{"id":20028,"date":"2026-01-15T10:56:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T09:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/snt-en\/?post_type=news&#038;p=20028"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:54:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T11:54:27","slug":"can-dna-research-teach-us-how-to-test-web-applications-better","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/snt-en\/news\/can-dna-research-teach-us-how-to-test-web-applications-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Can DNA research teach us how to test web applications better?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-free-section section\"><div class=\"container xl:max-w-screen-xl\">\n<p><strong>What does DNA have to do with web&nbsp;application&nbsp;testing? A research team in Luxembourg is using bioinformatics techniques to detect hidden user&nbsp;behaviour&nbsp;patterns and prevent&nbsp;problems before they appear.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people expect&nbsp;the web&nbsp;applications&nbsp;they use&nbsp;every day to work without trouble. They click a button&nbsp;or&nbsp;search for a product&nbsp;and assume the page will load as it should. When something goes wrong,&nbsp;a link sends them in&nbsp;circles,&nbsp;or a form refuses to&nbsp;submit. It feels like&nbsp;just&nbsp;a small glitch. But for the teams behind those sites, even minor disruptions can frustrate users and, in some cases, lead to financial losses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason these problems&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;happen more often is because of the quiet, careful work of software testers.&nbsp;The process starts&nbsp;long before a site goes live, as testers replay user journeys&nbsp;over and over&nbsp;to find where something might slow down or break. As website&nbsp;applications&nbsp;grow more complex, the number of&nbsp;possible user&nbsp;interactions grows too, and so does the challenge of keeping everything running smoothly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-unilux-blocks-heading\"        id=\"why-user-behaviour-is-so-hard-to-understand\"\n    >\nWhy user behaviour is so hard to understand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind the scenes,&nbsp;web application&nbsp;testers often sort through huge datasets recording every click or pause people make while navigating a site. Finding useful patterns in this mass of&nbsp;behaviour&nbsp;is difficult. Even trained reviewers can miss details, especially when thousands of users move through pages in completely&nbsp;different ways.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s&nbsp;because even&nbsp;the most carefully designed website&nbsp;application&nbsp;must&nbsp;contend with one stubborn truth: people rarely behave in predictable ways online. Some skim the page, others explore every corner, and some change direction halfway through a task. A simple action,&nbsp;like updating an address,&nbsp;can be completed&nbsp;in&nbsp;dozens of&nbsp;different ways. For testers, this makes it hard to&nbsp;anticipate&nbsp;how real users will&nbsp;actually move&nbsp;through a site.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Modern website&nbsp;applications&nbsp;track thousands of journeys each day. These logs of clicks, scrolls, and pauses pile up quickly, leaving testers with a volume of data too large to&nbsp;analyse&nbsp;manually. Patterns hide within&nbsp;noise.&nbsp;While two&nbsp;users may follow completely different paths to reach the same page, both paths still offer clues about how well the site supports everyday tasks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because&nbsp;behaviour&nbsp;varies so much, testers can struggle to decide which patterns matter most. A journey that seems unusual may point to a real usability issue,&nbsp;or it may simply reflect a user\u2019s personal habits. Distinguishing between the two is one of the ongoing challenges in software testing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-unilux-blocks-heading\"        id=\"a-joint-effort-to-automate-pattern-detection\"\n    >\nA joint effort to automate pattern detection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Q-guard, a testing tool developed by the Luxembourg-based company Q-LEAP, was created to support teams dealing with this growing complexity. It records how users interact with a&nbsp;site&nbsp;so testers can review the data and spot recurring&nbsp;behaviours. Until recently, this still&nbsp;required&nbsp;careful manual analysis. Some patterns were clear, but subtle variations in user paths often went unnoticed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2023, Q-LEAP partnered with&nbsp;SnT\u2019s&nbsp;Software Verification and Validation (SVV) group to expand the tool\u2019s capabilities. The collaboration brought together industry experience from Q-LEAP and academic&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;from researchers&nbsp;Prof. Domenico Bianculli,&nbsp;Dr. Seung Yeob Shin and&nbsp;Mehdi Salemi&nbsp;Mottaghi. Their shared goal was to automate the search for patterns without losing accuracy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cQ-Guard is a semi-automated solution that helps testers record user interactions, which are then reviewed for patterns,\u201d&nbsp;Shin&nbsp;says. The team wanted&nbsp;to go further by teaching the&nbsp;software tool&nbsp;to&nbsp;automatically&nbsp;detect patterns&nbsp;on its own, even when user journeys varied.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-dev4-reusable-blocks-image  object-fit--cover\">\n    \n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-block-image unilux-custom-image-block\"\n                alt=\"Screenshot of Q-Guard in action\"\n            src=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/15105032\/Screenshot-Q-Guard.png\"\n                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/15105032\/Screenshot-Q-Guard-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/15105032\/Screenshot-Q-Guard-1024x512.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/15105032\/Screenshot-Q-Guard-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/15105032\/Screenshot-Q-Guard-1536x768.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/15105032\/Screenshot-Q-Guard-2048x1023.png 2048w\"\n                style=\"object-position: 50.00% 50.00%; font-family: &quot;object-fit: cover; object-position: 50.00% 50.00%;&quot;; aspect-ratio: 21\/9; object-fit: cover; width: 75%;\"\n        loading=\"lazy\"\n\/>            <p class=\"wp-block-dev4-reusable-blocks-image-caption\">\n            Screenshot of Q-Guard in action        <\/p>\n    <\/figure>\n\n\n<p>Working side by side, the team reviewed existing methods in software testing and began exploring whether approaches from other fields could help. This search led them somewhere unexpected: genetics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-unilux-blocks-heading\"        id=\"what-genetics-has-to-do-with-software-testing\"\n    >\nWhat genetics has to do with software testing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When the team began looking for&nbsp;new ideas, they&nbsp;didn\u2019t&nbsp;expect to find inspiration in bioinformatics. But researchers in that field face a similar challenge: they must search through massive DNA sequences to find recurring patterns, even when variations appear. The logic behind those searches caught their attention.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One tool in genetics, known as&nbsp;BLAST, compares DNA sequences to&nbsp;identify&nbsp;similarities linked to biological functions. It&nbsp;doesn\u2019t&nbsp;need a perfect match. Instead, it recognises patterns that are close enough to matter. This flexibility made the researchers wonder whether the same principle could help make sense of unpredictable user journeys on&nbsp;web&nbsp;applications.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If DNA analysis can detect meaningful variations in genetic sequences, they reasoned, perhaps&nbsp;a testing tool could detect meaningful variations in user&nbsp;behaviour. That idea became the foundation of&nbsp;a new approach. The team began adapting the principles behind BLAST to software testing, shaping a method that&nbsp;recognises&nbsp;familiar user paths even when the steps differ.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new method focuses on the underlying structure of a journey instead of the exact steps. It compares each interaction sequence to a library of known patterns, checking for similarities even when click paths&nbsp;aren\u2019t&nbsp;identical. This makes it possible to group variations of the same&nbsp;behaviour, helping testers see how people&nbsp;actually use&nbsp;a site.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essentially, this&nbsp;means Q-guard can highlight sequences that appear&nbsp;frequently, draw attention to unusual ones, and flag areas where users struggle. If many people pause or backtrack on a particular page, the system can alert testers long before complaints reach support teams.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This shift from manual review to automated pattern recognition&nbsp;doesn\u2019t&nbsp;replace human&nbsp;judgement, but&nbsp;strengthens it. Testers can spend less time sorting through raw logs and more time interpreting what the patterns reveal about user needs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-unilux-blocks-heading\"        id=\"outperforming-existing-solutions\"\n    >\nOutperforming existing solutions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After refining their method, the researchers tested it against existing tools. Their approach reached a 97 percent accuracy rate in&nbsp;identifying&nbsp;user&nbsp;behaviour&nbsp;patterns, even when the journeys varied.&nbsp;This&nbsp;means&nbsp;their&nbsp;approach&nbsp;recognised&nbsp;related patterns more reliably than current&nbsp;state-of-the-art&nbsp;technologies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe proposed this new technique to Q-LEAP, and it&nbsp;is&nbsp;now being&nbsp;adapted&nbsp;to their application domain,\u201d&nbsp;Shin&nbsp;says. The accuracy score&nbsp;suggests that&nbsp;the method can handle the messy reality of real-world user data, giving testers more confidence in the insights it provides.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With clearer insight into user&nbsp;behaviour, website application teams can spot issues earlier. Developers can see which pages support smooth&nbsp;navigation&nbsp;and which ones consistently cause hesitation. Designers gain evidence-based guidance for refining site layouts, helping them create pages that match real user habits.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the public, the impact is subtle but meaningful. Tasks take less&nbsp;time,&nbsp;pages feel more intuitive, and small frustrations like loops, dead ends, or confusing menus\u2014begin to fade. Most people never think about the tools behind a reliable website application, but they feel the difference in every smooth interaction.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For industry teams, the long-term goal is simple: build tools that make testing faster, more&nbsp;accurate, and easier to manage. As digital systems expand, automated support will become essential.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that the new method is integrated into Q-guard, the collaboration is entering its next phase. The team is exploring how the approach could scale to larger datasets and more complex website&nbsp;applications, where user paths multiply into thousands of variations. They also see potential applications in other domains that rely on discovering patterns in large sets of interactions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"py-48 first:pt-0 last:pb-0 wp-block-unilux-blocks-people-list\">\n    \n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-unilux-blocks-heading\"        id=\"people-in-this-story\"\n    >\nPeople in this story<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"flex flex-wrap -mx-16 wp-block-unilux-blocks-people-item-wrapper\">\n    <li class=\"w-full md:w-1\/2 p-16 wp-block-unilux-blocks-people-list-item\">\n    <div class=\"list-people bg-theme wp-block-unilux-blocks-people-item\">\n    \n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__container\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__visual\"><figure class=\"wp-block-dev4-reusable-blocks-image w-full object-fit--cover\">\n    \n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-block-image unilux-custom-image-block\"\n                alt=\"\"\n            src=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/13110840\/Domenico-Bianculli.png\"\n                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/13110840\/Domenico-Bianculli-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/13110840\/Domenico-Bianculli-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/13110840\/Domenico-Bianculli.png 1024w\"\n                style=\"object-position: 70.00% 50.00%; font-family: &quot;object-fit: cover; object-position: 70.00% 50.00%;&quot;; aspect-ratio: 1\/1; object-fit: cover; width: 100%;\"\n        loading=\"lazy\"\n\/>    <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__body\">\n<h3 class=\"list-people__title has-text-align-left wp-block-unilux-blocks-heading\"        id=\"prof-domenico-bianculli\"\n    >\n Prof. Domenico Bianculli<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"list-people__description wp-block-unilux-blocks-plain-text\">Head of SVV Research Group<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-simple-cta\">\n    <a\n        href=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/snt-en\/people\/domenico-bianculli\/\"\n        title=\"View profile\"\n        class=\"link-text link-text--icon list-people__link link-text link-absolute\"\n        target=\"\"\n    >\n        <span class=\"link-text__body\">\n            <span class=\"link-text__name\">View profile<\/span>\n        <\/span>\n        <svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"icon icon-outline icon--arrow-right \"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/themes\/unilux-theme\/assets\/images\/icons\/icons-outline.svg#icon--arrow-right\"><\/use><\/svg>    <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"w-full md:w-1\/2 p-16 wp-block-unilux-blocks-people-list-item\">\n    <div class=\"list-people bg-theme wp-block-unilux-blocks-people-item\">\n    \n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__container\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__visual\"><figure class=\"wp-block-dev4-reusable-blocks-image w-full object-fit--cover\">\n    \n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-block-image unilux-custom-image-block\"\n                alt=\"Profile picture of Seung Yeob Shin\"\n            src=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/22164912\/Seung-Yeob-Shin.webp\"\n                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/22164912\/Seung-Yeob-Shin-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/22164912\/Seung-Yeob-Shin-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/22164912\/Seung-Yeob-Shin.webp 500w\"\n                style=\"object-position: 70.00% 50.00%; font-family: &quot;object-fit: cover; object-position: 70.00% 50.00%;&quot;; aspect-ratio: 1\/1; object-fit: cover; width: 100%;\"\n        loading=\"lazy\"\n\/>    <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__body\">\n<h3 class=\"list-people__title has-text-align-left wp-block-unilux-blocks-heading\"        id=\"dr-seung-yeob-shin\"\n    >\nDr. Seung Yeob Shin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"list-people__description wp-block-unilux-blocks-plain-text\">Research scientist<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-simple-cta\">\n    <a\n        href=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/snt-en\/people\/seung-yeob-shin\/\"\n        title=\"View profile\"\n        class=\"link-text link-text--icon list-people__link link-text link-absolute\"\n        target=\"\"\n    >\n        <span class=\"link-text__body\">\n            <span class=\"link-text__name\">View profile<\/span>\n        <\/span>\n        <svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"icon icon-outline icon--arrow-right \"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/themes\/unilux-theme\/assets\/images\/icons\/icons-outline.svg#icon--arrow-right\"><\/use><\/svg>    <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><li class=\"w-full md:w-1\/2 p-16 wp-block-unilux-blocks-people-list-item\">\n    <div class=\"list-people bg-theme wp-block-unilux-blocks-people-item\">\n    \n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__container\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__visual\"><figure class=\"wp-block-dev4-reusable-blocks-image w-full object-fit--cover\">\n    \n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-block-image unilux-custom-image-block\"\n                alt=\"Profile picture of Mehdi Salemi\"\n            src=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/22164925\/Mehdi-Salemi.webp\"\n                srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/22164925\/Mehdi-Salemi-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/22164925\/Mehdi-Salemi-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/22164925\/Mehdi-Salemi.webp 500w\"\n                style=\"object-position: 70.00% 50.00%; font-family: &quot;object-fit: cover; object-position: 70.00% 50.00%;&quot;; aspect-ratio: 1\/1; object-fit: cover; width: 100%;\"\n        loading=\"lazy\"\n\/>    <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-wrapper list-people__body\">\n<h3 class=\"list-people__title has-text-align-left wp-block-unilux-blocks-heading\"        id=\"mehdi-salemi\"\n    >\nMehdi Salemi<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"list-people__description wp-block-unilux-blocks-plain-text\">Doctoral Research<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-unilux-blocks-simple-cta\">\n    <a\n        href=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/snt-en\/people\/mehdi-salemi-mottaghi\/\"\n        title=\"View profile\"\n        class=\"link-text link-text--icon list-people__link link-text link-absolute\"\n        target=\"\"\n    >\n        <span class=\"link-text__body\">\n            <span class=\"link-text__name\">View profile<\/span>\n        <\/span>\n        <svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"icon icon-outline icon--arrow-right \"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/wp-content\/themes\/unilux-theme\/assets\/images\/icons\/icons-outline.svg#icon--arrow-right\"><\/use><\/svg>    <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does DNA have to do with web application testing? A research team in Luxembourg is using bioinformatics techniques to detect hidden user behaviour patterns and prevent problems before they appear. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":20038,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"featured_image_focal_point":[],"show_featured_caption":false,"ulux_newsletter_groups":"","uluxPostTitle":"","uluxPrePostTitle":"","_trash_the_other_posts":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"news-category":[4],"news-topic":[10],"organisation":[184],"authorship":[66],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can DNA research teach us how to test web applications better? - SnT news I University of Luxembourg<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how DNA research techniques can improve web application testing, preventing minor issues before they affect users.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/snt-en\/news\/can-dna-research-teach-us-how-to-test-web-applications-better\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can DNA research teach us how to test web applications better?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What does DNA have to do with web application testing? 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