What is exploratory testing?

Contrary to many opinions, exploration isn’t just clicking links and buttons hoping that something will go wrong. The experience-based testing techniques require… experience. And being one exploratory testing requires it too.

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.

Auguste Rodin

When time is limited

Given the experience part, we’ve come to the first point. Exploratory testing is not your choice when you have no idea what you’re testing. Usually, you’ll perform it when there’s no time for the costly test design or no formal software requirements. Then your domain knowledge will come in handy. So if you have a tester who knows the business well – they often will find better bugs.

Beware of false results

I’ll never get tired of saying – it’s better to report false positives than not to report false negatives. False negative issues are the worst. You know they are there, but you don’t know they are issues. That’s an easy mistake when there’s no clear expected result, especially since you create the test cases on the go.

Crowdtest carefully

A lot of crowdtesting platforms offer exploratory testing. Beware, people may do such testing without knowing what to look for. Hence that’s not exploratory testing! The good thing is the number of testers on such platforms is huge, and quantity has a quality of its own. Just make sure to define the scope of work and guide the testing team. Even simple directions on where to look will do.

Not a magic pill

Every testing approach has a goal. Exploratory testing makes sense when there are:

• no test cases
• limited time
• testing experience
• business domain knowledge

If you don’t check these, the ROI of such testing will probably be low. Play the odds, or even better, play over them.

Of course, the experience and business knowledge parts may be irrelevant when it comes to trivial cases. Using an online checkout or posting a comment should be easy enough to test, regardless of your background.

Niche case

Experience-based testing is supposed to be a plan B. Follow the test analysis and test design steps of the testing process, and you’ll reach quality goals without any problems. Relying on reactive testing as your main testing strategy is a slippery slope.

Exploratory testing works!

As with everything else, exploratory testing is a legit technique if used appropriately. But don’t confuse it with monkey testing. While one implies extensive experience, the other implies none.