SQA2 Case Studies: Automotive
Overview
In a highly competitive market like the automotive service industry, ensuring smooth and reliable performance for customer-facing applications is crucial. This case study highlights how we helped a leading mobile repair service platform, part of a prominent digital ventures business, tackle performance testing challenges. We were engaged to enhance their system’s performance, improve the customer experience, and ensure reliability during peak usage times. By implementing performance testing strategies and optimizing critical aspects of their platform, we contributed to a successful product launch and long-term system stability.
Project Background
The client is a comprehensive mobile platform that connects car owners with highly-rated mechanics. The platform offers at-home car repairs with a convenient online booking system, after-hours support, and a full warranty for peace of mind. They operate in a competitive automotive service industry where customers demand quick and reliable service. With a commitment to providing exceptional customer experiences, the platform sought our help to address performance-related challenges before launching their system.
Initially, the client had limited experience with performance testing, and although they had an understanding of the importance of system scalability and reliability, they faced challenges in implementing and executing a strategy. They needed a partner who could help define service level agreements (SLAs) and ensure their system would meet expectations during high-traffic times.
Challenges
Before partnering with us, the client faced several concerns regarding the system’s performance, particularly with the homepage load time and search functionality. Despite not having major bottlenecks initially, the platform was new, and there were concerns about how high traffic volumes would impact the system. Their key performance goals included reducing homepage load time to less than 2000 ms and maintaining search times below 5000 ms for large data sets. The performance testing tools they had at their disposal were inadequate, and they faced challenges related to scaling the platform to accommodate peak traffic without affecting the customer experience.
Additionally, the client had no experience with performance monitoring tools, and the risks associated with failure to meet these performance goals included frustrated users, slow response times, and potential client loss. They relied on us to provide the best practices in performance testing, ensuring they could avoid any potential customer dissatisfaction during their product launch.
Solutions Implemented
We designed a comprehensive performance testing strategy tailored to the client’s needs. Our approach focused on:
- Defining Key Objectives and SLAs: We outlined performance expectations and service level agreements to measure the system’s ability to handle peak user loads.
- Choosing the Right Tool: We selected JMeter to execute customized performance testing scripts that would simulate real-world traffic patterns, including high search volumes and page load times.
- Load and Stress Testing: The client’s main performance concerns were about load times and user experience during peak traffic. We ran load and stress tests to simulate a variety of user interactions, ensuring that the system could handle anticipated traffic spikes.
- Custom Data Generation: We created large test data sets to accurately simulate real-world usage and ensure that the platform could handle large-scale interactions.
- Collaborating on Traffic Insights: We worked closely with the product and customer strategy teams to understand peak traffic hours and simulate high-traffic scenarios during critical hours, ensuring realistic results.
During the project, we identified performance bottlenecks, including issues with user authentication when high numbers of users generated authorization tokens from the same IP. To mitigate these, we temporarily disabled OAuth and ran performance tests without interruption. This workaround enabled us to continue testing while respecting the security constraints set by the platform.
Outcomes and Results
Our performance testing efforts led to measurable improvements in the client’s platform:
- Reduced Load Times: We achieved significant reductions in homepage load times, reducing them to well within the target of < 2000 ms.
- Improved Search Speed: By optimizing the system and ensuring performance under heavy search loads, we maintained search response times even with large sets of results.
- System Reliability: The overall reliability of the platform was improved, ensuring that the application performed consistently during peak traffic hours.
- Client Satisfaction: Although the platform hadn’t gone live when performance testing was completed, there were no complaints or issues once the product launched, which speaks to the effectiveness of our testing strategy in preventing performance failures.
While we didn’t have access to specific pre- and post-test metrics, the results were clear in how the platform operated smoothly during critical phases.
Client Feedback
The client expressed strong satisfaction with our performance testing efforts. They appreciated our quick turnaround, the tailored nature of our testing approach, and the successful resolution of identified performance issues. Our ability to efficiently address their concerns and meet performance expectations contributed to the platform’s successful product launch and continued operational success.
Lessons Learned and Best Practices
One key takeaway from this project is the importance of focusing on user experience, particularly with high-traffic pages like the homepage. In an increasingly fast-paced, digital environment, user expectations are high, and even small delays can have a significant impact on customer retention. Here are some best practices we recommend to other businesses in the automotive service industry:
- Simulate Real-World Usage: It’s essential to test performance under real-world traffic conditions to ensure the system can handle the expected load during peak hours.
- Define Clear SLAs Early On: Outlining clear performance expectations upfront can help avoid performance-related bottlenecks and ensure that the platform meets business needs.
- Focus on Key Metrics: Load times, search response times, and backend performance are critical to user satisfaction. Continuous monitoring and testing are necessary to keep these metrics within acceptable levels.
Contact Us
Looking to improve your platform’s performance and ensure a seamless customer experience? At SQA², we specialize in performance testing and optimization. Reach out today to discuss how we can help you create a faster, more reliable platform with scalable performance that meets your business needs.
