Exploratory testing is a software testing method characterized by its simultaneous nature, involving learning, test planning, and execution in tandem. It places its emphasis on discovery and heavily relies on the tester’s intuition to identify defects that might be missed by conventional browser testing.
In recent times, the adoption of exploratory testing has gained traction. Testers and QA managers increasingly recognize the value of integrating exploratory testing into their overall test coverage strategy.
What Is Exploratory Testing?
Exploratory Testing is a software testing approach in which predefined test cases are not established beforehand. Instead, testers dynamically assess the system as they proceed. While they may jot down testing concepts before execution, the primary emphasis in exploratory testing is on testing as a cognitive process.
This method is frequently employed in Agile methodologies and revolves around the concepts of exploration, investigation, and knowledge acquisition. It underscores the tester’s autonomy and responsibility in the testing process.
Types of Exploratory Testing
Exploratory testing (ET) encompasses various approaches tailored to specific testing needs. Here are several types of ET:
Freestyle Exploratory Testing:
- Characterized by an ad-hoc and unrestricted exploration of the application.
- This approach has no predefined rules or coverage criteria.
- Suited for quickly acquainting oneself with the application, verifying other testers’ work, investigating defects, or conducting rapid smoke tests.
Scenario-Based Exploratory Testing:
Focuses on testing within predefined scenarios, including real user scenarios, end-to-end scenarios, or specific test scenarios.
- Testers initially follow scenario guidelines but can introduce variations based on their insights and observations.
- Testers aim to explore diverse paths within a scenario to ensure comprehensive coverage of feature functionality.
Strategy-Based Exploratory Testing:
- Combines established testing techniques like boundary value analysis, equivalence technique, and risk-based testing with exploratory testing.
- Typically led by an experienced tester or one familiar with the application.
- This approach integrates structured testing methodologies into exploratory testing to enhance its effectiveness.
Use of Exploratory Testing
The use of exploratory testing is vital in today’s software development landscape, driven by the need for continuous integration and the delivery of high-quality digital experiences that meet increasingly high customer expectations. While speed in releasing products is crucial, there have been instances of catastrophic bugs or user experience failures that have proven extremely costly.
Traditional software quality testing typically follows a structured approach. Test cases are derived from predefined user stories, and test data is structured accordingly. Test coverage measurement relies on software engineering metrics, which are usually adequate from a technical perspective.
However, what this approach often misses are edge cases, which are typically discovered during User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and tested based on various user personas. In contrast, exploratory testing is characterized by its random and unstructured nature, making it capable of uncovering bugs that would remain undetected in the structured testing phases.
With exploratory testing, testers can interact with a user story following a particular sequence. They can annotate defects, incorporate assertions and voice memos, and spontaneously generate documentation. This process effectively transforms a user story into a test case, with the collected information serving as valuable input for Quality Assurance (QA).
In essence, exploratory testing allows for test execution without the need for formalized test steps. The exploratory testing tool can then serve as a precursor to automation, helping formalize discoveries and automatically documenting them. Visual feedback and collaborative testing tools enable wider team participation in exploratory testing, facilitating rapid change adaptation and enhancing agile workflows.
Moreover, testers can convert sequences from exploratory testing into functional test scripts using automated test case documentation tools, reinforcing the traditional testing process. By integrating with tools like Jira and test management software, teams can directly export the recorded documentation into test cases.
When should I use Exploratory testing?
In many software development cycles, especially during early iterations when time is limited for structuring tests, exploratory testing proves highly beneficial.
When dealing with mission-critical applications, exploratory testing becomes indispensable to ensure that no edge cases are overlooked, as these can result in severe quality issues. Additionally, it can play a role in supporting the unit testing process by documenting the steps and enabling comprehensive testing in subsequent development sprints.
Exploratory testing is particularly valuable for identifying novel test scenarios that can enhance overall test coverage.
Advantages
Exploratory testing offers several advantages, such as:
- Encourages real-time problem-solving, leading to the discovery of more defects.
- Fosters the use of practical use cases and scenario-driven testing.
- Minimizes the need for extensive documentation while maximizing testing efforts.
- Places a strong emphasis on tester learning and expanding their expertise.
- Helps prevent redundant testing efforts.
- Proves valuable for conducting audits of other testers’ work.
Disadvantages
However, there are certain drawbacks to exploratory testing, including:
- Reliance on the tester’s experience, skills, and knowledge, which can vary.
- Requires a learning curve to become acquainted with the application, and testers with limited knowledge may overlook issues.
- May not be suitable for projects with extended execution times due to its more ad-hoc nature.
Significance of Exploratory Testing in CI/CD
Exploratory testing plays a vital role in the realm of continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) by expanding testing accessibility to various stakeholders, not just trained testers alone. With the aid of an exploratory testing tool, individuals can capture screenshots, record voice notes, and annotate feedback during testing sessions. This facilitates quicker and more efficient reviews involving a broader audience beyond conventional software testers.
Exploratory testing seamlessly integrates into the existing quality assurance (QA) team’s testing strategy. It comprises a series of spontaneous testing sessions to uncover previously undetected issues and bugs. When incorporated alongside automated testing and other testing methodologies, it enhances test coverage, identifies edge cases, potentially introduces new functionalities, and overall enhances the quality of the software product. Without structural constraints, exploratory testing fosters an environment of experimentation, creativity, and exploration within the development teams.
The nearly immediate feedback from exploratory testing helps bridge the gap between testers and developers. Most importantly, the outcomes of exploratory testing offer a user-centric perspective and valuable feedback to the development teams. The objective is to complement conventional testing practices by uncovering significant defects that might be concealed within the established workflow, thus preventing potential million-dollar issues.
Automating Exploratory Testing—Planning and Test Design
The initial phase of automating exploratory testing involves careful planning and test design. This critical step ensures the automation project is well-structured, aligns with business objectives, and avoids chaos and failure.
Planning is the foundation, allowing the project to establish specific goals aligned with business value. It aids in identifying and assessing risks and constraints, selecting tests for automation, preparing test data sets, and defining the necessary test environment. Without a well-thought-out plan, the automation endeavor risks becoming disorganized and unsuccessful.
Test design is an integral part of this plan. It involves making decisions within the test strategy, such as determining the approach to test design. For instance, should test developers create a separate test for each verification point, or should they combine multiple verification points within a single test?
Furthermore, test design encompasses the choice of exploratory testing type. Does the team rely on user stories that encompass various customer workflows? Are exploratory tests designed to accommodate multiple configuration settings or user roles?
Cross-browser testing is also a crucial part of exploratory testing. LambdaTest is a cloud-based AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform that facilitates cross-browser testing by providing testers with effortless access to various browsers and platforms through a unified interface. This accessibility greatly simplifies the execution of exploratory testing in diverse settings.
Executing Exploratory Tests: A Step-by-Step Guide
Exploratory testing, often referred to as session-based test management (SBTM Cycle), involves a systematic process for effective execution. Following are the steps to perform exploratory testing:
Step 1: Establish a Bug Taxonomy (Classification)
- Categorize common types of issues identified in previous projects.
- Conduct root cause analyses of past problems or faults.
- Identify potential risks and develop testing ideas for the application.
Step 2: Define a Test Charter
Create a test charter that outlines :
- What aspects should I test?
- How to conduct the tests
- Specific areas of focus
- Test ideas serve as the starting point for exploratory testing
- The test charter aids in understanding how end-users might interact with the system
Step 3: Set a Time Box
In this approach, pairs of testers collaborate for sessions lasting a minimum of 90 minutes.
- These sessions should be uninterrupted.
- The time box can be adjusted, either extended or reduced by 45 minutes.
- This structure encourages testers to promptly react to system responses and prepare for the expected outcomes.
Step 4: Review the Results
- Evaluate the identified defects.
- Extract lessons from the testing process.
- Analyze the coverage areas to ensure comprehensive testing.
Step 5: Conduct a Debriefing
- Compile the results obtained during testing.
- Compare these results with the initial test charter.
- Determine if any additional testing is required based on the findings.
Enhancing Overall Test Coverage Through Automated Exploratory Testing
The implementation of automated exploratory testing significantly augments overall test coverage by offering a rapid and adaptable testing approach that can be applied at any stage of the development cycle. QA testers utilize automated exploratory scripts to assess user stories, whether they are in a partially developed or fully developed state. These tests are conducted against the story and are repeatedly employed for evaluating each subsequent build or the candidate release build.
During the period from test creation to execution, the automated test can be modified as frequently as needed. These modifications often arise due to additional or altered requirements or shifts in user scenarios. The more the automated test is executed within the application, the more it expands overall test coverage. Automated exploratory testing proves especially valuable in scenarios involving continuous regression testing, particularly in environments where frequent releases are the norm.
Exploratory tests extend the scope of testing beyond the typical “happy path” or expected functionality. In exploratory testing, negative testing is incorporated within the user workflow. Testers have the flexibility to script exploratory tests with the specific aim of uncovering defects within broader application functions. Exploratory testing capitalizes on the application knowledge and diverse experience of QA testers who have worked with various applications.
Automated exploratory testing covers a wide array of test types, including:
- Regression Testing: This approach can be employed for both continuous regression testing and conventional regression testing cycles. The adaptability and efficiency of exploratory test automation enable testers to create tests encompassing various testing types and scenarios.
- Integration Testing: Automated exploratory tests are suitable for evaluating the integration of different components or systems.
- API Testing: These tests can be performed to ensure the proper functioning of APIs and their interactions.
- Backend Connectivity Testing: Automated exploratory testing can verify the connectivity and data flow between the frontend and backend components of an application.
In addition to the above, automated exploratory testing can be applied to various other testing types, such as:
- User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
- Usability (UX) Testing
- Accessibility Testing
- Regulatory Compliance Testing
- Basic Security Testing
- Performance Testing
Conclusion
Exploratory testing may not conform to the traditional testing approach, yet it proves to be an exceptionally potent testing method. This approach taps into a tester’s creative thinking, encouraging them to devise practical, real-time test cases for defect identification. Its open and unrestricted nature gives it a distinct advantage over other testing methodologies, making it adaptable to various project environments, including Agile, Waterfall, or any context where minimal documentation is preferred.
Maintaining a harmonious equilibrium between exploratory and scripted or conventional testing is imperative for comprehensive and effective testing practices.