From Manual to Intelligent: The Future Transformation of Website Testing

Software testing isn’t just about finding bugs; it’s about building trust, reducing risk, and ensuring every digital experience works flawlessly.

Filya Mustikawati

08 October 2025

3 minute read

Behind every flawless digital experience is rigorous testing that protects users from the frustration of bugs and broken features. More than just technical quality control, software testing safeguards customer trust and user satisfaction. Each click, swipe, and interaction influences user perception of your product, and software testing ensures these moments are seamless. A single glitch can quickly transform excitement into frustration; thus, testing is crucial for maintaining a smooth and reliable user journey.

The role of testing

In a typical manual testing process, testers craft high-level test scenarios or detailed test cases based on project requirements, ensuring a comprehensive mix of positive, negative, and edge cases. These tests are then executed, and all failures are meticulously documented in bug reports logged into a bug-tracking system, with careful attention to priority and severity. Beyond structured testing, exploratory and ad hoc testing play a critical role in uncovering real-world user scenarios that formal test cases may overlook. These approaches are especially effective when conducted by someone other than the original tester, as fresh perspectives often surface more defects. The manual testers add value not only by reporting defects but also by suggesting improvements to usability, application flow, or even potential new features, drawing on their hands-on experience to help shape a better product.

The respective roles of humans and AI

AI in software testing is no longer just a buzzword; it is actively transforming how QA teams approach quality assurance. Rather than replacing testers, AI is designed to make them 3–5 times more efficient when used effectively. Modern AI-driven tools leverage machine learning to predict defect-prone areas of code, optimise test coverage, and even generate test cases automatically. While manual testing remains indispensable for exploratory, usability, and experience-driven testing, AI significantly reduces repetitive efforts. For example, AI-powered bots can handle regression testing, freeing human testers to focus on complex, creative, and user-centric tasks. This shift also requires testers to rethink their skill sets; instead of simply executing test cases, they are increasingly expected to validate AI outputs, interpret insights from data, and apply judgment where empathy and critical thinking matter, particularly in assessing user experience, an area where human intuition remains irreplaceable.

In the era of generative AI, the role of testers is evolving beyond building automation frameworks and running repetitive checks. With software teams delivering new functionalities faster than ever, repetitive or common-sense operations, such as linking accounts, updating addresses, or connecting credit cards, should be handled by bots. This automation frees testers to focus on unusual, out-of-the-box scenarios that reflect real-world user nuances, from older or younger users to those with disabilities, or rare edge cases like unexpected flight changes. By delegating routine testing to AI, QA professionals gain time to explore complex scenarios and enhance user experience. User experience itself has become a defining factor in software quality: just as cars from different brands today provide comparable core functionality, software must reliably deliver its basic features while testers innovate around unique experiences and edge cases that truly differentiate a product.


Finally, the future of testing is not about choosing between humans and AI; it’s about combining their strengths. AI will take over repetitive and predictive aspects of testing, while humans will continue to provide creativity, intuition, and empathy. Manual testing will become more strategic, automation testing will become smarter, and QA professionals will evolve into quality leaders empowered by AI. In this new era, those who embrace AI will not only keep pace with technological change but will also elevate the role of testing in shaping outstanding digital experiences.

Our digital strategy expertise

Key people and musings from our blog

Emma Andrews

Emma Andrews

Strategy Director

As Strategy Director, Emma's primary task is to ask lots of questions of our clients and transform the responses into a blueprint for success.

Picture of Luminary employee, Shayna smiling at the camera with a black background.

Shayna Burns

SEO Principal

Shayna oversees Luminary’s SEO and generative engine optimisation (GEO) services from audit and strategy through to execution and training.

Picture of Luminary employee, Anna Potter smiling standing in front of a black screen in a green top

Anna Potter

Strategy Principal

Anna is a strategist with a passion for clarifying and simplifying data into an effective, comprehensive and actionable strategy.

Mark MacSmith

Mark MacSmith

Lead Digital Strategist

Mark oversees the digital strategy for major digital experience projects.

Victoria Whatmore

Victoria Whatmore

Content Strategist

Victoria helps clients develop a roadmap for how content can contribute to achieving their business goals.

Woman on a computer

10 min read

WTF is GEO? A guide to staying visible in AI search

Feeling overwhelmed by all the new acronyms flying around in search and content marketing? You’re not alone. From GEO to AIO and AEO to SXO, it’s hard to know what’s what – and what you actually need to focus on.

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

31 July 2025

10 minute read

Woman typing on laptop

6 min read

A practical guide to writing AI-friendly content

Learn some practical SEO and content tips for structuring and optimising your content so it’s more likely to be referenced in AI-generated summaries and overviews.

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

17 March 2025

6 minute read

Robot and girl

7 min read

Six ways generative AI is reshaping our search experience

Adoption of AI-powered search is picking up steam, and it’s changing where and how users are searching. Marketers have an opportunity to take a fresh look at their content, web development and measurement priorities to better align with generative AI’s unique criteria using generative engine optimisation (GEO) tactics.

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

03 February 2025

7 minute read

Google search bar

5 min read

Four common risks to SEO during migrations – and how to mitigate them

One of the most common concerns clients have during website replatforming and migrations is what impact the project could have on their hard-earned SEO authority and traffic. Thankfully, with careful planning, it’s not as scary as you’d think.

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

25 May 2022

5 minute read

Emma presenting roadmap strategy session

9 min read

From the SXSW stage to the boardroom: Storytelling at work

Emma Andrews, our Director of Strategy, shares her reflections and insights from SXSW, drawing from a range of talks and discussions that highlighted the powerful impact of storytelling.

Emma Andrews
Emma Andrews

11 November 2024

9 minute read

Picture of the iPhone with AI Overviews generating an outcome

7 min read

Evolving your SEO strategy for Google’s upcoming AI search experience

Search, as we know it, is in a state of flux. In Australia, we wait with curiosity for Google to roll out its new AI-generated search results module, AI Overviews, known as AIO.

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

28 July 2024

7 minute read

Content Audit

5 min read

Why conducting a content audit is essential

Performing a content audit is a crucial step in optimising a website's performance. It can help identify outdated or irrelevant content, identify content gaps, improve SEO efforts, enhance user experience, and save time and resources.

Victoria Whatmore
Victoria Whatmore

31 July 2023

5 minute read

Idea Bulb Paper

6 min read

Digital disruption – are you ready?

Nimble start-ups and global juggernauts tend to dominate the digital disruption landscape. But there are plenty of things you can do to create disruption if you’re somewhere in between.

Emma Andrews
Emma Andrews

23 May 2017

6 minute read

Are You Listening

5 min read

The future of web is voice: Are you listening?

Voice-led technology is the way of the future and there’s still time to cash in on the early mover advantage, says Luminary CEO Marty Drill.

Marty Drill

31 October 2017

5 minute read

Spice jars

2 min read

The 7 secret ingredients for digital project success

Luminary Digital Strategist Emma Andrews reveals what it takes to really get value out of your investment in digital.

Emma Andrews
Emma Andrews

08 February 2022

2 minute read

Digital Strategy

Digital Roadmapping Toolkit

Download Luminary's Digital Roadmapping Toolkit

Digital Luminary faces

6 min read

GDPR is here, but what does that mean for us Aussies?

The European Union recently introduced the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. This huge update to data privacy regulations finally brings them into the 21st century in terms of online data protection. Australia, however, is still livin' in the 80s. So what does GDPR mean for us?

Andy Thompson

16 August 2018

6 minute read

5 min read

Agile is not a process

We often hear terms like 'agile methodology', 'agile process', 'hybrid agile', and – God forbid – 'wagile' or 'agfall'. But I’m here to set the record straight: Agile is not a process; it’s a mindset.

Jase Watson

22 October 2018

5 minute read

Laptop screen showing Google analytics page with coffee cup in the background

5 min read

How to perform a website audit

Conducting a website audit sounds like a really big, scary, time-consuming chore, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve simplified the task for you with six key areas to assess – along with a downloadable checklist full of useful questions, tips and tools.

Adam Griffith

20 April 2018

5 minute read

UX Is Not Optional

6 min read

Why UX is not optional

UX isn’t just about how things look, it’s about how end users think and engage with a digital experience. Even a modest investment in UX will pay dividends in terms of usability, engagement and performance.

Josh Smith

22 September 2016

6 minute read

Robot using computer

6 min read

Generative AI: How to prepare for the next evolution in organic search

What is generative AI, how does it impact discoverability in search, and what should you be doing now to prepare for the change?

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

23 August 2023

6 minute read

Picture of a mobile phone and a laptop depicting A/B testing

12 min read

All you need to know about online A/B testing in 2023

With the sunsetting of Google Optimize, Luminary’s team of digital experts weigh in on what you need to know to run effective A/B tests on your website in 2023.

Anna Potter
Anna Potter,Victoria Whatmore,Josh Smith,Sarah Crooke&Shayna Burns

23 April 2023

12 minute read

Picture of a laptop on a table with a Google search engine on the screen, demonstrating SEO copywriting ideation.

6 min read

SEO copywriting: How to write for users and not their clicks

Recent algorithm updates show that creating value for your audience will get you further in organic search than being driven by keywords and search volumes. What are you doing to stand out?

Shayna Burns
Shayna Burns

23 November 2022

6 minute read

Woman shopping in supermarket

5 min read

Finding relevance for FMCG brands online

The FMCG industry can have a reputation for being far from ‘fast moving’ when it comes to adopting new marketing practices outside of its traditional media playbook. However with competition rife at-shelf, the impetus to move the consumer interaction online is more relevant than ever.

Anna Potter
Anna Potter

02 November 2022

5 minute read

Girl holding robot's hand

4 min read

UX v SEO: Friends or Foes?

User experience (UX) design and search engine optimisation (SEO) have a sibling-like relationship: in years past, they may have conflicted, but as they’ve matured, they realise they have a lot in common.

Josh Smith&Shayna Burns

16 October 2022

4 minute read

Keep Reading

Want more? Here are some other blog posts you might be interested in.