Authors:
Rubens Copche
1
;
Yohan Duarte
2
;
Vinicius Durelli
3
;
Marcelo Eler
4
and
Andre Endo
2
Affiliations:
1
Grupo TCM, Assis, Brazil
;
2
Computing Department, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
;
3
Federal University of Sao Joao Del Rei, Sao Joao Del Rei, Brazil
;
4
University of Sao Paulo (USP), Sao Paulo, Brazil
Keyword(s):
Software Testing, Bots, Testing Strategies, Human Testers, Bots for Software Engineering.
Abstract:
Tests executed by human testers are still widely used in practice and fill the gap left by limitations of automated approaches. Among the human-centered approaches, exploratory testing is the de facto approach in agile teams. Although it is focused on the expertise and creativity of the tester, the activity of exploratory testing may benefit from support provided by an automated agent that interacts with human testers. We set out to develop a chatbot named BotExpTest, specifically designed to assist testers in conducting exploratory tests of software applications. We implemented BotExpTest on top of the instant messaging social platform Discord; this version includes functionalities to report bugs and issues, time management of test sessions, guidelines for app testing, and presentation of exploratory testing strategies. To assess BotExpTest, we conducted a user study with six software engineering professionals. They carried out two sessions performing exploratory tests along with Bo
tExpTest. Participants revealed bugs and found the experience to interact with the chatbot positive. Our analyses indicate that chatbot-enabled exploratory testing may be as effective as similar approaches and help testers to uncover different bugs. Bots are shown to be valuable resources for Software Engineering, and initiatives like BotExpTest may help to improve the effectiveness of testing activities like exploratory testing.
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