Between app development and end-use lies the wondrous world of testing. All applications you use daily are thoroughly scrutinized by experts. ITdaily visits TestDevLab in Latvia, where specialists ensure that video meetings function properly even under challenging conditions.
The entrance hall still smells like a new and freshly renovated building as we step inside, happy to leave the surprisingly oppressive and humid Latvian summer heat behind. The TestDevLab logo is prominently displayed on the wall. The current headquarters of the company once served as a gymnasium and later as a luxurious maternity ward. For the past year, the stately building in the center of Riga has been the headquarters of the specialized testing company.
“We employ over 500 people worldwide”, says Sanda Stepite, responsible for recruitment at TestDevLab. “About 200 of them are linked to this office, although not everyone is present at the same time. Remote work is well-established.”
TestDevLab is not the most well-known name in the IT world, but the company plays a crucial role in software development. As an independent specialist, TestDevLab examines the quality of applications. Applications are tested in as many relevant ways as possible, and any bugs are reported back to developers.
Specialized work
“Sixty percent of our customers are US based”, says marketing specialist Josh Griffiths. “These include Zoom and Twillio.” Zoom has been a client since Covid and is one of the few big names TestDevLab can publicly talk about, although we can read between the not-so-subtle lines that more well-known companies work with the Latvian testing specialist.
TestDevLab tries to stand out in the market with advanced tests and customization. The company’s engineers collaborate with clients. They not only indicate whether an application works properly, but also what may be wrong and which factors may have an impact.
For proper quality control, you don’t just need experienced people but also devices, tools, and training.
Josh Griffiths, marketing specialist TestDevLab
“For proper quality control, you don’t just need experienced people but also devices, tools, and training”, Griffiths knows. “Many companies don’t have room for such overhead. We offer testing according to high European standards and collaborate with our clients.”
Skype
That approach was certainly the idea of Ervins Grinfelds. He founded TestDevLab in 2011 with a colleague. The idea for the company arose during smoke breaks when both gentlemen worked for Skype, and (the now-defunct) Skype immediately became their first client after the founding.
Since then, TestDevLab has acquired clients worldwide and opened offices in Spain, Estonia, Lithuania, and North Macedonia, among others. “With some luck, we’ll run into Grinfelds shortly”, hopes Stepite.
Engineer’s nook
Griffiths and Stepite lead us through the authentic classical staircase to the heart of the office. On the first floor, we end up in a small room where any engineer would feel at home. All manner of tools hang from the walls, and on the desks, we see half-finished electronic gadgets. 3D printers on the floor support the creation of custom prototypes.
“Here our engineers develop new gadgets for testing”, explains Griffiths. He points to a small box that seems based on a Raspberry Pi and can quickly simulate various network conditions. Next to it stands a compact tripod with a controllable ‘finger’ that can automatically click on a phone screen, also internally built.
Network congestion competition
In the next room, we see a third prototype at work. On a large screen, a simulated video meeting is running. A sturdy clamp is connected to the system. The harder you squeeze, the more fictitious visitors attend the video call, and the more the network gets congested. If we squeeze hard enough, we see how the connection of some participants struggles and drops. Simulated complaints immediately appear in the chatbox.
“We designed this device to show more clearly what network congestion is”, Griffiths explains. “You can quickly see the impact on the quality of a meeting.” Presumably, there’s also a playful element linked to the setup, as we see a high score of the hardest squeezers appear on the screen.
Self-conceived
Across the room, another setup catches the eye. On a screen, a recorded video call is playing. A pair of phones, connected to cameras and sensors, records the conversation. Here, TestDevLab looks at the streaming quality of apps like Zoom.
Griffiths: “This is one of the systems we designed ourselves. Each frame on the screen has a unique code. This allows us to perfectly see when a frame is dropped during a stream and what the circumstances were at that moment.”
Thousands of devices
In another corner of the room, we notice a rack full of devices undergoing automated tests. TestDevLab tests software on real hardware instead of virtualized mobile devices. “We test on phones, TVs, watches, VR headsets, IoT devices, which we also purchase each time,” Griffiths explains.
That implies TestDevLab has a stock of about five thousand real test devices. We continue our tour past a small museum, where various mobile devices from the past are displayed. “This was my first mobile phone,” Griffiths muses, pointing to a device that was much more modern the Nokia 6030 we grew up with. We feel old, and invite readers who experienced the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to feel even older.
“For devices like the new iPhone, we have to stand in line”, Griffiths laughs. He’s not at liberty to share more information about the origin of other devices.
Complete silence
In the next room, there’s a single desk. All the walls in the room are covered in black soundproofing material. When Griffiths closes the door, we experience an almost oppressive silence. If you sit in this room for too long, you hear your heart beating and blood flowing, he claims.
The sensory deprivation office was used to test applications on devices isolated from the outside world. Since the Covid epidemic, TestDevLab saw demand grow drastically, and a more economical solution was needed. Further down the corridor in a different room, we see large boxes with the same properties as the office, where testers can place devices.
“Covid wasn’t fun”, Stepite realizes, “but the period was good for the company. We grew from 190 to over 500 employees in a short time.”
Diorama with a train
In a room at the end of the hallway, a light box containing a brightly coloured and childlike diorama catches our attention. We see a train and a hot air balloon, but also some more technical symbols that suggest we’re not just looking at toys.
“In this room, we test short form video applications”, Griffiths explains. The diorama plays an important role in this endeavour. It offers a setting with various static and moving elements in all kinds of colours, which looks the same day after day, year after year. This allows testers to assess the video quality of applications over the years.
The diorama and the clamp that controls network conditions are just a few of the self-developed tests. “Testing is not a static job,” says project manager Erika Beca. “When we need to test a new feature or application, there’s no manual. We have to figure out which scenarios are important and then determine how to subject them to repeatable quality tests. This job actually requires a lot of creativity. It’s a misconception that everything is automated. A lot of important testing work remains manual.”
This job actually requires a lot of creativity. It’s a misconception that everything is automated. A lot of important testing work remains manual.
Erika Beca, project manager TestDevLab
Escaped bugs
Besides creativity, we also detect a lot of passion and a love for bugs. Literally. Beca opens a small terrarium on a cabinet at the entrance of the room as a demonstration. “At first glance, everything looks calm, but look at what happens when we lift this log.” She lifts the piece of wood, and we see the terrarium teeming with small insects.
“We love hidden bugs”, she laughs. “It’s thanks to bugs that we have work.” Some real specimens escape from the terrarium, but that doesn’t seem to matter. “Let them go, they breed quickly enough in the terrarium.”
Good business climate
Back on the ground floor, Stepite’s earlier prediction comes true, and we meet Ervins Grinfelds. “Latvia has a good climate for starting a business”, he confides to us. “You can start your entire business here digitally, and there’s a lot of local support.”
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Grinfelds was able to grow TestDevLab without external investments. “That ensured that during a difficult period, no investors were breathing down our necks. This allowed us to gamble on retaining people instead of laying them off, assuming that times would improve. That turned out to be a good gamble.”
Meanwhile, things are going well again for TestDevLab. This is evidenced by the beautiful office, the list of clients full of impressive names we can’t know, and the enthusiasm of the employees. The business climate may be good, but we find the weather outside a bit oppressive. We say goodbye to Grinfelds, Griffiths, and Stepite and dive back into the humid Baltic heat, ready to look at a video meeting with the editorial team in the offices in Belgium from a different perspective.