Why is exploratory testing challenging for the testers?

Even though having fewer rules and formalities seems to make testing easy-peasy, it also can make things more difficult. 

Testers with less experience might not know where to actually start testing, what to check or how to look for issues. 

Indeed, there are certain types of skills required to manage this, but it’s never too late to boost your income by a little bit of deep-diving in the best practices… because you can actually earn a lot more by jumping on exploratory tests then test case executions, you just have to be determined!

First of all, always remember that there is no such thing as a flawless application. Impossible. With critical, lateral and outside the box thinking you can find bugs that were never found before, just like a pro.

Check out our best practices to increase your chances of finding bugs:

1. 💭 Plan your test - you need a certain level of control of the path you would like to follow while exploring the app. Give yourself time to get used to the app, figure out what are the key features and functionalities and what are the possible weaknesses. A good plan is half of the success, even if you don’t follow a script, so it definitely worth every second spent on planning.
2. 📖 Widen your knowledge about exploratory testing techniques - we are learning something new every single day even if we don’t realize it! Why not invest some quality time in your professional growth? There are so many exceptional online materials available nowadays that it’s almost a sin not to take advantage of them.
3. ⚖️ Don’t try to test everything - a major or critical hidden bug in one of the key features is more valuable than 10 typos (to avoid misunderstandings, typos are bugs as well and they also have to be reported). But you also need to understand that full-exploratory coverage it’s time-consuming and if you try to cover everything, important hidden details might be overseen. 
4. ⏳ Invest time in good bug reports - testers don’t communicate directly with the devs or the clients, but through bug reports. It’s critical to have excellent communication skills to avoid misunderstandings on both sides and to save time. If you would like to improve your bug writing skills, check out our Bug Reporting Guidelines.
5. 🛣️ Follow the beaten path first - perform a wider smoke test first to find the possible issues in the system. You might think that all the obvious bugs were already reported, but you probably would be surprised how often these bugs are omitted.  
6. 🥊 Try quick attacks - and be impulsive. Insist on all costs on breaking the app or a certain app feature. Make illogical, unpredictable and fast moves (such actions which could be claimed as accidental when a normal user navigates through the app). Think outside the box, overwhelm the software with invalid data, dummy characters and perform interrupts (if you have the possibility, call your phone from another device, set alarms, and notifications) or interrupt the loading screens. Try to test with mobile data and wi-fi as well to see if there’s a difference in the performance rate. The possibilities are endless, you just have to use your imagination and experience!

Sounds challenging? Well, it actually is!

🏁 Let the race begin and show the world how to hunt down awesome bugs!