What is crowdtesting and how does it work?

Crowdsourced testing is the process of using a tester pool to provide both formal and informal feedback on a product. Crowdtesting pilots software under real-world conditions with real users, allowing companies to gain insight and gather feedback to identify defects quickly and intelligently.

The following screenshot provides a simplified model of crowdtesting with the following key elements: crowdtesting platform, crowd, crowdtesting champion, and crowdtesting services:

• Crowdtesting platform: This is a cloud-based platform. It manages testers, tracks their testing activities, curates their rankings based on the feedback given, manages compensation based on an output-based model, and integrates with standard test management tools.
• Crowd: This represents independent, geographically distributed testers who are part of the network and provide services upon invitation. These SMEs are willing to provide services at a precise cost and service output.
• Crowdtesting champion: As part of the crowdtesting management team, a champion manages deliverables by meeting client expectations. Champions could come from the customer end or be deployed from a crowdtesting service vendor.
• Crowdtesting services: These involve testing devices, sites, content, and other elements as requested by the customer.

Crowd can be public (for example, a subject-specific community) or private (a client workforce community or a clients' customer community). Public crowds provide global coverage on demand and on their own terms. Public crowd subjects or SMEs can be utilized for deeper analytics and identification of potential improvement. Private crowds make up part of the client workforce community with product knowledge and provide user experience. Refer to the following graph:

They are motivated by appreciation and personal or organizational brand identification.