QA testers must continue to study and improve their testing abilities on a regular basis. The pressure is released through a continuous modification in the testing process. The issue is that bugs come in every release, regardless of how much time is spent testing with formal manual and automated test scripts.  

 

Traditional testing has been altered as a result of Agile, but overall release quality still has to be improved. How can a tester be quick and efficient while still finding bugs before the product is released to customers? What’s the best way to keep finding bugs and protecting clients from even tiny yet unpleasant flaws? Customer experience is crucial in today’s software application development market. With a customer’s capacity to switch apps almost at whim, defects, whether severe, minor, or merely bothersome, aren’t tolerated for long. So, how can you use creativity, science, and testing intuition to improve your testing skills?

Consider embracing exploratory testing to improve quality and QA abilities. QA testers use their technical knowledge and understanding of human behaviour to test using exploratory testing approaches. Exploratory testing is a great fit for Agile development and other methodologies; be bold and embrace creative testing.

Exploratory testing is ideal for Agile because it allows testing to begin as soon as the code is in a testable state. Exploratory testing is consistently effective, beginning with design and requirements or acceptance criteria assessment and continuing to the theoretical conclusion of the development cycle.

1. What is Exploratory Testing?

Exploratory testing is a sort of software testing in which testers assess the system on the fly rather than creating test cases in advance. Before starting the exam, they might jot down some suggestions for what to test. Exploratory testing places a greater emphasis on testing as a “thinking” activity.

Exploratory Testing is a type of testing that is commonly employed in Agile models and focuses on discovery, exploration, and learning. It highlights the individual tester’s personal independence and responsibility.

Scripted testing begins with the creation of test cases and ends with the execution of the tests. Exploratory testing is a practice that requires both test design and execution at the same time.

Scripted Test Execution is a non-thinking activity in which testers carry out the test steps and measure the current outcomes to the expected ones. This type of test execution can be automated and does not necessitate a lot of cognitive abilities.

2. Getting started with exploratory testing

Proficiency, understanding of the app, and a propensity for asking developers questions are all factors in a tester’s ability to perform exploratory testing. It’s what is referred to as “investigative testing.”

The tester looks into the design and function of the product by:

• Speaking with developers and inquiring about code changes.
• Inquire about the location of high-risk or sophisticated code, according to developers.
• Participate in design reviews, arguments, and developer code reviews as early as possible.
• Simply put, learn as much as you can about the code’s design and intended functions from the developer’s perspective.
• To acquire a complete knowledge of the intended application function from the customers’ and product team’s perspectives, discuss the requirements or user story approval criteria with the product manager.

Keep the investigation’s findings on hand. Following that, draw out the application functionality that has to be tested, keeping in mind the following points:

• Look out unhappier paths through the app beyond the “happy path.”
• Test to break the code, not only to ensure the app’s functionality.
• Examine your test strategy. Find “holes” or “points of no return” in your system’s operation.

Edit the test map or mind map for accuracy once you’ve completed your research and have a good understanding of how the programme will work.

The mind mapping feature of the application efficiently generates a list of test locations. In third-party programs, database connections, and integrated messaging systems, you’ll find back-end procedures as well as often-forgotten bugs. Even the most basic mobile or web applications need to connect to another API or a database.

If mind mapping appears to be too technical, a process diagram can efficiently capture the same information. Use whatever tool you find most helpful in visualising the programme and compare it to any documentation from the development or product teams. Do you notice any differences? Gaps and contradictions are common occurrences. For effective testing, mapping or workflow charting makes gaps, contradictions, and missing functions obvious. Third-party apps, database connectivity, and integrated messaging systems all have vulnerabilities that have been overlooked. Even the most basic mobile or web applications connect to another API or a database.

3. Building testing abilities

The more a QA tester explores the full breadth and depth of the applications, the faster his or her testing abilities and intuition grow. Exploratory testing is a science that revolves around studying, exploring, and fearlessly disrupting all of the code aspects that can be accessed.

Testers learn the exploratory testing approach over time, which helps them visualise missing functions, functional gaps, and application design flaws. QA testers uncover faults both superficially and deeply ingrained and persistently in the backend processing code that the application relies on by continuously testing.

Manual testing methods for exploratory testing have dominated the conversation. How about learning test automation skills while performing exploratory testing? Exploratory testing can certainly benefit from the use of test automation tools. Codeless automation solutions, for example, don’t require any programming knowledge and can be used to build automated test suites.

One might develop automated tests utilising their mind map, flow chart, or written descriptions of programme functionality. Small functional groups or modular testing are the best environments for test automation. The visual tool, on the other hand, can be broken down into functional components and each one can be automated.

Expect a high number of test execution failures. Expect frequent failures and rework when utilising automation for exploratory testing. Keep in mind that the goal of exploratory testing is to uncover flaws. Instead of walking through tests manually, use the automation tool to create modular tests that can be executed again when they are done.

If you’re doing exploratory testing with lengthier workflows, try automating whole end-to-end paths through the feature. See how far the automated tool gets through the entire workflow. In the best-case scenario, you’ll end up with an automated test suite that covers specific workflow pathways. These tests are useful for performing smoke tests or adding to automated test suites that are run against each release or code build.

4. Integrating science, creativity, and intuition into testing techniques

Test execution creativity is an undervalued QA tester skill that is incredibly helpful in any sort of testing. Creative testing becomes critical for exploratory testing success. How can a tester develop exploratory testing skills by combining creativity, science, and intuition?

As previously said, individual application expertise and extracting them for testing options should not be overlooked. When exploratory testing applications, an unpleasant app, a login defect, or a broken functionality from personal use becomes a gold mine of knowledge. Test outside of the expected, or happy path, and come up with unique test cases. The benefit of innovative testing is that you don’t have to repeat the same test over and over. More problems are discovered during creative tests, which customers will not have to deal with.

What about science?  Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the developer and product teams using psychology. Assess team members to learn about their common habits. When working with a development team over time, become familiar with the common errors that team members make. Some people may work quickly and check in a lot of code, but have they tested it? Is it covered by a unit test? How frequently does testing of their code discover a similar type of defect? Developers who do not test their code or who merge to the main code branch without testing it cause flaws that are not visible in their local environment. A tester with developer experience can utilise exploratory testing to rapidly uncover issues without having to dive too deep.

Analyse your own situation as well. Do you have a propensity towards testing quickly? Do you test too much, or do you test too little? Understanding one’s own personality traits, strengths, and limitations aids in the detection of flaws.

For example, communication problems are common among development teams, especially when application code spans multiple integrated application platforms. When one team modifies a backend function, it breaks the code of another team. The use of exploratory methods in integration testing results in a high number of faults. In another scenario, one team updates API code, causing the programme to fail in the area of another team. Exploring the UI and backend operations with integration difficulties is a godsend for detecting faults.

5. Process of Exploratory Testing

The following is a step-by-step guide to conducting exploratory testing, commonly known as session-based test management (SBTM Cycle):

5.1 Make a bug classification system 

• Put typical sorts of defects discovered in previous projects into categories.
• Investigate the core causes of the issues or flaws.
• Find the issues and come up with test concepts to put the app to the test.

5.2 Test Charter

• The test charter should specify what should be tested and how it should be tested and what should be addressed
• The exploration testing process begins with test ideas.
• The test charter aids in determining how the system might be used by the end user.

5.3 Time Box

• This method requires a pair of testers to collaborate for at least 90 minutes.
• In those 90 minutes, there should be no interruptions. The timebox might be extended or lowered by 45 minutes.
• This session encourages testers to react to the system’s response and plan for the best possible conclusion.

5.4 Evaluate the Results

• Defects evaluation
• Testing as a learning tool
• Reviewing the areas covered

5.5 Debriefing

• The output data is compiled.
• When comparing the results to the charter, keep in mind that the charter is the most important
• Check to see whether more testing is required.

For example, during exploratory execution, the following should be done:

This session encourages testers to respond to the system’s response and plan for the best possible result.

• The testing mission should be crystal clear.
• Keep track of what needs to be tested, why it needs to be evaluated, and how the product’s quality is assessed.
• Questions and difficulties raised during exploratory testing are kept track of.
• For effective testing, it is preferable to pair up the testers.
• We’re more likely to execute the proper test cases for the required scenarios if we test more.

It is critical to take a document and keep track of the following.

• Test Coverage – Whether or not we’ve taken notes on the coverage of test cases in order to improve the software’s quality.
• Risks – Which risks must be addressed, and which are the most critical?
• Test Execution Log – Notes on how the test was carried out.
• Issues/Questions – Take notes on the question and the issues on the systems.

5.6 When should you conduct exploratory testing?

When it comes to exploratory testing, it can be very useful if:

• You must rapidly become familiar with the product and give feedback.
• You are uncertain of the nature of the upcoming test.
• After scripts have been completed, the testing process should be varied.
• To quickly review the work of other testers

6. Conclusion 

Exploratory testing is used in software engineering to get around the restrictions of scripted testing. It assists in enhancing the Test Case Suite. It has compassion for learning and flexibility. TestDel offers flexible testing methodologies, such as completely managed services where we serve as your quality team and co-managed options where we augment your staff. These methodologies include flexible, burstable, and crowd-scale testing. You can be confident since you can see the test charter, the amount of time spent exploring, and the number of testers assigned, even if no problems are found.

Use test cycle insights to help you better prioritize your development cycles and experience drastically reduced time to build.