What is Ad Hoc Testing?

The misconception in software testing is that ad hoc testing involves a tester randomly clicking around a website or application in the hopes of finding a defect. This could not be further from the truth. While it may be the flip side to pure test case driven quality assurance testing, it is just as important to the success of any quality assurance engagement.

Error guessing

At its core, ad hoc testing is an informal test that does not follow any techniques or steps. The testing is done randomly using a technique called error guessing. Error guessing involves a quality assurance tester guessing where an error might pop up in the code based on prior testing.

The steps of ad hoc testing

As we said, while ad hoc testing may sound random, in reality it’s not. Consider a typical testing approach. First, the tester begins QA by addressing any areas or features of concern that the client has mentioned. Then, they begin testing their way out from there, figuring out what elements to hit, in which ways to hit them, and on what OS/browser or device configurations. Good testing skills take time to develop, as a tester needs to understand common problem areas in a website or application. If you randomly target parts of the application, you could be searching for bugs all day. Instead, you need to know where to look for those bugs in order for testing to be effective.

Here at Beta Breakers, our team of quality assurance testers is well-versed in ad hoc testing. Contact us today to learn more.