How to test Waiting/Progress Indicator?

Question

As the title mentioned above, how can we test waiting indicator or progress indicator on a web-page. I have been assigned following task:

Apply wait indicator to display on every page. If page loads in quickly the indicator would not display. If the page is slow to load or there is a delay, the wait indicator will display so the user will know something is happening. The indicator should only show up if page takes longer then 1-2 seconds to load.

I have no idea how to test. Please advise.

Answer 1

Try to access the page on a slow network. Get a bad broadband connection with slow internet speed and load the page. It'll take some time to load the page and in the mean while if the page loader displays have celebrations with your team otherwise report a bug.

You can also try connecting your mobile data to your laptop via hotspot or even via Bluetooth (if you have a Bluetooth enabled laptop or a dongle for it). That might help you with a slow net speed. You can call the customer care of your mobile carrier for settings to share your mobile internet with your laptop.

Here are some points to consider when testing waiting/progress indicators:

• Verify that the indicator displays when the page is loading and disappears once the page has finished loading.
• Test the indicator on different browsers and devices to ensure it is visible and functional across all platforms.
• Test the indicator with slow or unreliable internet connections to verify that it displays appropriately during extended loading times.
• Verify that the indicator does not block or interfere with user interaction with the page.
• Test the indicator in different scenarios, such as during AJAX calls or when submitting a form, to ensure it displays and behaves as expected.
• Verify that the indicator is not displayed unnecessarily, such as when navigating between pages on the same site or when interacting with elements that do not require loading.
• Test the indicator with different types of content, such as images, videos, and complex HTML, to ensure it displays appropriately during longer loading times.

Answer 2

Depending on what you need to test:

1. To test the progress indicator.
   Find a slow page in you system under test and verify the time between the command to open the page and the moment the page is fully drawn, as well as the appearance of the indicator in between. Document the test case for future use. Add a fast page as negative test. As mentioned in the comment above by @sameer joshi you can spoof slowness by slowing down your connection is some way. Apple has some standard development tools for this.

2. To test the system for progress indicator handling.
   Open each and every page of the system and verify they either comply with the positive or negative test case as mentioned above.

3. To fully test the system for progress indicator handling.
   Ask development to give you a slow and a fast version of every page of the system and verify they both comply with the positive or negative test case as mentioned above.

Needless to say situation 2 and 3 are cumbersome to test manually. Automation would conceivably help here, but: You'd really want to research if there is a standard handling for the function. There should be. Then you only need to check situation 1 and review the code that the same standard solution is present everywhere.

Answer 3

Some tests you could try

Verify that the loading bar:

• Is displayed while the application is loading.
• Accurately shows the progress of the loading process.
• Disappears when the application has finished loading.
• Displays an error message if there is an issue during the loading process.
• Does not interfere with other UI elements or functionality.
• Is consistent across different browsers and devices.
• Retains its state if the user navigates away from the application and returns.
• Can handle large loads without crashing or freezing.
• Behaves correctly if the load is cancelled by the user.
• Displays a success message when the application has been successfully loaded.