Testing of Cross-Platform SDK for Healthcare Developers
Challenge
Kenkou developed a custom cross-platform SDK enabling applications to measure pulse via a smartphone camera, control pulse through breathing exercises, and detect stress — for use in telemedicine, chronic disease management, and remote clinical trials.
Kenkou needed an external QA specialist to establish a QA process from scratch, test the application on iOS and Android, document software specifications, and ensure compliance with medical certification standards. The engagement covered both testing of already-developed functionality and ongoing QA support as the platform evolved.
A key complexity: the SDK has three distinct implementation modes for partner developers, each differing in difficulty, scope of ready elements, and certification requirements — meaning each mode required validation as a separate software product. New capabilities around the camera and accelerometer were also in active development throughout the engagement.
Kenkou developed a custom cross-platform SDK enabling applications to measure pulse via a smartphone camera, control pulse through breathing exercises, and detect stress — for use in telemedicine, chronic disease management, and remote clinical trials.
Kenkou needed an external QA specialist to establish a QA process from scratch, test the application on iOS and Android, document software specifications, and ensure compliance with medical certification standards. The engagement covered both testing of already-developed functionality and ongoing QA support as the platform evolved.
A key complexity: the SDK has three distinct implementation modes for partner developers, each differing in difficulty, scope of ready elements, and certification requirements — meaning each mode required validation as a separate software product. New capabilities around the camera and accelerometer were also in active development throughout the engagement.
Solution
After onboarding, the QA specialist studied the SDK and prepared a tailored testing strategy. Functional and UI testing formed the core of QA activities. Additionally, the specialist:
- Covered security, stability, and reliability testing — essential for healthcare software from both product quality and legal compliance perspectives.
- Ran configuration testing to address camera behavior differences across device manufacturers.
- Performed volume testing to catch hard-to-reproduce bugs from C++ algorithm interpretation via Kotlin (Android) and Swift (iOS).
- Applied ad-hoc testing to compensate for incomplete product documentation, drawing on prior healthcare software experience.
- Wrote full test documentation and requirements specifications from scratch, as no SRS existed at project start.
- Ongoing work included managing tasks in Linear, maintaining the backlog, retesting bugs, running regression cycles, attending daily dev team meetings, documenting new features, and executing full retesting before every new build.
After onboarding, the QA specialist studied the SDK and prepared a tailored testing strategy. Functional and UI testing formed the core of QA activities. Additionally, the specialist:
- Covered security, stability, and reliability testing — essential for healthcare software from both product quality and legal compliance perspectives.
- Ran configuration testing to address camera behavior differences across device manufacturers.
- Performed volume testing to catch hard-to-reproduce bugs from C++ algorithm interpretation via Kotlin (Android) and Swift (iOS).
- Applied ad-hoc testing to compensate for incomplete product documentation, drawing on prior healthcare software experience.
- Wrote full test documentation and requirements specifications from scratch, as no SRS existed at project start.
- Ongoing work included managing tasks in Linear, maintaining the backlog, retesting bugs, running regression cycles, attending daily dev team meetings, documenting new features, and executing full retesting before every new build.
Results
The QA engineer worked full-time, embedded in all development, refinement, and SCRUM meetings. By analyzing the software from UX and compliance perspectives, the specialist raised critical questions when new features were introduced — sometimes redirecting the development approach entirely.
Defects breaking core feature flows were rare due to the team's high competence. Edge cases at feature boundaries were a consistent finding and were systematically resolved before each release, making every update more stable than the previous one.
Key outcomes:
- Requirements specification written from scratch, closing a critical documentation gap.
- Full regression executed before every build release.
- Edge-case defects at feature boundaries caught and resolved pre-release consistently.
- Platform stability improved incrementally with each development iteration.
The QA engineer worked full-time, embedded in all development, refinement, and SCRUM meetings. By analyzing the software from UX and compliance perspectives, the specialist raised critical questions when new features were introduced — sometimes redirecting the development approach entirely.
Defects breaking core feature flows were rare due to the team's high competence. Edge cases at feature boundaries were a consistent finding and were systematically resolved before each release, making every update more stable than the previous one.
Key outcomes:
- Requirements specification written from scratch, closing a critical documentation gap.
- Full regression executed before every build release.
- Edge-case defects at feature boundaries caught and resolved pre-release consistently.
- Platform stability improved incrementally with each development iteration.