Exploratory Testing Tip: Cover A Wide Range of Platforms

Exploratory testing empowers testers to engage with the software. They can examine areas, paths, and options based on their experience and learning.

By removing strictures of scripted testing, exploratory testing allows for holistic approach to test design, execution, and analysis.

Testers are empowered in the moment of testing, on the device and platform they're using. This makes it possible for them to look for all sorts of potential problems and issues, but in particular ones that may be related to what the software is running on, whether it's a mobile app, a web app, or smartwatch software, or anything else. For example, with a mobile web app, it's critical to cover as many platforms as possible: mobile web apps run on the many different versions of Android smartphones, they can run on the Chrome mobile browser (on both iOS and Android), they run on mobile Safari and in other apps' web-views.

Exploratory testers can and will take into account the issues of each browser, operating system version, hardware configuration, and other salient factors.

While exploratory testing might seem like an intensive endeavor, lending itself to focusing on one platform, it actually excels at discovering platform-based problems. Because testers can take into account their knowledge and pursue paths they suspect are impacted, they're more likely to find platform-specific issues.

Give your software the benefit of being checked by engaged, scientifically-thinking testers. Let those testers examine it on as many platforms as you have time and resources to allow.