The process of exploratory testing is used to find bugs and has more than just one benefit. It can also be used as a way to evaluate the feasibility of a system, it helps prevent regression errors, and you can use it to find out system requirements.

Exploratory testing techniques can be really effective when applied appropriately. They’re not just for those who enjoy playing games with the software system either. It’s important to understand how exploratory testing could impact your role in software development, which is why we’ve written this post on the subject.

Exploratory testing basics

The steps involved in exploratory testing are: plan, run test, observe and evaluate results. But to be specific, you will learn how to design the test, how to execute the test and how to analyze data upon execution. You also learn how to use metrics when evaluating software (and what types of metrics are available). The catch is that this process is repeated again and again during software development.

The first step is planning the test which involves generating ideas on what test cases you want to try out using different features and concepts of the software system. This step is followed by executing and evaluating the results. During this process, you will continuously learn from previous tests so that you can modify your approach in future tests.

Tips to get started with exploratory testing

Here are some tips and tricks to help you get started with exploratory testing.

1) Set the purpose of your exploratory testing

The first thing to do is to set the purpose of your exploratory testing session. It’s not just about finding bugs, but it’s also a chance for you as a tester to look into different aspects of the system such as usability, extensibility and supportability among others.

2) Choose your test cases

For a new software system, it is harder to know which functionality you want to test first. It’s best if you can test the most important functionality first. For example, you may want to start with the basic features that make up the core of your system.

Create your test cases based on the requirements of the features you want to test. The idea is to cover as much functionality as possible while also covering edge cases that may have gone unnoticed.

It’s also very important to have a well written and clear description of each scenario especially if you are testing with a team. It’s how you will communicate what you want your teammates or testers to do or check during the execution phase.

3) Make a list of requirements for exploratory testing

In order to achieve success in exploratory testing, make sure that you have the list of requirements before you begin testing (i.e., what do they expect from your system?). Think of how you can expand or adapt what your software system is capable of doing and think how this can be tested as well.

The goal of exploratory testing is to find out critical bugs and problems with your software system. If you focus on things that are important and impact the functionality of your software then you will most likely find a lot of bugs.

4) Test your assumptions

Remember that during exploratory testing, you are testing not only the functionality but also for your assumptions about the system, especially if they are not obvious. For example, if one part of the system is dependent on another may “break” when you change it. Assumptions also include things like related features (e.g., whenever X happens, Y should begin).

Always make sure that you are testing for the correct behaviour, to ensure that you are not testing something completely unrelated.

Conclusion

Exploratory testing is the process of testing and evaluating the features or functionality according to the requirements of your software.

With exploratory testing, you are testing and evaluating a software system to see if it meets the requirements you set for it. You are looking for the positive things that you want to add but also checking if any negative things can be prevented. Exploratory testing is very useful in ensuring that your systems will satisfy the requirements of your company and users.

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