Top Reasons Why Automation Fails For Your Web Application

The importance of having a website for your business cannot be underestimated in today’s digital world. A website helps build awareness about your brand and attract new customers. It enables you to showcase your products and services and build a strong online presence. As per Forbes, there are 1.13 billion websites worldwide as of February 2023, proving the growing significance of websites.

However, just having a website is not enough to attract customers. Your website needs to be the best in terms of functionality and user experience, or you may discover that no one visits or clicks on it, and even if they do, they do not stay long enough. To ensure that your website is error-free and meets the standards expected by users, you need to rigorously test it using the latest automation testing techniques.

Most organizations have automated their testing process to overcome the challenges posed by manual testing techniques. However, even though automation makes the testing process faster and easier, there are times when it fails to deliver to expectations. This article explores in detail the main reasons why automation sometimes fails for your web applications.

Reasons For Test Automation Failure For Web Applications

Knowing the key reasons for failure can help you avoid catastrophic situations and keep an eye on the possible solutions.

1. Impractical expectations

It is one of the most common reasons for test automation failure since testers and developers tend to have unrealistic expectations from their automation process. Most management teams expect their testers to automate all their testing needs, which can often lead to disastrous results.

For example, if you are testing a webpage, it is impractical to automate tasks like verifying rendering issues or identifying important elements on the page. The human eye is essential to recognize how a screen is rendered on different devices, screen sizes, and browsers. For automation to work properly, it should be employed to test stable elements that are not prone to frequent change and need to be tested repeatedly.

2. Not knowing what to automate

Another reason for test automation failure is being unsure about what to automate. What percentage of your testing you need to automate depends on the type of web application you are offering since each business caters to different needs. For example, the scope of testing is different for an e-commerce application compared to other types of websites. It is prudent to automate repetitive and mundane tasks so that your testers get the time to focus on the more critical functionalities and testing tasks.

3. Selecting people without the right skills-sets

Hiring the wrong people for your testing project can lead to test automation failure. Many organizations have a false belief that any tester can perform the functions of test automation. However, in reality, the designing, configuring, and implementation of test automation requires a specific set of skills. Ideally, the tester should have the right level of technical expertise and be well-versed in the latest development trends.

4. Overlooking the significance of test reports

The success of test automation for web applications hinges a lot on how accurately you analyze the test results. Following test execution, testers need to make a thorough test report. One of the prime reasons for test automation failure is not giving test report analysis the importance it deserves. The lack of a comprehensive test report can lead to a waste of time, resources, and effort. Examination of test reports helps you analyze the failure of certain tests and find solutions to resolve them,

5. Undefined IDs for web elements

To ensure effective testing, it is ideal for every web element to be given an ID. However, sometimes, developers may fail to allot IDs to all the web elements, leading to test automation failure. The reason is that without IDs, the automated test script is unable to identify the web elements within the prescribed time limit, causing the test to fail. To prevent this and to ensure the proper synchronization of the script, testers need to allot unique IDs to every web element.

6. Choosing an unsuitable tool for testing

The success of test automation for your web application depends a lot on the tool you pick. Selecting the best automation tool for your test project can be daunting, considering the wide range of tools available out there. Each tool has unique capabilities and advantages, and you need to select one that syncs with your budget and specific testing requirements. For example, opting for a cloud-based testing platform will enable you to test your web applications across thousands of real browsers and devices. Such comprehensive testing will help you provide an excellent user experience.

7. Ignoring parallel execution

Sequential execution of test cases is another common reason for test automation failure. When you execute tests in a sequence, the testing process can take longer than expected. Test cases can get halted suddenly because of queue timeout issues when they are executed sequentially. This is why implementing parallel execution is an excellent solution since it allows multiple tests to be executed in different environments at the same time. 

Conclusion

There is no doubt that test automation is the way to go if you want to boost productivity in your organization and ensure the robustness of your end product. However, as mentioned above, a lack of preparedness can lead to test automation failures, wasting your time, money, and resources. Knowing the reasons for test automation failure will help you prevent unnecessary complications and guarantee success for your testing project.

Furthermore, to ensure success for your test automation, you need a trustworthy tool that can efficiently test web applications and identify defects and inconsistencies well before product release. Organizations worldwide rely on TestGrid, the codeless automation testing platform that has features most other testing platforms cannot match. TestGrid simplifies the entire testing process and auto-heals your scriptless tests, preventing them from failing. It provides all capabilities under one roof, including cross-browser testing and API testing, and even allows you to get valuable performance metrics for your applications.

With TestGrid, you can test your applications across hundreds of real devices and browsers, ensuring the best possible performance and user experience. In addition, TestGrid ensures cost-effectiveness, higher accuracy, greater efficiency, and improved ROI in the long run.