Automation is a powerful tool in modern website testing. It speeds up repetitive checks, saves time, and increases test coverage. But here’s the reality: automation alone doesn’t catch every bug.
Websites today are more dynamic, personalised, and visually complex than ever. As a result, certain issues only reveal themselves when tested manually, from a human perspective. That’s where exploratory testing plays a vital role in bug hunting.
Let’s explore how this unscripted, intuitive testing approach helps uncover website issues that automation often misses and why combining both is the best strategy.
🕵️ What Is Exploratory Testing?
Exploratory testing is a manual testing technique where testers actively explore a website without predefined steps or automation scripts. Instead of checking only expected inputs and outputs, testers look for unexpected behaviour, usability problems, and inconsistencies.
Rather than follow rigid cases, they use the website like a real user would, navigating freely, interacting with elements in different sequences, and switching between pages, devices, and screen sizes.
While automation confirms what should happen, exploratory testing reveals what could go wrong.
🐞 What Automation Misses (But Humans Don’t)
Although automated tests are excellent for functional validations, like checking if a login button works, they often overlook real-world scenarios and visual issues.
Here’s what exploratory testers often catch that automation skips:
- Visual glitches like overlapping text, clipped buttons, or inconsistent spacing
- Contextual bugs that occur only when users interact in a certain order
- Broken flows caused by unexpected input, device orientation, or navigation history
- Confusing UX, such as misplaced icons, unclear labels, or non-responsive elements
- Inconsistent behaviour when switching from desktop to mobile or between browsers
👉 Want to prevent these issues before your users spot them?
🧪 Real Examples of Exploratory Bug Hunting
In real projects, exploratory testing has helped our QA team at Testers HUB identify issues that automated tools simply couldn’t.
For example:
- A sticky header that worked fine in Chrome but overlapped menu items in Safari
- A mobile footer that vanished when switching from portrait to landscape
- A product page where filters were applied correctly, but didn’t reset when the back button was used
- A form that looked perfect but blocked pasted text in one specific browser version
These issues weren’t visible in automation logs. But users would have noticed them and possibly left the site because of them.
🔍 When Should You Use Exploratory Testing?
Exploratory testing is especially effective in scenarios where user behaviour is unpredictable or where automation is limited by logic and visibility.
You should include exploratory QA when:
- You’re launching a new website or redesign
- You’ve made frequent UI/UX changes
- You’re testing on real devices or screen sizes
- You’re preparing for usability testing or audits
- You’ve received feedback about frustrating user experiences
Even if your automation coverage is strong, manual testing adds a human touch that automation can’t replicate.
✅ Tips to Make Exploratory Testing More Effective
To make the most of this type of testing, consider the following best practices:
- Set clear goals: Focus each session on a section or user flow, like cart functionality or account creation.
- Test across real environments: Different browsers, devices, and resolutions reveal different bugs.
- Take notes and screenshots: Document findings with clear steps to reproduce.
- Look for UX disruptions, not just failures: Think like a user, not just a tester.
- Combine with analytics: Use tools like Hotjar or session replays to see where users struggle.
By approaching the site from a fresh perspective, testers uncover issues that aren’t obvious through automation.
🧠 Why Manual Bug Hunting Still Matters in 2025
With AI and automation evolving rapidly, many assume manual testing is outdated. But that’s far from true. As websites grow more interactive and user-specific, manual QA becomes even more important.
Exploratory testing adds creativity, curiosity, and adaptability to your QA process. It allows testers to break things in ways your scripts never imagined, because real users rarely follow a fixed path.
🚀 Final Thoughts: Don’t Launch Without Exploratory QA
Website automation covers the basics. Exploratory testing uncovers the unexpected. If you want your site to function and feel flawless, both approaches must work hand-in-hand.
At Testers HUB, we specialise in uncovering hard-to-detect bugs using real devices, live environments, and experienced manual testers. From visual defects to usability blockers, we ensure your website performs exactly as users expect.
🎯 Don’t wait for users to report bugs. Let’s find them before they do.
👉 Start your exploratory website testing with us today
