1. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Exploratory Testing
Explained and
Experienced
by Maaret Pyhäjärvi

2. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
TESTING IS ABOUT
FEEDBACK:
QUALITY-RELATED
INFORMATION

3. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Testers don’t break
the code, they break
your illusions about
the code.
- Adapted from James Bach

4. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Realizations on Nature of Testing
20
16
1639
5±2
4

5. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
20DYNAMICALLY ADAPT
FOR LIMITED BUDGET
OPPORTUNITY COST
5

6. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
16 EXPECT THE
UNEXPECTED
6

7. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
1639ROUTES ARE RELEVANT
NOT ALL BUGS ARE EQUAL
7

8. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
5±2TAKE NOTES
CREATE CHECKLISTS
8

9. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Testing as Performance (Exploring) vs.
Testing as Artifact Creation

10. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
What Testing gives Us
UnitTesting
ExploratoryTesting
SPEC
FEEDBACK
REGRESSION
GRANULARITY
GUIDANCE
UNDERSTANDING
MODELS
SERENDIPITYTesting as
artifact
creation
Testing as
performance

11. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Product is my external
imagination
I am my developer’s external imagination

12. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Learning in Layers
A Demonstration of Exploratory Testing

13. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Teaching Exploratory Testing
in a Mob

14. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Strong-Style Navigation
“For an idea to go from your
head to the computer it must
go through someone else’s
hands”
*http://llewellynfalco.blogspot.fi/2014/06/llewellyns-strong-style-pairing.html

15. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Observations
Retrospective
ONE IDEA
PER STICKY
NOTE
CAPITAL
LETTERS
EASY
TO
READ
FEW
WORDS
Lowercase
letters
Don’t write
in cursive
or in biro
Avoid writing too
much on one single
note as it takes a
while for people to
read the whole thing!
• IDEA 1
• IDEA 2
• IDEA 3
≠
≠
≠
≠

16. @maaretp http://maaretp.com

17. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Before
implementing
While
implementing
Before
production
While in
production
Testing as
artifact creation
Testing as
performance
(exploration)
Ways to think of testing peak at different moments with regards to adding a capability
TOTALS
Testing is Everywhere!

18. @maaretp http://maaretp.com
Maaret Pyhäjärvi
Email: maaret@iki.fi
Twitter: @maaretp
Web: maaretp.com
Blog: visible-quality.blogspot.fi
(please connect with me through
Twitter or LinkedIn)