A Systematic Literature Review on Graphical User Interface Testing Through Software Patterns

Context: Graphical user interface (GUI) testing of mobile applications (apps) is significant from a user perspective to ensure that the apps are visually appealing and user‐friendly. Pattern‐based GUI testing (PBGT) is an innovative model‐based testing (MBT) approach designed to enhance user satisfaction and reusability while minimizing the effort required to model and test UIs of mobile apps. In the literature, several primary studies have been conducted in the domain of PBGT. Problem: The current state‐of‐the‐art lacks comprehensive secondary studies within the PBGT domain. To our knowledge, this area has insufficient focus on in‐depth research. Consequently, numerous challenges and limitations persist in the existing literature. Objective: This study aims to fill the gaps mentioned above in the existing body of knowledge. We highlight popular research topics and analyze their relationships. We explore current state‐of‐the‐art approaches and techniques, a taxonomy of tools and modeling languages, a list of reported UI test patterns (UITPs), and a taxonomy of writing UITPs. We also highlight practical challenges, limitations, and gaps in the targeted research area. Furthermore, the current study intends to highlight future research directions in this domain. Method: We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) on PBGT in the context of Android and web apps. A hybrid methodology that combines the Kitchenham and PRISMA guidelines is adopted to achieve the targeted research objectives (ROs). We perform a keyword‐based search on well‐known databases and select 30 (out of 557) studies. Results: The current study identifies 11 tools used in PBGT and devises a taxonomy to categorize these tools. A taxonomy for writing UITPs has also been developed. In addition, we outline the limitations of the targeted research domain and future directions. Conclusion: This study benefits the community and readers by better understanding the targeted research area. A comprehensive knowledge of existing tools, techniques, and methodologies is helpful for practitioners. Moreover, the identified limitations, gaps, emerging trends, and future research directions will benefit researchers who intend to work further in future research.