The Essence of Exploratory Testing
As software development methodologies continue to evolve, the role of manual testing remains irreplaceable. In this blog, we explore the dynamic world of exploratory testing – a manual testing approach that goes beyond scripted scenarios. Discover how manual testers can harness creativity, intuition, and adaptability to uncover hidden issues and provide invaluable insights throughout the software development lifecycle.
Defining Exploratory Testing:
Exploratory Testing is a software testing method that testers use to explore, find, and test features, bugs, or issues in an application freely and without the need for a prior testing plan. In exploratory testing, the tester will focus on freely working with the app as a real user and trying to find bugs and issues without following a specific test scenario.
Exploratory testing is a type of testing in which test cases are not created beforehand, but testers can test the system quickly. They can jot down ideas about what needs to be checked before performing the test. The focus of exploratory testing focuses more on testing as a “thinking” activity that explores new cases that do not follow the mainstream activity.
The characteristics of exploratory testing
Creativity: Exploratory testing encourages creativity and requires testers to use imagination and reasoning to find potential testing scenarios.
No advance planning: In exploratory testing, there is no detailed testing plan in advance. Testers will be free to test the app based on their knowledge and experience.
Not automated: Discovery testing is generally not automated. Instead, testers focus on manual testing to detect problems that can’t be seen through automation.
Documentation: To ensure the integrity of the testing process, testers often document the steps taken and the results of the test so that the errors found can be reproduced.
Difference Between Scripted Testing and Exploratory Testing
| Scripted Testing | Exploratory Testing |
| Given from the request | Derived from requirements and discovery during testing |
| Identify test cases before the test takes place | Identify test cases during testing |
| Purpose to confirm the test against the requirements | Purpose to investigate or learn the system or application |
| Emphasis on anticipation and decision-making | Emphasis on adaptability and learning |
| Related to confirmed testing | Related to the investigation |
| Controlled by the script | Controlled by the mind of the tester |
Although the current trend in software testing is to promote automation, automated testing also has its limitations. Exploratory testing is a new way of thinking and is really necessary for testers.
How to Execute Exploratory Testing?
Exploration test preparation goes through the following 4 detailed stages, and is also known as session-based test management:
Stage 1: Create a fault classification principle (classification)
This classification is based on the following factors:
- Classification of common types of errors found in past projects
- Root Cause Analysis of Problems or Errors
- Find risks and develop ideas to test the application.
Stage 2: Test charter:
+ The testing charter should include: What to test; How to test them; What needs to be considered
+ The test idea is the starting point of exploratory testing
+ The test charter helps determine how the system can be used by the end-user
Stage 3: Timebox
- This method consists of a pair of test people working together for no less than 90 minutes
- There shouldn’t be any time interruptions during that 90-minute session
- Timebox can be extended or reduced by 45 minutes
- This session encourages testers to react and respond to the system and prepare for accurate results
Stage 4: Assessment results
- Assessment of Defects
- Learning from the experiment
- Coverage Analysis
- Summary of outputs
- Comparison of results with charter
- Check if any additional testing is needed
When use exploratory testing?
Exploratory testing can be used extensively when
- In the early stages of the software development lifecycle, when there is a rapid change in programming code, the use of exploratory testing can be highly effective.
- Developers can use this technique to perform unit tests, while testers can familiarize themselves with the application using this testing method.
- The experience gained from exploratory testing can be valuable in preparing test scenarios and performing additional testing in the later stages of the software development cycle.
- In the fast-development model, there are short scrum cycles and little time to develop the design and formal test script. Exploratory testing is a good fit for this model because it keeps up with short-lived scrum cycles.
Best Practice Exploratory Testing
There are some best practices for Exploratory Testing are explained below:
• Study and investigate the software system and related requirements before Testing
• Identify the scope and features of the system to be tested
• Set clear and short testing target
• Take notes on what needs to be tested, why it needs to be tested, and the assessment of the product quality
• Consider input boundary value analysis and equivalence partitioning for input testing
• Log any issues to the management tool and observations immediately
• Conduct peer reviews to gather insight from other experienced tester
• Communicate with software developers to understand potential issues
Challenges of Exploratory testing
There are many challenges of exploratory testing, and they are explained as follows:
- Learning how to use an application or software system is challenging.
- Difficult to reproduce the error.
- Identifying the necessary tools to use can also be challenging.
- Determining the best test cases to perform is also difficult.
- Reporting test results is also challenging because it doesn’t have a built-in scenario to compare actual and desired results.
- It is difficult to record all the documents during the test.
- It is not known when to stop testing because exploratory testing does not define test limits.
Conclusion
Conclude by emphasizing the crucial role exploratory testing plays in achieving a well-rounded and high-quality software product. Encourage organizations to embrace and integrate exploratory testing into their manual testing processes for a more robust and adaptable approach to software quality assurance.