A top-four UK retailer wanted to generate extra business from its reward card app by pushing notifications and adding the card to a customer’s digital wallet on their mobile device. The delivery team had been in place for over 2 years but there was a perception within the client business team that the expected level of change had not been delivered and therefore the anticipated return on investment was not being realised.

The client took the decision to introduce a Ten10 team to work alongside the incumbent third-party test partner. The aim was for the blended test team to share knowledge and reduce the risk of single points of failure. The blended test team worked alongside another third-party, nearshore development team and a blend of contract and permanent project managers, business analysts and solution architects.

The third-party test partner was responsible for producing the test approach, however the strategy for testing mobile devices had not been articulated. The Ten10 team:

• Highlighted the gap to the project team
• Suggested a mobile device test approach that included:
• Reviewing UK device/OS usage against client-specific analytics available from production
• Purchasing physical devices
• Increasing the number of BrowserStack licenses
• Worked with the client and the other test partner to purchase devices and configure BrowserStack

The result was a comprehensive test approach that mitigated quality risks associated with the enhancement of the reward card app.

Ten10’s addition to the test team was driven by the client’s desire to share knowledge of the solution outside of the incumbent third-party test partner’s team. The third-party test team was well-established and had been involved with the solution since the app development project 2 years earlier. There was a perception within the client business team that the project team was not delivering the expected level of change and was not realising the anticipated return on investment.

When the Ten10 team joined the project, we:

• Worked with the Business Analyst and Solution Architect to understand the existing solution and the planned enhancements
• Reviewed the existing test collateral that had been developed by the third-party test partner
• Initiated workshops and reviews of the solution to systematically fill knowledge gaps
• Captured knowledge share documents
• Established best practice usage of Jira/Zephyr for requirements, test and defect management

The introduction of the Ten10 team has provided the client with more resourcing options, knowledgebase/handover documents to support future onboarding and a fresh view on the project delivery and test approach.

Following issues with the in-scope Galaxy S10 device not receiving notifications (as a result of Samsung devices restricting notifications by default to preserve battery life) a decision was taken by the project team to maintain the level of Android test coverage by adding a Huawei device to the test scope.

Due to the last-minute decision, the pressing project timescales and the additional expense that would be incurred to purchase a further device, Ten10 proposed that a Huawei device from the Ten10 Device Lab was used.
The result was appropriate test coverage of Android devices, project timescales kept on track and no additional costs incurred.

The Ten10 team was brought into the project to work alongside a test partner team to provide additional mobile test expertise while reducing the client’s risk of having all testing delivered by a single supplier.
To avoid common challenges associated with working alongside a competitor, the Ten10 team:

• Ensured there was no blame culture by cultivating an environment of trust and collaboration with the third-party test team
• Agreed roles and responsibilities between Ten10 and the third-party test partner, acknowledging areas of overlap and the potential for contention
• Maintained open and regular communication across the whole test team, anticipating dependencies and highlighting risks
• Proactively contributed to the collective test team deliverables (test approach, end of test report)
• Kept the project manager informed of Ten10 progress
• Fed into the project-level reporting produced by the third-party Test Lead
• Initiated weekly meetings with the Project Manager to discuss the improvements introduced by the Ten10 team and to highlight any quality risks that were not being mitigated

• Insufficient consideration of mobile devices within the test approach
• Needing to reduce the reliance on a single third-party test partner
• The last-minute addition of Huawei device to the test plan
• Working in a blended test team with another third-party provider

• A more robust and sophisticated test approach, particularly around mobile device coverage
• Well-defined knowledge share/onboarding documentation
• Reduced reliance on a single, third-party test partner
• Access to Ten10’s extensive device lab
• A well-integrated, collaborative test team that supported and enhanced the project’s ability to deliver