Exploratory software testing is a powerful and fun approach to testing. In some situations, it can be orders of magnitude more productive than scripted testing. I haven't found a tester yet who didn't, at least unconsciously, perform exploratory testing at one time or another. Yet few of us study this approach, and it doesn't get much respect in our field. It's high time we stop the denial, and publicly recognize the exploratory approach for what it is: scientific thinking in real-time. Friends, that's a good thing.


Exploratory testing is especially useful in complex testing situations, when little is known about the product, or as part of preparing a set of scripted tests. The basic rule is this: exploratory testing is called for any time the next test you should perform is not obvious, or when you want to go beyond the obvious. In my experience, that’s most of the time.

One of the main problems with implementing exploratory testing practices is the measurement. In many situations, management is interested in checking the progress and need some evidence of coverage and execution because of various reasons. To address this need, session based test management can be used, which makes it easier to audit and measure exploratory testing efforts. No doubt many http://www.getzephyr.com/products/test_management_tools.php%20 - test management tools http://www.getzephyr.com/products/test_management_tools.php%20 - available using tools will make this process easy.