What tools can one use for note-taking during ET?

Rahul Parwal asks:

Great question, Rahul.

And for the reader, ET in this context means Exploratory Testing.

When I was building a product called TestBuddy – a tool to support exploratory testing – folks were keen for a tool that could support them yet not get in the way. And I think that's the tricky part of any tooling that supports exploratory testing.

We found that people had so many different styles of note-taking that it was hard to satisfy all those different styles. Yet I think any good tool finds that balance of being authoritative on how one might perform note-taking during an exploratory testing session and being flexible enough to ensure it can cater for enough people.

I actually think a good note-taking tool should tend to be a bit more authoritative about a given approach. While this might seem counterintuitive to how we might like to engage with a tool I think there's real benefit for those who are getting started with exploratory testing. We found that with TestBuddy that a good number of our customers appreciated that it had one way of doing note-taking and didn't try to be many things to many people. There was zero customisation available. However, this meant it was a super niche tool.

Coming back to the original part of your question. At a high-level there are five groups of tools to support note-taking during exploratory testing: 

I'm yet to see one tool that is a slam dunk this is the one which will transform how we take notes during an exploratory testing session.

I think if I was still building TestBuddy I'm sure something about interfacing with an LLM would be on the cards, perhaps it would prompt the note-taker at certain points to encourage different types of exploration. Or help summarise notes for a debrief based on audience personas. Plus more!

Note-taking is a skill that I encourage any quality professional to explore. And like any tool to support a testing technique, it's only as helpful as the context it's being used in and with a willingness to try various tools in different contexts.

I hope this helps, Rahul.

Let me know if you'd like me to elaborate on any of this.

See more questions and answers in the AMA about Exploratory Testing collection.