Best Practices For Adhoc Testing

Darshit Shah
2 min read6 days ago

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Understand the Application: Testers should have a good understanding of the application’s purpose, functionality, and user expectations. This helps in focusing testing efforts on critical areas.

Document Findings: While ad-hoc testing is informal, it’s important to document the defects found, steps taken, and any observations made during testing. This documentation can help in reproducing and fixing issues later.

Use Test Data Generators: For monkey testing, use tools or scripts that can generate random data inputs. This can uncover edge cases and unexpected behavior in the application.

Explore Different Scenarios: Testers should explore various scenarios, including boundary conditions, error-handling paths, and different user roles, to uncover potential defects.

Collaborate and Communicate: Share findings and observations with the development team promptly. Collaboration helps in understanding the root cause of issues and accelerates the resolution process.

Time Boxing: Allocate specific time periods for ad-hoc testing sessions. This helps in focusing efforts and ensures that testing doesn’t become too unstructured or time-consuming.

Regression Testing: While ad-hoc testing primarily focuses on finding new defects, it’s also essential to occasionally revisit previously tested areas to ensure that recent changes haven’t introduced regressions.

Continuous Learning: Encourage testers to continuously learn about the application, industry trends, and new technologies. This enhances their ability to perform effective ad-hoc testing.

Ad-hoc testing complements formal testing methodologies like automated testing and scripted manual testing. It provides flexibility and agility in detecting defects early in the software development lifecycle, thereby improving overall software quality. However, it should be used judiciously alongside structured testing approaches to achieve comprehensive test coverage.

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Darshit Shah
Senior Lead QA Engineer
Portfolio | LinkedIn

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Darshit Shah

Hello! I’m Darshit Shah - ISTQB Certified Software QA Engineer with 13+ years of experience. I believe that by sharing our stories, we can grow together.