Whether in the development of new digital products or in projects to modernize applications on legacy systems, what increases the reliability—and, consequently, the quality —of applications is the series of tests they undergo. And even though artificial intelligence is currently accelerating the automation of this activity, manual testing remains necessary—and always will.

Manual tests are those performed by people, usually a QA analyst—an acronym for “quality assurance.” Since they are performed by individuals, many manual tests require the use of skills and abilities that are eminently human: sensory ones.

Most of our interactions with applications are limited to screens. To monitor a system’s behavior while it’s running, we rely on touch—whether to control a mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen—and sight. However, to verify that a feature is working correctly, we often need to engage other senses. Does the application emit an audible signal? Does the device vibrate when a notification arrives?

But it’s not just because of their sensory nature that manual tests remain necessary and relevant in application development projects. Read on to better understand their origins and the role they play in today’s systems development cycle.

Going back over the history

As we recount the history of testing here on the Inmetrics blog, we highlight that, starting with the second phase—the demonstration-oriented phase—debugging and testing activities were clearly separated. This separation underscores the need for specialization of roles in computing projects. While in the early days of the industry a single person would design and develop hardware, program software, test it, and debug it, by the late 1950s it was no longer possible to delegate so much responsibility to one or just a few individuals.

As applications became increasingly complex and expensive, the financial risk posed by potential failures grew. This scenario heightened the demand for quality and, consequently, investment in activities that ensured full compliance with software requirements. This led to the emergence of the QA analyst profession. The literature documents that one of the first teams fully dedicated to manual testing was formed in 1958 for the Mercury project, which was responsible for the operating system of the IBM 704, a machine commissioned for the U.S. space program.

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, the work of quality analysts grew in importance and, consequently, became more formalized and standardized. In 1998, the International Software Testing Qualifications Board—known by the acronym ISTQB®—was established . Today, ISTQB® certifications are recognized as the leading global standard for software testing.

Manual Testing Today: How Important Is It in the Age of Artificial Intelligence?

Just as in the other stages of the application development cycle, artificial intelligence agents have also come to play a key role in the testing stage. AI has changed the role of QA analysts, the types of tests assigned to them, and the way those tests are performed.

Currently, quality analysts are less involved in the actual execution of tasks and more focused on the planning and development of test plans; reviewing documentation and the application knowledge base; overseeing the acceptance testing phase; and continuously monitoring systems, thereby transforming quality into a continuous service.

However, collaboration between quality analysts and AI agents has been growing within companies. These agents are increasingly being used as co-pilots during the test planning phases. According to Capgemini’s 2024–2025 Global Software Quality Report, 34% of the companies surveyed are already using artificial intelligence—at least on a trial basis—during the development phase of inspection roadmaps.

With artificial intelligence agents becoming increasingly accurate at performing unit tests and even integration tests, QA analysts have been focusing on running those tests where human cognition or creativity adds value and speeds up the process. As a result, exploratory tests or those centered on the user experience—such as experience, accessibility, or usability tests—continue to be performed manually.

Here at Inmetrics, quality is at the heart of every step we take. We’ve evolved to a way of working that breaks down the barriers between testing, development, and operations. As a result, we’ve increased deployment speed, reduced time to market, and ensured the highest possible ROI for your applications.

If you want your software to be widely accepted and approved by users, get in touch! One of our experts from the Digital Experience unit will show you how we plan and execute manual tests, always with the goal of increasing user satisfaction with your applications!