Steven A Preston

 IT Master Class 1000© Human Input Tactile Device Testing Testing one thousand mouse features and functions. Steven A. Preston Hardware Ergonomic Input Test Matrix The Matrix below provides an outline and description of every aspect of physical ergonomic interaction with a mouse pointing device. The estimated test cases that be extrapolated and extracted from this section is approximately four-hundred seventy. Basic functionality The following sections detail the areas needed to be tested for pointing device basic functionality. To complete the entire scope of pointer functionality, testing must include desktop business applications, illustration and CAD suites, and gaming. In the gaming category specific components (i.e., weapons and character movements) must be specifically tested in all supported operating systems for input-to-screen response times. Video memory response ratios that must be factored in during testing of any human input device. If an anomaly is exposed, the first litmus test for validity must be to use a card with a more robust hardware specs to determine if the behavior is truly the pointing device or the GPU speed and memory deficiencies of the graphics card being used. In addition, testing must also be done using all supported legacy and state-of-the art USB ports (1.0 – 4.0) to determine if USB capability contributes to the bug being investigated. Left-Click context display Enumeration Speed Testing Left Click drag / drop function Press Scroll wheel movement Right-Click display Scroll hold bi-directional movement Adjustable pointer icon select Pointer speed adjustment Control Panel calibration response High-Speed Repetitive click response Dual Button Response Dual Pointer Installation / Response Adjustable Pointer response speed Housing illumination Track Ball Click Track Ball speed adjustment Programmable button response Dial Response Alpha-Numeric button response Mouse Speaker Volume Test USB Feedback Movement Testing Scroll wheel Ergonomic Long-Term Analysis The following sections detail the areas needed to be tested for exposing common injuries and conditions that can occur from long-term repetitive use. This is based partly on the non-ergonomic design of the device being used. Muscle, ligament, joint, and soft-tissue damage has been recorded by the medical community that can be greatly reduced when more ergonomic features are incorporated into devices used on a daily basis. The following anatomical areas are common points of inflammation and pain. Finger soft tissue impact damage Enumeration Speed Testing interosseous membrane strain Pip joint damage Pinched Shoulder Nerve Deltoid Strain (one thousand clicks per day CMV Joint Strain Pointer speed adjustment Repetitive Wrist Snap Wrist Callus Carpal Tunnel inflammation Median Nerve inflammation Temperature Exposure Responsiveness The following sections detail the areas needed to be tested for the device under variable temperatures. Testing is completed to determine functionality under extreme heat, cold, and extreme condensation. Maximum Heat Tolerance Test Maximum Low Temperature Tolerance Test Temperature Inversion (hot to cold) Temperature Inverted Inversion (cold to hot) Ambient Temperature Restorative Response (Heat to Cold) Ambient Temperature Restorative Response (Cold to Heat) Heat Enumeration Testing Cold Enumeration Testing Redundancy Impact Durability Testing The following sections detail the areas needed to be tested for repeated impact of device components. The intent is to determine maximum use life under daily and extreme circumstances. All components of the device are exposed to redundant use with the intent to disable the component and record the level of use that caused the part to become mechanically unstable. This may require impact-automated-equipment that can sustain a click-to-minute ratio for a desired purpose. For example, slow clicks over 40 hours may be used to determine normal durability, versus a rapid impact test that taps a pointer component several hundred clicks per minute. High and Low PSI impact testing presses pointer buttons with a greater downward force than necessary and a downward force triple the PSI force of a human appendage. Left Click (slow redundancy) Left Click (rapid redundancy) Right Click (slow redundancy) Right Click (rapid redundancy) Auxiliary Buttons click (slow redundancy) Auxiliary Buttons click (rapid redundancy) Low PSI Impact Tests (all tap components) High PSI Impact Tests (all tap components) Impact Drop Test 1/3/5 feet (padded surface i.e., carpet) Impact Drop Test 1/3/5 feet (non-padded surface i.e., carpet Particulate Intrusion Component Analysis The following sections detail the areas needed to be tested to determine what level of debris can intrude a component without interfering with device function. Ambient dust particles, moisture and food residue are common substances that become trapped inside pointer devices. Particulate intrusion testing allow product developers to determine the sensitivity of sensors and other components when these particles accumulate inside the device. Dust Intrusion (left and right button) Sand / Dirt intrusion Track Ball Sand / Dirt intrusion Scroll wheel Food Debris (Crumbs left and right button) Hair fragments (left and right button) Hair fragments Track Ball Dust Intrusion Dialers Dust Intrusion Alpha-Numeric pads Polymer Chemical Erosion and Exposure The following sections detail the areas needed to be tested to determine device surface structural stability when consistently exposed to foreign substances that are common to everyday use. Hand lotions, sanitizers, emollients, perfumes, and other chemicals are constantly rubbed into pointing devices via proxy by user skin contact. Because of the wide variety of user-preferences, and the different base polymers and plastics used to construct the pointer, there is no way to determine what specific substances causes or accelerates structural break-down of pointer housing over an extended period of time. It has however been determined that alcohol seems to be a common catalyst in the production of the majority of solutions used. The below PCEE test use alcohol-based solutions for testing. Abrasion contact machines may be needed to expose the device to constant abrasive contact with different substances to determine if any combination causes surface or structural damage. Direct Alcohol abrasion testing Hand Sanitizer abrasion testing Perfume abrasion testing Hand Lotion abrasion testing Cologne abrasion testing Food Oil abrasion testing Liquid Hand Soap abrasion testing Spray Cleaner abrasion testing Optical Obstruction Percentage Response The following sections details optical sensor testing to determine if the optical sensor at the bottom of the pointer housing used to detect mouse movement engages at a specific height from the surface in accordance with the engineering specs for mouse-to-surface contact. Multiple surface testing must also be done to determine what percentage of the sensor can be blocked before pointer movement is disabled. Sensor surface height detection testing Optical Sensor obstruction testing Wireless Movement-To-Response Diagnostics The following sections detail the areas needed to be tested for wireless devices. Over-the -Air updates (O.T.A.) is critical for firmware and embedded applications. Microcontroller memory buffers need to be tested to determine if they can be overloaded. If used, microcontroller intrusion protection must also be tested. Testing must be done to ensure OTA sessions are completed in accordance with developer specs and if interrupted, the session ends gracefully, notifications are conveyed to the user, and connections can be re-established to resume the update session. In the event the firmware is corrupted, JTAG equipment may be needed to perform a low-level wipe (not scrub) of the NAND chip. Tracking blocks used to map bad segments are maintained in a memory wipe. If the memory is scrubbed bad blocks that has been tagged will be removed. OTA firmware update OTA embedded application update OTA Low power detection Wireless Enumeration test Low power notification OTA Distance Test Movement to display response time Signal blocking reconnection test Screen Pointer Distance Test Malware microcontroller Intrusion test(s) Pointer Radiation Emission Testing A Wireless mouse sends signals to a PC at 2.402 GHz to 2.480 GHz using Bluetooth technology normally built into the PC. A USB WIFI mouse uses a USB dongle that plugs into the PC and connects to the internet. A Wireless mouse uses short-range data transfer that is transformed into movement instructions that manipulates the pointer on the screen. After initial manufacturing testing must be done to ensure signal burst do not exceed the specified ranges. Additional testing must be done to determine residual radiation effect on equipment as well as human tissue. Signal Burst testing Radiation Exposure Testing EMP/ EMF Proximity Disruption Diagnostics Additional testing must be done to determine what common devices in the general vicinity interferes with the pointers function once initiated. Example some microwave ovens use 2.4GHz. Multiple Device Cross-Over Testing Cross Signal Audio Feedback Testing Proximity Device Interference Testing Dead zone testing Software Logical Test Matrix The Matrix below provides an outline and description of every aspect of software testing. This includes device driver testing, memory management, and port assignment (for legacy devices). Additional testing must be done to verify plugin to enumeration is completed in the time specified by the design document. The gap between enumeration and pointer control, and physical human input to screen response determines the efficiency of the driver. New Operating Systems allow multiple pointers to be setup and used one at a time by different individuals. Testing must be done to ensure memory seg faults do not occur when several pointers are enumerated. Finally, ad hoc exploratory testing allow testers to apply the dynamic of their years of innovative and instinctive testing intuition to the product. These test tends to uncover minor anomalies that once applied to the end-to-end process, prove to be the catalyst for a potential delay in deployment. As with the previous matrix these test must be completed using the pointing device in Windows, Mac, and Linux environments. The estimated test cases that be extrapolated and extracted from this section is approximately six-hundred thirty. Firmware Update Compatibility Testing This test determines if the driver (if designed) has the ability to detect that there is an incongruency between firmware version on the hardware of the device and the driver version. Graceful revelation of the conflict should occur by the driver in the form of a notification displayed to the user. Driver Update - Firmware Previous Version Driver Previous Version – Firmware Updated Driver updated – Firmware Corrupted Driver Previous Version – Firmware Corrupted Autonomous Calibration Response Time This test determines if the driver responds correctly after calibration is completed in the control panel for different properties. In addition test are conducted to gauge the wait time when the signal connection is lost for wireless pointers and when reconnection is established. For wireless pointing devices inhibiting the signal in the middle of an object dragging session and then reestablishing the connection while the button is still depressed verifies firmware / driver response to signal blocking. Signal Reconnection Latency Test Primary Secondary Button Swap Double Click Speed Click Lock Pointer / Visibility Pointer Speed Scroll Horizontal / Vertical Distance Tilt Wheel Control Dialogue Box repositioning Drag / Drop Signal Blocking Test Scheduled Update Driver Regression This test determines if the driver responds correctly after Operating System internal component update. This is not a complete O.S. version update, only a scheduled update of specific components. Test should also be done for rollback compatibility and verify the that sixty-three Mouse property component values has not been modified. Test should also be conducted to determine if mouse movement interferes with keyboard movement when both are simultaneously engaged. O.S. Scheduled Update Driver Test O.S. Scheduled update Roll back Driver Test Simultaneously test mouse / keyboard Simultaneously test keyboard / mouse Re-Enumeration Verification This test determines if the pointing device is removed the Operation System updated and then the device reconnected that windows default drivers will not be assigned to the device instead of the OEM drivers originally installed. O.S. Version Update Driver Test O.S. Version Roll back Driver Test Simultaneously USB Enumeration Test Enumeration USB Port Version Tests (1.0 – 4.0) Dual Pointer Interference / Compatibility Testing This test verifies correct function when the maximum amount of pointing devices are connected simultaneously. Tests are also conducted to determine if multiple control of the pointer is attempted by installing multiple pointing devices using the target pointer being tested, that no unexpected behavior is experienced. Simultaneously Pointer (different models) Simultaneously Pointer (target model) Gaming Component Reaction / Response Testing This test determines if the pointing device can control specific game components and match the speed of the user input. Based on the developers code for the game, latency may be discovered for a specific component and not other components within the same game. Shutting down all non-essential OS components and running the game in Realtime priority mode, will determine if the performance is with the device or O.S. / PC resources. If the game has a control panel for pointing devices, test must be completed to ensure the pointer responds to the control panel pointer parameters and if an anomaly is discovered a separate game with the same control panel pointer option must be used to substantiate the problem being the pointer and not the code of the game. O.S. Version Update Driver Test O.S. Version Roll back Driver Test Simultaneously USB Enumeration Test Enumeration USB Port Version Tests (1.0 – 4.0) Game Component Response Testing Game Control Panel Pointer Functionality Ad hoc / Exploratory Testing This test allow the QA specialist to test outside the scope of the acceptance criteria of the product for the purpose of discovering probable anomalies that would lead to definite problems within the scope of the product. The short list below under no circumstances define the entirety of categories of test that could be performed on the device. It simply provides insight to the implementation and motif of what is meant by “exploratory testing”. Test Case Category Test Purpose Mouse Button Continual Hold (20 minutes) This case determines if the mouse button is acknowledged once and assigned a state, or is continuous acknowledgement eating up memory and simulating a memory leak. Mouse Wheel Continual scroll (20 minutes) This case determines if the wheel is scrolled continually after reaching the bottom of the Y axis area is acknowledged once and assigned a state, or is continuous acknowledgement eating up memory and simulating a memory leak. All Button pressed (hold 20 minutes) This case determines how the driver responds if all buttons are depressed and held indefinitely will it have unexpected results. Simultaneous Pointer Request Using a touch screen monitor, initiate touch-navigation while simultaneously attempting to navigate with the mouse (cable and wireless). Copyright© Steven A. Preston All rights reserved.