What is Comparison Testing? Advantages, Disadvantages & Examples

Thousands of software and programs are evidently accessible on the market, indicating that companies are competing for market positions and seeking to sell their software.

But how can you know whether your software will be successful in the market? Software testing is essential to the Software Development Life Cycle. Different kinds of testing are conducted to ensure different quality metrics.

Comparison testing allows you to get more customers and grow your business. During comparison testing, the software that is being made can be compared to similar software that is already on the market. It helps you figure out how your software stacks up against other products on the market.

This blog explains what comparison testing is, its advantages, disadvantages, criteria, importance, and examples. Let's look into this a little more to learn about this practice.

What Is Comparison Testing?

Comparison testing highlights a software product's strengths and limitations compared to other software products currently on the market and is widely used by the target audience.

It is possible to conduct comparison testing on any component of the software program. The user interface, the number of features, the speed, the database, the security, and so on are all examples. The primary determinants of these test criteria are the kind of software program being evaluated and the use cases unique to the business needs.

Why Is Comparison Testing Important?

Using a comparison test, you can learn whether your software project will be successful in the market after its release. Comparison tests reveal whether or not the software project is competitive and valuable to end customers after its release. To give the program the best possible shot at success, you may want to check out the competition.

The goal of comparison testing is to show the software products' competitive advantage in the market and uncover any flaws.

Comparison testing is important because it does not stimulate a competitive market but enhances existing software solutions over time.

Establishing Criteria for Comparison Testing

There are no set criteria for comparison testing. The criteria are totally dependent on the kind of software being developed, however for our convenience and to increase our chances of discovering areas for development, there may be two phases:

Comparing our software to the widely accepted standard benchmarks.
Comparing our software to other products that are on the market.

Use cases for comparison testing are typically constructed with business needs in mind. The ultimate goal of comparison testing is to make software that will get people's attention on the market.

To make this happen, we constantly evaluate our software against competitive products to find places where we can make enhancements, then implement those changes in subsequent versions.

Advantages of Comparison Testing

When comparing one software product to another on the market, comparison testing is the most informative kind of testing that can be performed. The application's strengths and weaknesses are shown, allowing a more accurate evaluation of the software's quality.

Whether a software project can be marketed depends on several factors, including how valuable and competitive the product is. Businesses in the software industry can learn more about the marketability of their product via comparative testing.

In addition to making the product more marketable, it clarifies and enhances its internal design structure.

Here we compiled a list of advantages of comparison testing:

It helps in assessing the software product's quality.
It assists the product in being sufficiently competitive to operate effectively in the market.
It indicates how competitive and practical your product is.
It shows whether the software project is marketable or not.
It will reveal the parts of your application that need improvement.
It shows if the software has a good chance of being profitable or not.
It is useful for ensuring the program is bug-free and has no crucial flaws before it is launched.
It's useful for deducing how the components of a design fit together.

Disadvantages of Comparison Testing

Without a doubt, comparison testing provides practical benefits. On the other hand, comparison testing might be inconvenient at times, and many potential problems make comparison testing challenging.

Your product's weaknesses and shortcomings might be exposed to rivals and customers, leading to adverse outcomes. The failure of your product is possible if any such defect is found.

Sometimes, by the time the program is tested, it has already been through most of the development phases, making any changes or modifications very difficult. When evaluating a product, adding new features might be difficult, complex, and time-consuming if the product is missing certain essential ones.

Above all, modifying the software in smaller increments is always perilous since these changes may damage the whole product's operation.

Consequently, all other tests, such as black box testing, white box testing, integration testing, and performance testing, should also be performed. You can also read our article to learn the Differences between Black Box vs. White Box

As a product progresses through a succession of development stages, it becomes difficult to make further modifications or changes.
When a client finds out that your product has flaws or weaknesses, they may start to think negatively about it.

Example Test Cases of Comparison Testing

Almost every software product can benefit from comparison testing. It could be a web application, a mobile application, an ERP application, a CRM application, or any part of one of those.

Let's look at an example to see how this works.

The primary focus areas for any CRM solution are typically gathering customer data, processing customer orders, managing customer requests, and addressing customer complaints. Comparison testing can start with a look at how well the application works compared to known market standards and how well it works compared to other apps on the market at the time of testing.

All of the customer's data should be stored in the application.
Make sure a trouble ticket is opened for every problem with a customer.
Once the app has been functionally evaluated, developers may go on to further in-depth testing, such as comparing the app's features to those of competing apps.
All the important parts of a CRM application should work as any end user would expect.
Check to see if the application can handle the maximum load on the network.
It is important to compare the application's end-to-end integration with that of other software products.
Check out the look and feel of the user interface. The design of the application should be nice.
Compare the price of the app to the prices of other apps that are similar.
Check to see if the application can be used. When compared to other software with similar functions, the application should be easy to use.
Many more test conditions can be added to get better test results, which can be used not only to promote the software product but also to find problems and improve it.

Further Reading: How to Create Test Cases for Automated Tests? With Example

How Comparison Testing Can Help The Business

A clear set of comparison test criteria and accurate test results can help a business make claims for the software product like

The quickest app in terms of response time
The most reliable product in terms of network load and other factors

Test results can be used to promote a software product, but they can also be used to find bugs and make the product better.

How Can Ronwell Help?

Comparison testing is an effective method for determining the viability of a software product. However, comparison testing is not enough to be sure of your software. You need other types of tests for a quality product.

Ronwell offers end-to-end testing services. Ronwell will create a comprehensive testing strategy and execute the entire testing plan for your business.

Thanks to our 20+ years of combined QA expertise across many industries and our dedicated testing team, we are ready to tackle any challenge.

We report on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to keep you up to date on their development. The reports offer information about which tests were run and which defects were discovered to assist you in monitoring the quality of your product.

With our help, you can ensure that your product is competitive and valuable to end customers after its launch. Talk to us now and start testing today!

References

Geeks for Geeks - Comparison Testing

Software Testing Help - Comparison Testing

Educative - What is Comparison Testing

Software Testing Material - Comparison Testing