UI Testing: A Beginner’s Guide With 6 Checklists and Examples

The user interface is the part of your app or website that users interact with. If users struggle to interact with your website, they will most likely abandon it. Therefore, a responsive UI design is crucial for any business or organization. As a result, UI testing has become a significant part of the software development lifecycle. 

With UI testing, developers and testers ensure users have a seamless experience with your website or application. In this blog, we will cover the basics of UI testing, including its types, how to do and best practices. We will also share UI testing checklists that you can use to test your website’s user interface.  

What is UI Testing?

User interface testing, or UI testing, ensures an application’s user interface functions correctly and meets design specifications. It focuses on testing the elements that end users will see and interact with on the application or website. 

The main aim of UI testing is to make sure the visual elements of the website or application work as intended. 

💡UI, or User Interface, is how users interact with computer systems or software, including elements like screens, keyboards, and mouse.  User interface design focuses on intuitive layouts and responsive designs to improve the user experience. 

Why is UI Testing Important?

UI testing involves checking how the application responds to user actions through input devices like a keyboard and mouse, and individual visual nodes function and render properly. UI testing is important for the following reasons:

1. Enhance User Experience: During UI testing, we can make sure that the user interface is easy to use for users, thereby providing a good user experience, which can enhance user satisfaction and retention.
2. Detect UI Issues Early:  It is easy to detect UI issues early, which in turn helps to prevent issues from scaling later on and incurs high costs, thus saving both time and resources.
3. Ensure Consistency Across Devices and Browsers: A whole section of UI testing is dedicated to checking how the interface works on different devices and in different browsers to make sure it fits different use cases and won’t disappoint users wherever they find the brand and give it a try.
4. Improve Application Usability: UI testing improves the overall usability of the application by testing the interface’s functionality and ease of use, making it more accessible and efficient for users.

What UI elements do you have to check?

When performing UI testing, here is a list of things you must check: 

1. Buttons and CTA: Check functionality, responsiveness and correct visual display of buttons and CTAs
2. Forms and Input Fields: Checks validation, error handling and user input acceptance of forms
3. Navigation Menus: Checks proper navigation links, dropdown and expandable menus
4. Images and Icons: Looks for the correct display, resolution and appropriate alternative text of images and icons
5. Text Content: Checks if the text content is Legit, readable and in the correct font styles and sizes
6. Modals and Pop-ups: Checks for proper opening and closing behaviour of pop-ups 
7. Interactive Elements: Checks if sliders, carousels, and accordions have smooth animations and transitions
8. Layouts and Grids:  Maintains responsive design alignment and consistency across different screen sizes
9. Error Messages and Alerts: Checks for visibility, clarity, correct positioning and timing of error messages and alerts

UI Testing Vs UX Testing: What is the Difference? 

UI testing focuses on verifying the functionality and visual correctness of user interface elements, while UX testing evaluates the overall user experience, satisfaction, and usability. Here are the main differences between UI testing and UX testing: 

Aspect	UI Testing	UX Testing
Focus	Verifying the functionality and visual aspects of the user interface	Evaluating the overall user experience and satisfaction
Key Components	Buttons, forms, navigation, images, icons, text, models, interactive elements, layouts, error messages	User satisfaction, ease of use, efficiency, accessibility, emotional response, usability
Objective	Ensuring UI elements work correctly and are displayed properly	Understanding user behavior, identifying pain points, and improving overall user experience
Testing Methods	Automated testing, manual testing, visual inspections	User interviews, surveys, usability testing, A/B testing, heatmaps, user journey mapping
Tools	Selenium, QTP, TestComplete, Katalon Studio	UserTesting, Lookback, Hotjar, Google Analytics, Optimizely
Outcome	Bug-free, functional, and visually consistent interface	Enhanced usability, user satisfaction, and product improvement
Testers	QA engineers, testers	UX designers, researchers, product managers, usability analysts
Frequency	During development cycles, after code changes	Throughout the design and development process, post-launch
Metrics	Error rates, load times, screen rendering, element alignment	Task success rate, time on task, user satisfaction scores, Net Promoter Score (NPS), System Usability Scale (SUS)

Types of UI Testing

Each type of UI testing plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality, usability, and reliability of the application’s user interface throughout its development lifecycle.

1. Manual UI Testing

Manual UI testing involves testers interacting directly with the application’s user interface to validate its functionality, usability, and visual appearance. Testers simulate real user actions to identify bugs, inconsistencies, and usability issues.

2. Automated UI Testing

Automated UI testing uses scripts and tools to execute predefined tests on the application’s user interface. It verifies the functionality and behavior of UI elements automatically, reducing effort and ensuring consistent test execution. Automated UI testing is beneficial for regression testing and repeated test scenarios.

3. Functional UI Testing

Functional UI testing ensures that each functional requirement of the application’s user interface behaves as expected. It ensures that buttons, forms, links, menus, and other UI elements perform their intended functions correctly without errors.

4. Non-functional UI Testing

Non-functional UI testing evaluates aspects of the user interface that are not related to specific functionalities but impacts overall user experience. This includes testing for performance, responsiveness, compatibility across different devices and browsers, accessibility, and security aspects of the UI.

Techniques for UI Testing

UI testing techniques play a critical role in identifying and addressing problems related to functionality, usability, compatibility, responsiveness, and accessibility of the application’s user interface, contributing to a positive user experience.

1. Exploratory Testing

Exploratory testing involves testers exploring the application’s user interface dynamically and without predefined test cases. Testers use their domain knowledge and intuition to uncover defects, usability issues, and unexpected behaviors that might not be covered in scripted tests.

2. Usability Testing

Usability testing focuses on evaluating how user-friendly and intuitive the application’s user interface is. Testers observe real users as they interact with the UI to identify usability issues, such as confusing navigation, unclear instructions, or inefficient workflows.

3. Cross-browser Testing

Cross-browser testing ensures that the application’s user interface functions and appears consistently across different web browsers. Testers verify compatibility with major browsers (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) to ensure a seamless experience for all users, regardless of their browser choice.

4. Responsive Design Testing

Responsive design testing verifies that the application’s user interface adapts and displays correctly across various devices and screen sizes. Testers check for proper layout adjustments, element positioning, and functionality across desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.

5. Accessibility Testing

Accessibility testing ensures that the application’s user interface is accessible to users with disabilities. Testers evaluate compliance with accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) to ensure features such as screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, and color contrast are implemented correctly.

Steps to conduct UI Testing

Here are the standard steps that you can follow to conduct UI testing: 

1. Define Test Objectives: Clearly outline the goals and scope of the UI testing, including specific features, functionalities, and user scenarios to be tested.
2. Create Test Cases: Develop detailed test cases that cover different aspects of the user interface, including UI elements, interactions, and expected outcomes.
3. Set Up Testing Environment: Prepare the necessary hardware, software, and testing tools required for UI testing. Ensure compatibility with target devices and browsers.
4. Execute Tests: Perform manual or automated tests based on the defined test cases. Validate UI elements for functionality, usability, and visual consistency.
5. Record and Report Issues: Document any bugs, defects, or usability issues encountered during testing. Provide clear and detailed reports with steps to reproduce issues and their impact.

👉Pro Tip: Our test management platform (QA Touch) can help you improve your UI testing process by allowing testers to record screen and audio while documenting bugs and usability issues. This feature ensures comprehensive reporting with clear steps to detect issues, facilitating efficient resolution and enhancing overall product quality.

1. Validate Fixes: Verify that reported issues are fixed correctly by retesting the affected UI elements and functionalities.
2. Perform Regression Testing: Conduct regression testing to ensure that recent changes or fixes have not introduced new issues or affected existing functionalities.
3. Review Test Results: Analyze test results to assess the overall quality and readiness of the user interface for release. Discuss findings with stakeholders for feedback and decision-making.

Checklists for Effective UI Testing

Having a UI testing checklist in hand ensures that all aspects of the frontend interface, such as fonts, color schemes, hyperlinks, UI components, alignment, content, and expected behavior, are covered in the testing.

Here are the checklists you can use to perform UI testing for your application or website: 

1. Checklist for Functional Testing

Functional testing ensures that the application’s user interface elements work correctly and perform their intended functions without errors or issues.

1. Test each button, link, and form field to ensure they perform the expected actions, such as navigation, submission, or data input.
2. Validate error messages appear when users enter invalid inputs or encounter errors, providing clear guidance on how to resolve issues.
3. Validate user inputs to ensure they meet specified criteria (e.g., required fields, format validation) before proceeding with actions or submissions.

2. Checklist for Usability Testing

Usability testing focuses on evaluating how intuitive and user-friendly the application’s user interface is for its intended users.

1. Assess how easily users can navigate through different sections and functionalities of the UI, including menus, links, and navigation paths.
2. Test the clarity of labels, instructions, and visual cues to ensure users can understand and interact with the UI intuitively without confusion.
3. Evaluate the arrangement of UI elements (e.g., buttons, menus, content) to ensure a logical flow and consistency throughout the application.

3. Checklist for Cross-browser Testing

Cross-browser testing verifies that the application’s user interface functions well across different web browsers and versions.

1. Execute tests on popular browsers to ensure compatibility and functionality across diverse user environments.
2. Check for consistent rendering and behavior of UI elements across various versions of each browser to maintain a uniform user experience.
3. Address any discrepancies or bugs that occur specifically on certain browsers, ensuring the UI functions correctly regardless of browser choice.

4. Checklist for Accessibility Testing

Accessibility testing ensures that the application’s user interface is accessible to users with disabilities and complies with accessibility standards.

1. Verify that the UI meets WCAG guidelines for accessibility, including color contrast, text readability, and navigation accessibility
2. Test keyboard navigation to ensure users can operate all interactive elements without relying on a mouse or touch input.
3. Ensure that screen readers can interpret and announce UI elements and content accurately, making the application usable for visually impaired users.
4. Ensure modal dialogs return focus to the originating element upon closing.
5. Check that all interactive elements are accessible via keyboard.
6. Verify that custom controls are operable with keyboard shortcuts.
7. Ensure there are no keyboard traps.
8. Test with multiple screen readers such as NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver.
9. Ensure dynamic content updates are announced by screen readers.
10. Use appropriate ARIA roles, states, and properties.
11. Ensure form controls have associated labels.
12. Provide captions and transcripts for video and audio content.
13. Ensure audio content does not autoplay or can be easily stopped.

5. Checklist for Responsive Design Testing

Responsive design testing ensures that the application’s user interface adapts and functions properly on various devices and screen sizes.

1. Verify the responsiveness of the user interface across different devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones, to make sure optimal display and usability.
2. Check that UI elements adjust correctly to smaller screens and touch interactions, maintaining usability and visual integrity
3. Test interactive elements that adapt or change based on screen size to ensure they function as intended without usability issues.

6. Checklist for Performance Testing

Performance testing evaluates the responsiveness and efficiency of the application’s user interface under various conditions.

1. Quantify the time taken for UI components and content to load, ensuring acceptable performance across different network speeds and conditions.
2. Detect and resolve issues such as slow-loading elements or delays in UI responsiveness that could impact user experience.
3. Conduct stress testing to simulate heavy user traffic and verify that the UI maintains responsiveness and usability without significant delays or failures.

Examples of UI Testing

Here are examples of UI testing for a web application for a login page and shopping cart page: 

Example 1: Login Page Testing

To ensure the login page of the web application functions correctly in terms of functionality, usability, and security.

Functionality Testing:

• Verify that valid credentials allow access to the application
• Verify that invalid credentials result in appropriate error messages
• Test password recovery/reset functionality

Usability Testing:

• Check the placement and alignment of input fields, labels, and buttons
• Verify if the login page is responsive across different devices and screen sizes
• Ensure that the error messages are clear and helpful for users

Security Testing:

• Test for SQL injection vulnerabilities by entering SQL commands in username/password fields
• Check for XSS vulnerabilities by inputting script tags and special characters
• Verify that session management is secure and tokens are properly handled

Example 2: Shopping Cart Testing

To validate the functionality and performance of the shopping cart feature in an e-commerce application.

Adding Items to Cart:

• Test adding items to the cart from product pages and category pages
• Verify that the correct quantity is added and reflected in the cart

Cart Management:

• Test updating item quantities and removing items from the cart
• Check if the subtotal and total calculations are accurate

Checkout Process:

• Test the checkout flow from the cart page to the payment gateway
• Verify that different payment methods (credit card, PayPal, etc.) work correctly

Performance Testing:

• Simulate a large number of users’ purchasing flow to test scalability. Based on the analytics, you can find and define the number of virtual users and test. 
• Measure the response time of the cart operations under load

Additional Read: How To Write Test Cases For E-commerce Website? 

Tools and Frameworks for UI Testing

Choosing the right UI testing tools is crucial to conducting tests successfully. Here are some popular tools and frameworks used for UI testing: 

1. Selenium: Selenium is a widely-used open-source tool for automating web browsers across different platforms, allowing testers to write scripts in various programming languages like Java, Python, and C#.
2. Appium: Appium is an automation tool specifically designed for testing mobile applications on iOS and Android platforms, supporting native, hybrid, and mobile web apps.
3. TestComplete: TestComplete is a commercial tool that supports automated testing of desktop, web, and mobile applications, offering features like scriptless testing and integration with CI/CD pipelines.
4. Cypress: Cypress is a modern JavaScript-based testing framework built for testing web applications, known for its fast execution, built-in test runner, and capabilities for end-to-end testing.
5. JUnit: JUnit is a Java framework primarily used for unit testing, providing annotations and assertions to simplify the writing and execution of tests within the Java ecosystem.
6. JUnit Jupiter (JUnit 5): JUnit Jupiter is the next-generation version of JUnit, introducing new features like parameterized tests, nested tests, and dynamic tests to enhance the flexibility and power of Java testing.
7. PyTest: PyTest is a popular Python testing framework that supports UI testing and provides an easy-to-use syntax for writing and executing tests, supporting fixtures, plugins, and parameterization.
8. WebDriverIO: WebDriverIO is a Node.js-based test automation framework that provides WebDriver bindings for automating web browsers, offering synchronous commands, powerful selector strategies, and integrations with various testing services.

Best Practices for UI Testing

Effective UI testing involves following established best practices to ensure thorough evaluation and reliable results. Here are key best practices:

• Start testing UI elements and flows as early as possible in the development lifecycle to catch issues sooner.
• Automate repetitive UI tests using tools like Selenium or Cypress to increase test coverage and efficiency.
• Validate UI across multiple browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) and devices (desktop, mobile, tablets) to ensure consistent user experience.
• Verify UI responsiveness by testing on various screen sizes and resolutions to ensure proper rendering and usability.
• Evaluate the UI for ease of navigation, intuitive design, and user-friendliness to enhance user experience.
• Ensure compliance with accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) to make UI elements accessible to users with disabilities.
• Test UI inputs with boundary values (e.g., minimum and maximum limits) to validate robustness and error handling.
• Use appropriate test data that covers various scenarios and edge cases to ensure comprehensive testing.
• Maintain version control for test scripts and ensure they are synchronized with application updates to avoid testing outdated functionalities.
• Foster collaboration between developers, testers, and stakeholders to ensure alignment on UI requirements and testing objectives.
• Integrate UI tests into CI/CD pipelines to automate testing and ensure rapid feedback on UI changes.
• Document test cases, test results, and any UI issues found during testing for future reference and improvement.

See more: Test Case Review Process Checklist

Limitations of UI Testing

UI testing, while essential, comes with its own set of challenges and limitations that testers should be aware of:

1. High Time and Resource Requirements: Testing UI elements thoroughly can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, especially when dealing with complex applications or extensive test scenarios.
2. Complexity in Handling Dynamic Elements: UIs with dynamic content, such as elements that load asynchronously or are generated dynamically, pose challenges in test automation and require robust handling strategies.
3. Challenges in Cross-browser Compatibility: Ensuring consistent behavior and appearance across different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) can be difficult due to varying rendering engines and CSS interpretations.
4. Dependency on Visual Changes: UI tests heavily rely on visual elements, making them susceptible to failures due to minor UI changes, such as color, font, or layout adjustments, which may not affect functionality but impact test outcomes.

FAQs of UI Testing

1. What is UI testing in API testing?

UI testing in API testing refers to the verification of how the user interface interacts with API responses. It ensures that the UI correctly displays data fetched from APIs, handles user interactions related to API calls (like search or filter functionalities), and appropriately manages API errors or timeouts. UI testing in API testing aims to validate the integration between the frontend (UI) and the backend (API) components of an application.

2. What is the difference between UI Testing and GUI Testing?

UI Testing and GUI Testing both focus on evaluating different aspects of an application’s interface, but they differ in scope and emphasis. 

UI Testing primarily concerns itself with the functionality and user interactions within the interface, ensuring that elements like buttons, forms, and navigation paths work correctly. It aims to validate how users interact with and navigate through the application, emphasizing functionality over visual appearance. 

GUI Testing, on the other hand, focuses specifically on the graphical elements of the interface such as colors, fonts, layouts, and visual design consistency. It aims to ensure that the interface’s visual presentation aligns with design specifications and provides a cohesive and appealing user experience visually.

Conclusion

UI testing plays a crucial role in software development by ensuring user interfaces function correctly, are intuitive to use, and adhere to design standards. By thoroughly evaluating UI elements, functionalities, responsiveness across different devices, and accessibility considerations, teams can detect and resolve issues early in development. 

This proactive approach not only enhances the overall quality of applications but also improves user satisfaction by delivering reliable and easy-to-navigate interfaces. As technology continues to evolve, mastering UI testing remains fundamental for creating software that meets the expectations of modern users and stands out in terms of usability and performance.

QA Touch is an effective test management tool that lets you handle the complete testing process – from planning and execution to defect tracking and closure on a single platform.

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