challenge
Our client, a leader in smart TV operating systems, was looking to introduce a suite of products that would be a natural extension of their business and make them a leader in a second industry. They wanted to take advantage of the ease of use, security and interoperability they were known for, so they decided on a suite of smart home products. These products would integrate things like home monitoring, custom lighting and smart power at a better value than what had previously been on the market. With more than 55% of US adults owning one or more smart home devices (a figure that’s increased 15% since 2016), not only was the current market primed for new technology, the future is looking bright, too: it’s estimated that the smart home market in the United States could grow to nearly $50 billion in revenue by 2026. Our client needed to test their new devices in a broad array of consumer environments and complete end-user testing scenarios quickly in order to meet their tight launch deadline. Since these devices provide regional information, they also needed to conduct tests in rural parts of the United States to make sure the products worked in places without a strong internet connection.
solution
We assembled a team of quality assurance (QA) engineers located in various locations across the United States. Each engineer was tasked with configuring and ensuring the continued operation of a home network sufficient enough to support the massive draw of the wide variety of hardware that each colleague had to simultaneously monitor and test. Additionally, each engineer had to find enough room in their house for over 20 different products including TVs, indoor and outdoor cameras, video doorbells and power devices. Essentially, each team-member created four in-home testing facilities. After a brief ramp-up period, our team evaluated and recommended improvements to the testing process and addressed and troubleshooted each OS version change, firmware version change and any local network issues.
results
Our team far exceeded our client’s expectations by opening 216 newly identified defects and verifying and closing 590 previously identified defects. They continued to work diligently on these defects by executing 4,498 test cases across 202 test runs on multiple operating systems. Of the 216 defects that were identified and opened by Sparq colleagues, 178 were fixed by our client and used to better their product line. After launch, the suite of products received rave reviews from consumers, at levels higher than our client’s competitors.
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