cutting-edge AI-based tools, Applitools enables teams to quickly and effectively pinpoint visual issues and differences in the UI on multiple platforms and devices.

Features

• It is easily compatible with your preferred test frameworks.
• It is possible to grow with the solution to meet the testing requirements of small applications and large-scale projects.
• Tests all forms of UI, whether PDFs, applications, or individual components

Katalon Studio
Katalon Studio’s Visual Testing feature is one of the most useful tools in software testing. It provides functionalities such as the ability to perform visual testing synchronously with functional testing and notify you on time of critical UI disparities.

Features

• Allows you to visually place keywords and test assertions into a test script using drag and drop.
• Sophisticated comparison algorithms help reduce the number of false positives.
• Smart highlighting of the differences between the layouts of the application in the current and previous versions
• Integration with most used CI/CD tools and frameworks.

Conclusion

Visual testing is a new approach in software testing that has been greatly enhanced by the use of artificial intelligence. It enhances precision and consistency and at the same time reduces the time taken to check the quality of the product.

AI in test automation enhances visual testing to the next level of effectiveness, precision, and extensibility. More testing, especially unit testing, and faster regression testing contribute to higher software quality and improved user experience.

If you are using a codeless automation testing platform like TestGrid with advanced visual testing features, you can be sure of releasing only flawless applications with excellent user experience.

Source: This blog was originally published at thedatascientist.com