Exploratory testing involves simultaneously designing and executing tests to learn about a system. It can be done by an individual or in pairs/groups. Session-based exploratory testing structures the process into test sessions with charters, tasks, notes, issues, and bugs. Tools like browsers and developer tools can aid exploratory testing. Benefits include learning about the system and generating useful information to share, though it faces challenges like differences from scripted testing and barriers to productivity.

1. What Is This
Exploratory Testing
Thing?
Tony Bruce

2. It’s all about me!
Tony Bruce Consulting Ltd
tony.bruce@tonybruceconsulting.co.uk
dancedwiththetester.blogspot.co.uk
@tonybruce77
Associate with
tbruce@equalexperts.com

3. Big bit of self promotion
January 2015 Workshop

4. Perception of?

5. ● Doing random stuff to see
what happens
● Impromptu bug searching
● Undisciplined
● Undocumented
● Quick
● Untooled
● Unestimateable
● Unmanageable
Perception of?

6. What is it?
The plainest definition of exploratory testing is test design
and test execution at the same time.
- James Bach - http://www.satisfice.com/articles/what_is_et.shtml
Simultaneously designing and executing tests to learn about
the system, using your insights from the last experiment to
inform the next
- Elisabeth Hendrickson - Explore It!: Reduce Risk and Increase Confidence with Exploratory
Testing

7. http://swtester.blogspot.ca/2012/05/what-is-exploratory-testing.html
What is it?

8. What is it?
Leadership Under Pressure: Tactics from the Front Line - Bob Stewart

9. What can it involve?
Scientific Method
Question
Hypothesis
Strategy
Experiment
Data
Analysis
Conclusion

10. What can it involve?

11. Example
…...when a programmer is creating unit tests to drive the
development (Q1), they are thinking about the feature and
design and making choices about what to automate. There is
a lot of learning going on in this process and I would very
much consider this discovery process as "exploratory"......
…...executing these checks that were created in an
exploratory way is no longer an exploratory testing
activity…….
http://swtester.blogspot.ca/2012/05/what-is-exploratory-testing.html
What can it include?

12. Example
● Locked down Jira
● Group of Product Owners
● Exploring
● What worked for them
● What didn’t work for them
What can it include? - People/Pairs

13. Report & Manage

14. Session Based Test Management

15. Session Based
Exploratory Testing in Agile Context - Elisabeth Hendrickson

16. Session Based
Date/Time:
Mission:
Task:
Setup:
Data:
Notes:
Issues:
Thoughts:
The entire session report consists of
these sections:
• Session charter (includes a mission
statement, and areas to be tested)
• Tester name(s)
• Date and time started
• Task breakdown
• Data files
• Test notes
• Issues
• Bugs
http://www.satisfice.com/articles/sbtm.pdf

17. Example Session Sheet
CHARTER
-----------------------------------------------
Analyze MapMaker’s View menu functionality and
report on
areas of potential risk.
#AREAS
OS | Windows 2000
Menu | View
Strategy | Function Testing
Strategy | Functional Analysis
START
-----------------------------------------------
5/30/00 03:20 pm
TESTER
-----------------------------------------------
Jonathan Bach
TASK BREAKDOWN
-----------------------------------------------
Session
TEST NOTES
-----------------------------------------------
I touched each of the menu items, below, but focused
mostly on zooming behavior with various
combinations of map elements displayed.
View: Welcome Screen
Navigator
Locator Map
Legend
Map Elements
Highway Levels
Street Levels
Airport Diagrams
BUGS
-----------------------------------------------
#BUG 1321
Zooming in makes you put in the CD 2 when you get
to a certain level of granularity (the street names level)
--
http://www.satisfice.com/articles/sbtm.pdf

18. Discipline Structure
Focus
Manage
Manageable
Planning
Repeatable
Estimatable Time-box

19. Tools

20. Browser
- Add-ons
- Extensions
- Developer tools
Tools
Others
- Accessibility
- Security
- Debugging
- Automation
- Ide
- Infrastructure

21. What is in it for you?
How does the team
benefit?
● Learn
● Information
● Intelligence

22. Information Flow

23. Information
- Session reports
- Documents
- Coverage
- Unknowns - Knowns
- Augment automation
- Visual
- Charters/Missions
- Pair
Information Flow

24. Challenges
What stops people being as productive as they
could be with Exploratory Testing?

25. Challenges
How can we talk about the differences between
Scripted and Exploratory?

26. Challenges
What are yours?

27. Thank you
Tony Bruce Consulting Ltd
tony.bruce@tonybruceconsulting.co.uk
dancedwiththetester.blogspot.co.uk
@tonybruce77
Associate with
tbruce@equalexperts.com