Guideline: In More Details - Allocate Test Techniques (AST)

Test design techniques are actually first linked to test types and then to quality characteristics. In the absence of an unambiguous set of test types, a direct link to quality characteristics is selected.

The techniques of Exploratory Testing and Error Guessing do not appear in the above table. The reason for this is that these techniques can be used for all quality characteristics. Exploratory Testing is any form of testing with the tester making his test design during the execution of the test. The information obtained in the course of testing is used to design new and improved test cases. Error Guessing means that testers test the system in an unstructured way. For a description of Exploratory Testing and Error Guessing, refer to section A Basic Set Of Test Design Techniques. Since it is impossible to establish all possible test situations in test cases, Exploratory Testing and Error Guessing are valuable techniques for carrying out supplementary testing. It is advisable to allow a limited amount of time during each test period for these techniques.

If a cell is left empty and no obvious techniques have been cited, then Error Guessing or Exploratory Testing can be applied. If relevant techniques have been cited, such as with Functionality validations with in-depth coverage, then aforesaid techniques can be used as a basis. These techniques can often be executed with a deeper-level variant, or several techniques can be selected.