A Quality Customer Experience

My work this week has mainly consisted of running API tests using the program Fiddler. Josh, a major programmer at LoopLogic, taught me how to use program and what to do specifically with it. Additionally, I've had to keep an eye on the bots that were set up using New Relic and Selenium.

I'll talk first about the work with the LoopLogic bots. A few times while working, notifications have alerted me to failures in the bot's program, i.e. a failed login run. When that happens, I have to first check my bot script and ensure that it's still working as intended. If I get an error during my verification of the script, then I'll have to examine the entire code and cross check it with the site in question. If the site itself is down, well that's the cause of the failures and I'll have to report to Stephane about this issue. Alternatively, the site has simply update its web code and I have to adjust the web script so as to correlate with the new changes.

Now onto the API tests. Remember these?

Using a nifty web device that Stephane made, I could imitate the methods called for using a proxy channel and thus test each and every one of them. Alongside this, I used the program Fiddler to monitor the web activity of my computer so as to track the flow of Internet data. This gives us a very detailed analysis of what's happening with each method, showing us whether or not the API in question is actually working or needs to be fixed.

This type of deep analysis I'm doing draws analogy to your typical customer support section of any major video streaming site. Keeping an eye on basic and advanced tools that the company provides to the consumers is fundamental as that is why they are offered in the first place. It's expected of course though, that the big video sites has an entire squad of employees dedicated to this genre; however, there is always the question of large vs focused.

Till next time!