SOP: Exploratory QA vs scripted QA checklist

SOP: Exploratory QA vs scripted QA checklist

Run this when deciding how to test a release.

Stage 1 — Classify the surface (owner: QA owner)
☐ Is the flow stable and repeated every release, or new/changing?
☐ Is the cost of a missed regression high?
☐ Do you have someone with product intuition free to poke around?

Stage 2 — Choose
☐ Scripted checklist (eventually automated): same steps, same expected results, every time. Use for core regression paths. Cost: catches only what you thought to list; blind to the unexpected.
☐ Exploratory: skilled tester roams with no script, hunting weird states. Use for new features and edge-case discovery. Cost: not repeatable, results vary by tester.

Stage 3 — Run both, scoped (owner: QA owner)
☐ Scripted covers the known critical path before every release.
☐ Exploratory gets a timeboxed session on whatever changed.
☐ Bugs found exploratorily get added to the scripted checklist.
☐ Done-when: critical path is scripted and new code got a roam.

Trigger: pre-release testing. Done-when: both passes scoped and assigned.

Save this. Run it every time.