For something like what you do I find that there&#x27;s often a cost&#x2F;benefit trade off to be made:<p>#1 Create a mock system that you can run automated tests against.<p>#2 Only do the manual tests.<p>Which one is the &#x27;right&#x27; decision depends largely on the expense of creating that mock system, the complexity of the system under test, the nature of the bugs you&#x27;re getting from customers and the frequency with which your software changes.<p>Simple, infrequently changing system? Expensive to set up a mock system? #2.<p>Complex, frequently changing system? #1 will help more than you realize.<p>&gt;Even exploratory has written tests that basically say &quot;explore,&quot; and they are often assigned with a particular focus.<p>Of course. However, exploratory shouldn&#x27;t mean following a script and it shouldn&#x27;t mean doing repetitive work.