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Levels of Exploration in Exploratory Testing : From Freestyle to Fully Scripted

Ghazi, Ahmad Nauman ; Petersen, Kai ; Bjarnason, Elizabeth LU orcid and Runeson, Per LU orcid (2018) In IEEE Access 6. p.26416-26423
Abstract

Exploratory testing (ET) is a powerful and efficient way of testing software by integrating design, execution, and analysis of tests during a testing session. ET is often contrasted with scripted testing, and seen as a choice of either exploratory testing or not. In contrast, we pose that exploratory testing can be of varying degrees of exploration from fully exploratory to fully scripted. In line with this, we propose a scale for the degree of exploration and define five levels. In our classification, these levels of exploration correspond to the way test charters are defined. We have evaluated this classification through focus groups at four companies and identified factors that influence the choice of exploration level. The results... (More)

Exploratory testing (ET) is a powerful and efficient way of testing software by integrating design, execution, and analysis of tests during a testing session. ET is often contrasted with scripted testing, and seen as a choice of either exploratory testing or not. In contrast, we pose that exploratory testing can be of varying degrees of exploration from fully exploratory to fully scripted. In line with this, we propose a scale for the degree of exploration and define five levels. In our classification, these levels of exploration correspond to the way test charters are defined. We have evaluated this classification through focus groups at four companies and identified factors that influence the choice of exploration level. The results show that the proposed levels of exploration are influenced by different factors such as ease to reproduce defects, better learning, verification of requirements, etc., and that the levels can be used as a guide to structure test charters. Our study also indicates that applying a combination of exploration levels can be beneficial in achieving effective testing.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Companies, Data collection, Exploratory testing, exploratory testing classification, Industries, levels of exploration, Mobile communication, session-based test management, Software, Software testing, software testing, test charter, test mission
in
IEEE Access
volume
6
pages
26416 - 26423
publisher
IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85046723044
ISSN
2169-3536
DOI
10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2834957
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9ea5f03e-fa24-4f9c-a469-70668f15406b
date added to LUP
2018-05-23 14:46:06
date last changed
2023-09-08 01:56:59
@article{9ea5f03e-fa24-4f9c-a469-70668f15406b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Exploratory testing (ET) is a powerful and efficient way of testing software by integrating design, execution, and analysis of tests during a testing session. ET is often contrasted with scripted testing, and seen as a choice of either exploratory testing or not. In contrast, we pose that exploratory testing can be of varying degrees of exploration from fully exploratory to fully scripted. In line with this, we propose a scale for the degree of exploration and define five levels. In our classification, these levels of exploration correspond to the way test charters are defined. We have evaluated this classification through focus groups at four companies and identified factors that influence the choice of exploration level. The results show that the proposed levels of exploration are influenced by different factors such as ease to reproduce defects, better learning, verification of requirements, etc., and that the levels can be used as a guide to structure test charters. Our study also indicates that applying a combination of exploration levels can be beneficial in achieving effective testing.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ghazi, Ahmad Nauman and Petersen, Kai and Bjarnason, Elizabeth and Runeson, Per}},
  issn         = {{2169-3536}},
  keywords     = {{Companies; Data collection; Exploratory testing; exploratory testing classification; Industries; levels of exploration; Mobile communication; session-based test management; Software; Software testing; software testing; test charter; test mission}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  pages        = {{26416--26423}},
  publisher    = {{IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.}},
  series       = {{IEEE Access}},
  title        = {{Levels of Exploration in Exploratory Testing : From Freestyle to Fully Scripted}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2834957}},
  doi          = {{10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2834957}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}