One of the most well known myths in a software organisation is that testing is a never ending process. But outsiders are not aware that testing has been evolving year after year to give itself a streamlined structure. Various features of software testing such as quality consulting, test strategy, test planning, traceability and requirements analysis, largely contribute towards demolishing the myth. The development of software testing industry has introduced many innovative testing tools & techniques that have been advancing each day, to help the test team confidently close on a product release amidst the ever dwindling product release timelines.
Exploratory testing is one such testing technique that has endured the test of time yielding very good results and also helping the testers to think out of the box. Exploratory testing is just that – ‘exploring’ your application in an imaginative and user-centric ways.
This testing is reliable where the product requirements are not too clear or where the release timelines are extremely short and rigid. Exploratory Testing is a boon is such critical situations, so why should we not encourage our testers to make the utmost use of this testing. This will definitely lead to better results and ease decision making.
Try these techniques to boost your team and make the most of Exploratory Testing. Read on..
Testing is often a long process where your testers are busy running scripted tests, which gives them no time for exploratory testing. Try and set exploratory testing as a part of their to-do-list for approx. 30 minutes. Here, when they are not concentrating on planned tests; they think from an innovative bent of mind, put themselves in the user’s situation and try out all different aspect of the user’s mind. True, this cannot be planned for each day, check upon it depending on the product cycle at intervals.
Rewards matter a lot in any field, they serve as a motivation. So, whether you are a product or a services company, it’s advised to take the initiative to conduct periodic bug bashes. These definitely go a long way in adding value to your overall project engagement with your customer. Distribute prizes to testers for various categories of bugs like most number of bugs, most severe/ship stopper, bug that has the most customer impact etc. Employees are not greedy but they deserve appreciation, and this can come even in the simplest from like certifying him/her. This certainly boosts up the morale and reputation.
Try a mix & match – assign testers to play a role across products, provided the project that is in progress does not have limitations imposed on external team members (from your own company). This cross sharing and mix & match will allow more creativity and ideas to test the product. This breaks the monotony of testing the same product and also a fresh approach to test the same product. It interests the testers.
Once again, there is a misinterpretation that exploratory testing can be done only for black box, it is not so! Promote exploratory testing for all kinds of testing – gray, white box and black box testing.
Exploratory testing is not following a set pattern of test cases, it is the means to encourage exploring and by applying this technique, testers will enjoy as they work on their projects. Also, always remember to interpret the results of exploratory testing in the most perfect way. If the interpretation goes wrong, the ship will drown – test coverage will see a downfall. So, be careful even as you decipher the results.
Happy Testing!
Also read: How Good is Exploratory Testing for Agile Projects?
