Applause Publishes 2024 State of Digital Quality Report for Europe

Applause, a leader in testing and digital quality assurance, has published its third State of Digital Quality report covering Europe. The report is based on a comprehensive examination of real-world testing data that identifies the common flaws in digital experiences – digital banking, streaming media services, wearable devices, online shopping, voice-activated devices, enterprise software and more – and provides pathways for improvement.

One such pathway is adopting digital quality frameworks, which help organisations assess their progress toward achieving comprehensive digital quality. This year’s report adds new frameworks for artificial intelligence (AI) and user experience (UX) testing, detailing the core capabilities, practices and processes teams should consider as they navigate different levels of quality, from emergence through to excellence.

The report found that although European companies use a variety of methods to assess digital quality, there is a general lack of formal systems, processes and documentation, with no consistent methodology or approach applied to UX testing. While accurate localisation can help attract and retain customers, the report found that many aspects of localisation and payment testing are neglected. Only 45% of organisations test with live payment instruments, and only 21.2% do beta testing with in-market customers, despite the invaluable feedback that provides.

In addition, only 22.5% of European companies have comprehensive documentation in place for test cases and test plans. Although most teams recognise the fundamental value of well-defined testing methodologies, accurate documentation and continuous testing and feedback, these strategic imperatives are often ignored to meet tight deadlines.

“This year’s report uncovered a range of challenges that arise when development teams aren’t looking beyond basic bug fixes,” said Luke Damian, Chief Growth Officer at Applause. “Organisations need to ‘shift left to get it right’ and can leverage digital quality frameworks for areas like accessibility, AI, payments and UX to set attainable goals for achieving excellence. In markets like ecommerce – a trillion-dollar industry – organisations leave money on the table if they’re not embedding quality throughout the software development lifecycle.”

Luke added: “Digital quality also plays a key role in compliance. Inclusivity for all should be high on the agenda for European companies with the European Accessibility Act coming into effect next year. Real-world testing involving people with disabilities will ensure organisations are compliant ahead of the June 2025 deadline. Rigourous AI training and testing will also help organisations to manage AI complexities, mitigate risk, and navigate the regulations laid out in the European Artificial Intelligence Act.”

At a minimum, organisations must incorporate functional testing into their QA process. While automated functional testing continues to improve thanks to advancements in AI, there is no replacement for manual functional testing – the process by which testers verify digital experiences operate as intended by executing test cases. Companies that excel at digital quality also address the complexities of specialised testing areas (e.g., nuances of the customer journey, emerging payment methods, accessibility laws and assistive devices) to ensure apps, devices and experiences not only work, but work well for all users.

The 2024 State of Digital Quality report is created from a representative sample from the company’s testing data collected last year, spanning 748,000 test runs in 70 industries and 156 countries. It also draws on data from its 2024 Digital Quality Benchmarking Surveys, which look at levels of testing maturity across organizations from various industries globally.