Exploratory Testing Session Report: Documenting Test Notes, Findings, and Follow-up Actions

session_report_structure:
  session_metadata:
    - session_id
    - tester_name
    - date_and_time
    - duration
    - charter_mission
    - build_version
    - environment

  exploration_notes:
    - areas_explored
    - test_techniques_used
    - data_used
    - observations
    - thought_process

  findings:
    - bugs_discovered
    - risks_identified
    - questions_raised
    - ideas_generated

  evidence:
    - screenshots
    - screen_recordings
    - log_files
    - network_traces

  outcomes:
    - follow_up_actions
    - recommendations
    - areas_for_deeper_testing
    - documentation_gaps

# Exploratory Test Charter Template

## Charter ID: EXP-2025-042
**Created**: 2025-10-10
**Tester**: Maria Garcia
**Duration**: 90 minutes

### Mission
Explore the checkout process for edge cases and error handling, particularly focusing on payment gateway integration and order confirmation flows.

### Scope
**In Scope:**
- Payment methods: Credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay
- Error scenarios: declined cards, network timeouts, invalid data
- Order confirmation: email, SMS, in-app notifications

**Out of Scope:**
- Shipping address validation (covered in EXP-2025-038)
- Product catalog (separate charter)
- User account management

### Areas to Explore
1. Payment gateway responses to various error conditions
2. State management during payment processing
3. Order data consistency across services
4. User feedback mechanisms for failures
5. Edge cases in discount code application

### Test Techniques
- Boundary value analysis on payment amounts
- State transition testing for checkout flow
- Error guessing for payment failures
- Interruption testing (network drops, browser close)

### Data Requirements
- Test credit cards (various card types, expired cards)
- Invalid discount codes
- Edge case amounts ($0.01, $999,999.99, negative values)

### Entry Criteria
- Checkout feature deployed to staging
- Payment gateway sandbox accessible
- Test user accounts with various states available

### Success Criteria
- At least 3 meaningful bugs or observations documented
- All planned test techniques attempted
- Session notes complete with evidence
- Follow-up actions identified

session_time_allocation:
  90_minute_session:
    setup: 5 minutes
      - Review charter
      - Prepare environment
      - Gather test data

    exploration: 70 minutes
      - Initial exploration: 20 min
      - Deep dive areas: 30 min
      - Edge case testing: 20 min

    documentation: 15 minutes
      - Log findings
      - Capture screenshots
      - Write session notes
      - Create bug reports

  session_breaks:
    pattern: "45 min explore + 5 min document + 45 min explore + 15 min final documentation"
    benefit: "Prevents information loss, maintains focus"

# Exploratory Session Notes

## Session: EXP-2025-042
**Date**: 2025-10-10, 14:00-15:30
**Tester**: Maria Garcia
**Charter**: Checkout process edge cases and error handling
**Build**: v2.5.3-staging
**Environment**: https://staging.example.com

---

### Time: 14:05 - Initial Exploration

**Observation 1**: Standard checkout flow works as expected
- Added item to cart: Product #123
- Proceeded to checkout
- Entered shipping info: All fields validated correctly
- Selected payment method: Credit card option displayed

**Question**: What happens if user leaves checkout idle for >30 minutes?
*Action*: Set timer, will test later

---

### Time: 14:15 - Payment Method Testing

**Test**: Expired credit card
- Entered card: 4111111111111111, Exp: 01/2020
- Result: ❌ **BUG FOUND** - System accepted expired card
- Expected: Validation error before submission
- Actual: Accepted and sent to payment gateway, which rejected it
- Impact: Poor UX, wasted API call
- Screenshot: `bug_001_expired_card.png`
- *Created Bug Ticket: BUG-4532*

**Test**: Invalid CVV
- Entered card: Valid card number, CVV: 12 (2 digits instead of 3)
- Result: ✅ Correctly rejected with clear error message

**Test**: Network interruption during payment
- Steps:
  1. Initiated payment with valid card
  2. Disabled network (Chrome DevTools offline mode)
  3. Observed behavior
- Result: ⚠️ **ISSUE** - Spinner continues indefinitely, no timeout
- Expected: Timeout after 30s with error message
- Actual: Infinite loading, user must refresh page
- Risk: User confusion, potential duplicate orders if refreshed
- Screenshot: `issue_001_network_timeout.png`
- *Created Bug Ticket: BUG-4533*

---

### Time: 14:30 - Edge Case Amounts

**Test**: Zero dollar order (with 100% discount code)
- Applied discount code: TESTFREE100
- Total: $0.00
- Result: ❌ **BUG FOUND** - Payment step still required
- Expected: Skip payment, proceed to confirmation
- Actual: Payment form displayed, confusing UX
- Screenshot: `bug_002_zero_payment.png`
- *Created Bug Ticket: BUG-4534*

**Test**: Maximum amount boundary
- Item quantity: 999 × $999.99 = $998,990.01
- Result: ⚠️ **OBSERVATION** - Order accepts, but should this be allowed?
- Question: Is there a business rule for maximum order value?
- *Created Question Ticket: QUESTION-892*

---

### Time: 14:45 - State Consistency Testing

**Test**: Browser back button during payment processing
- Steps:
  1. Clicked "Pay Now"
  2. While processing, clicked browser back button
  3. Observed state
- Result: ❌ **MAJOR BUG** - Order created twice
- Details:
  - Payment processed successfully
  - Back button returned to checkout form
  - Form still enabled, allowed second submission
  - Two orders created with same items
  - Two charges to credit card
- Evidence:
  - `bug_003_duplicate_order_1.png`
  - `bug_003_duplicate_order_2.png`
  - `bug_003_database_screenshot.png`
- Severity: High - Financial impact
- *Created Bug Ticket: BUG-4535 (Priority: P0)*

---

### Time: 15:00 - Notification Testing

**Test**: Order confirmation email
- Completed successful order: ORDER-78492
- Result: ✅ Email received within 30 seconds
- Content verified: Order details, total, delivery estimate correct

**Test**: Order confirmation with failed email service
- Steps:
  1. Configured test to simulate email service failure
  2. Completed order: ORDER-78493
  3. Observed behavior
- Result: ⚠️ **RISK IDENTIFIED** - Order completes, but no email
- Concern: User has no confirmation, may think order failed
- Current mitigation: In-app confirmation page displays
- Recommendation: Add email retry mechanism and/or SMS fallback
- *Created Story: STORY-2451 - Email failure handling*

---

### Time: 15:15 - Session Wrap-up

**Areas Explored**:
✅ Payment method validation
✅ Network failure handling
✅ Edge case amounts
✅ State consistency (back button, refresh)
✅ Order notification flow

**Areas NOT Explored** (for future sessions):
- PayPal integration (charter scope limitation)
- Apple Pay on mobile devices (requires physical device)
- Concurrent checkout sessions (same user, multiple tabs)
- Discount code stacking behavior

**Test Techniques Used**:
- Boundary value analysis (amounts)
- State transition testing (checkout flow)
- Error guessing (network failures)
- Interruption testing (browser back, network drop)
- Negative testing (invalid inputs)

**Data Used**:
- Test credit cards: 4111111111111111 (Visa), 5500000000000004 (Mastercard)
- Discount codes: TESTFREE100, INVALID123
- Test user: maria.garcia+test@example.com
- Products: PROD-123, PROD-456

**Metrics**:
- Session duration: 90 minutes
- Bugs found: 4
- Questions raised: 2
- Ideas generated: 3
- Screenshots captured: 12
- Screen recording: `checkout_session_2025-10-10.mp4`

# BUG-4535: Duplicate Order Creation via Browser Back Button

**Discovered in**: Exploratory Session EXP-2025-042
**Reporter**: Maria Garcia
**Date**: 2025-10-10
**Build**: v2.5.3-staging
**Environment**: Staging
**Severity**: High (P0)
**Category**: Functional Defect

## Summary
Using browser back button during payment processing allows duplicate order creation and double charging.

## Steps to Reproduce
1. Add items to cart
2. Proceed to checkout
3. Enter shipping and payment information
4. Click "Pay Now" button
5. While payment is processing (loading spinner visible)
6. Click browser back button
7. Observe checkout form is still active
8. Click "Pay Now" again

## Expected Result
- Browser back should be prevented during payment processing, OR
- Form should be disabled after first submission, OR
- Duplicate order check should prevent second order

## Actual Result
- Back button works during processing
- Checkout form remains enabled
- Second click creates duplicate order
- Credit card charged twice

## Evidence
- Screenshots:
  - `bug_003_duplicate_order_1.png` - First order confirmation
  - `bug_003_duplicate_order_2.png` - Second order confirmation
  - `bug_003_database_screenshot.png` - Both orders in database
- Screen recording: `bug_003_reproduction.mp4`
- Network logs: `bug_003_network_har.har`

## Impact
- **Business**: Financial liability, customer complaints, refund costs
- **User**: Charged twice, confusion, poor experience
- **Frequency**: Medium (users may naturally use back button)

## Reproducibility
100% - Reproduced 3 times consistently

## Suggested Fix
1. Implement idempotency key for order creation
2. Disable form and back button during processing
3. Add duplicate order detection (same items, amount, timestamp)

## Related Issues
- Similar to BUG-3421 (cart duplication, fixed in v2.3)
- May affect STORY-1892 (one-click reorder feature)

## Additional Notes
- Also tested with browser refresh: Same issue occurs
- Tested with F5 reload: Same issue
- May want to implement session locking during checkout

# RISK-2045: No Maximum Order Value Limit

**Identified in**: Exploratory Session EXP-2025-042
**Reporter**: Maria Garcia
**Date**: 2025-10-10

## Description
The checkout system accepts orders of any value with no upper limit. Testing showed successful processing of $998,990.01 order.

## Risk Analysis
**Potential Issues**:
- Fraud: Large fraudulent orders could be placed
- Payment Gateway: May have transaction limits we exceed
- Inventory: Could oversell if high quantities allowed
- Business Logic: Unusual orders may indicate fraud

**Likelihood**: Low (legitimate users unlikely to order this much)
**Impact**: High (if fraud occurs or payment fails)
**Overall Risk**: Medium

## Current Behavior
- Quantity field accepts up to 9999
- Price × quantity calculated without limit
- Payment gateway accepts (at least up to $1M in sandbox)
- No business rules enforced

## Recommendations
1. Implement maximum order value (suggest $50,000)
2. Add fraud detection triggers for large orders
3. Require manual review for orders >$10,000
4. Add quantity limits per product
5. Implement velocity checks (# of orders per user per day)

## Business Questions
- What is acceptable maximum order size?
- Should high-value orders require special approval?
- Are there payment gateway transaction limits?

**Assigned to**: Product Owner for business rule definition
**Created Story**: STORY-2452

screenshot_naming_convention:
  pattern: "{session_id}_{type}_{sequence}_{description}.png"
  examples:
    - "EXP-2025-042_bug_001_expired_card_accepted.png"
    - "EXP-2025-042_observation_002_max_order_amount.png"
    - "EXP-2025-042_ui_003_payment_spinner.png"

screenshot_metadata:
  embedded_in_filename:
    - session_id
    - finding_type (bug/observation/ui)
    - sequence_number
    - brief_description

  stored_separately:
    - timestamp
    - browser_info
    - viewport_size
    - user_session
    - build_version

storage_structure:
  exploratory_sessions/
    2025-10-10_EXP-042/
      screenshots/
        001_expired_card_accepted.png
        002_network_timeout.png
        003_duplicate_order_1.png
        003_duplicate_order_2.png
      recordings/
        full_session.mp4
        bug_003_reproduction.mp4
      logs/
        browser_console.log
        network_traffic.har
      session_report.md
      findings_summary.xlsx

## Screen Recording Guidelines

### When to Record
- Complex bug reproductions
- Multi-step workflows
- Timing-sensitive issues
- UI animation problems
- Race conditions

### Recording Setup
**Tools**: OBS Studio, Loom, Chrome built-in
**Settings**:
- Resolution: 1920×1080
- Frame rate: 30 fps
- Format: MP4 (H.264)
- Audio: Include if explaining steps

### During Recording
- Clearly show cursor movements
- Pause before critical actions
- Verbally narrate steps (optional)
- Show timestamps when relevant
- Capture full browser window including DevTools if needed

### Post-Recording
- Trim unnecessary portions
- Add annotations/arrows if needed
- Upload to shared storage
- Link in bug reports
- Note timestamp of key moments

### Recording Metadata
```yaml
recording_metadata:
  file: "EXP-2025-042_duplicate_order_bug.mp4"
  duration: "2:15"
  resolution: "1920x1080"
  fps: 30
  key_moments:
    - timestamp: "00:15"
      description: "First order submission"
    - timestamp: "00:45"
      description: "Browser back button clicked"
    - timestamp: "01:30"
      description: "Second order created"
    - timestamp: "02:00"
      description: "Database showing duplicate orders"

# Follow-up Actions from EXP-2025-042

## Immediate Actions (This Sprint)

### 1. Critical Bug Fixes
- [ ] **BUG-4535**: Fix duplicate order creation (Back button)
  - Assignee: Dev Team Lead
  - Priority: P0
  - Estimated: 8 hours
  - Due: 2025-10-12

- [ ] **BUG-4532**: Add expired card validation
  - Assignee: Frontend Team
  - Priority: P1
  - Estimated: 3 hours
  - Due: 2025-10-15

### 2. Further Exploration Needed
- [ ] **EXP-2025-043**: Explore PayPal integration edge cases
  - Assignee: Maria Garcia
  - Duration: 90 minutes
  - Scheduled: 2025-10-11

- [ ] **EXP-2025-044**: Test concurrent checkout sessions (multiple tabs)
  - Assignee: Alex Kumar
  - Duration: 60 minutes
  - Scheduled: 2025-10-12

## Short-term Actions (Next 2 Sprints)

### 3. Product Decisions Required
- [ ] **QUESTION-892**: Define maximum order value business rule
  - Assignee: Product Owner
  - Required for: STORY-2452
  - Due: 2025-10-18

- [ ] **STORY-2451**: Implement email failure handling
  - Includes: Retry mechanism, SMS fallback
  - Estimated: 13 points
  - Priority: Medium

### 4. Technical Improvements
- [ ] Add idempotency keys to order API
- [ ] Implement session locking during checkout
- [ ] Add fraud detection triggers
- [ ] Improve error timeout handling

## Long-term Recommendations

### 5. Process Improvements
- Schedule weekly exploratory sessions for checkout
- Create regression suite from exploratory findings
- Document edge cases in test case repository

### 6. Monitoring and Alerts
- Add alert for duplicate orders (same user, <1 min apart)
- Monitor payment gateway timeout rates
- Track order failure reasons in analytics

def calculate_session_score(session_data):
    """
    Calculate effectiveness score for exploratory session
    Scoring: 0-100
    """
    score = 0

    # Bugs found (max 40 points)
    bugs = session_data['bugs_found']
    score += min(bugs * 10, 40)

    # High severity bugs (bonus 20 points)
    if session_data['high_severity_bugs'] > 0:
        score += 20

    # Charter coverage (max 20 points)
    coverage = session_data['charter_coverage_percent']
    score += coverage * 0.2

    # Documentation quality (max 20 points)
    if session_data['has_screenshots']:
        score += 10
    if session_data['has_session_notes']:
        score += 5
    if session_data['follow_up_actions'] > 0:
        score += 5

    return min(score, 100)

# Example
session_score = calculate_session_score({
    'bugs_found': 4,
    'high_severity_bugs': 1,
    'charter_coverage_percent': 80,
    'has_screenshots': True,
    'has_session_notes': True,
    'follow_up_actions': 8
})
# Result: 95/100 (Excellent session)