Manual and exploratory testing in one place — without two tools

TL;DR

Scripted cases and exploratory sessions, one workspace. Both contribute to release reporting, both have audit trails, and the answer to "what did we actually test?" comes from one place — not two half-answers across two tools.

01The two-tool problem

Sound familiar?

Most teams end up running two tools because the test management vendor treats scripted cases as the main event and exploratory testing as an afterthought — or vice versa. Scripted regression lives in tool A, exploratory sessions live in a Notion doc or a Trello board, and there's no single place to answer "what did we actually test before that release?"

02Why TestOrchestrator solves this

Both are first-class

Test cases live in the repository. Exploratory sessions live alongside test runs. Both are searchable, both contribute to release reporting, both have audit trails.

Charters with a purpose

Sessions start with a charter ("explore the new payment flow on Safari, looking for broken validation") and a time box. Findings get captured as you go. Done.

Findings, not just bugs

Not everything a session uncovers is a bug. Some are questions, some are observations, some are "this seemed slow." All of them belong in the session record. Some become defects, some become new test cases.

Reporting that includes both

When you ask "what did we cover for this release?", the answer includes scripted runs and exploratory sessions. Both contribute to the picture.

Same workspace, same access model

Same projects, same teams, same permissions. No second tool to license, provision, or remember to update.

SBTM-compatible without the vocabulary tax

Charter-driven, time-boxed sessions with logged findings — aligned with session-based test management principles, without forcing your team to adopt a specific methodology vocabulary.

03What a typical week looks like

Monday: regression run for the staging build (scripted cases)
Tuesday: exploratory session on the new search feature (60-min charter)
Wednesday: log five findings, two become defects, one becomes a new scripted case
Thursday: regression cycle for release candidate
Friday: sign-off cycle, release goes out — with both scripted and exploratory coverage on record

04Related reading

05Frequently asked questions

What is exploratory testing?

Unscripted testing where the tester learns the product, designs tests, and executes them in real time, capturing findings as they go. Useful for new features, bug hunts, and edge cases that scripted cases miss.

Why not just write more test cases?

Scripted cases cover known behaviours. Exploratory sessions find what scripted cases didn't think to look for. Mature QA does both.

How do you track exploratory findings?

Each session has a charter (what you're testing and why), a duration, and logged findings — bugs, observations, questions. Searchable later when someone asks "did we test that?"

Can I link exploratory findings to defects?

Yes — log findings inside the session and link out to defects in your tracker via external references.

Is this different from session-based test management (SBTM)?

TestOrchestrator's exploration model is aligned with SBTM principles — charter-driven, time-boxed, with logged findings — without forcing you to adopt a specific methodology vocabulary.