# What is a Charter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Archive\ **Tags:** exploratory-testing\ **Created:** [21 July 2020 18:55 UTC](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-is-a-charter/40983 "2020-07-21T18:55:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tfritz1325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@tfritz1325](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/u/tfritz1325)\ **Post date:** [21 July 2020 18:55 UTC](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-is-a-charter/40983/1 "2020-07-21T18:55:45Z")
I have never heard this before. Is this something from Europe? I am from the US. Thomas ---
**Author:** ![fagerstromd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@fagerstromd](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/u/fagerstromd)\ **Post date:** [21 July 2020 19:30 UTC](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-is-a-charter/40983/2 "2020-07-21T19:30:26Z")
At my company, we use them to lay out a project. The what, why, and how (without specific technical details). This makes acceptance criteria, and perhaps more importantly what is not in scope very clear. ---
**Author:** ![danashby](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/club.ministryoftesting.com/danashby/32/5707_2.png) [@danashby](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/u/danashby)\ **Post date:** [21 July 2020 20:57 UTC](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-is-a-charter/40983/3 "2020-07-21T20:57:32Z")
Hey! So the answer to this depends on whether you mean: - a Test Charter (which is a means of focusing and structuring your exploratory testing on investigating a specific target area to uncover information about specific risks). or - a Project Charter (which sets the scope and objectives at a holistic scale for a project). IMHO, in the context of test charters, they are essential. Without them your exploratory testing will be ad-hoc and unstructured, and it’d be really hard to show your exploratory testing too. ---
**Author:** ![danashby](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/club.ministryoftesting.com/danashby/32/5707_2.png) [@danashby](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/u/danashby)\ **Post date:** [21 July 2020 21:02 UTC](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-is-a-charter/40983/4 "2020-07-21T21:02:03Z")
Check out this 99 second video that explains what Test Charters are, some examples, the value of using charters and some pitfalls to watch out for too. 🙂 > **[99 Second Introduction to Charters](https://www.ministryoftesting.com/dojo/lessons/99-second-introduction-to-charters?s_id=1442528)** > > In this video Dan and Mark will introduce you to what charters are, the value of using charters, give some examples and discuss the pitfalls you should be... ---
**Author:** ![andreajensen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/club.ministryoftesting.com/andreajensen/32/11385_2.png) [@andreajensen](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/u/andreajensen)\ **Post date:** [22 July 2020 07:12 UTC](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-is-a-charter/40983/5 "2020-07-22T07:12:46Z")
Hi there, I am now just referring to the Test Charter, since this is the only way I used it so far. I am using it for exploratory testing. So far tried different designs, styles, approaches. Basically I apply it when I want to note something down prior and/or during the test session to ensure myself I cover the areas I want to go through. But I also use it as kind of documentation in case someone of my team gets curious and wants to know what I tested and what not. So the ways I used it - Paper and pen, great for quick scribbles and doodle-lovers like me. But not so good for paperless documentation, easy searching and sharing with others if working remotely (Covid19 made this pretty clear to me) - Test Charter form, used something I found and adapted it to our internal needs. Looks professional but was not really used neither by me nor by the team. I can’t put my finger on, it just seems not to fit properly. - Test Cases in our system, noting down some keywords rather than too much details. Part of the test case pool, nice if it could/should/must be used for regression testing - Mindmaps, atm my favorite. I am able to quickly note done things, they structure kind of by themself. I edit them during testing, using little emojis for test result tracking. It is easy accessible, can be shared with others, and is a documentation which needs no extra typing. I include it also in (remote) pair testing. ---
**Author:** ![aatisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@aatisha](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/u/aatisha)\ **Post date:** [22 July 2020 10:12 UTC](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-is-a-charter/40983/6 "2020-07-22T10:12:26Z")
Hi According to my understanding Charter is a kind of tool that is used for exploratory testing and using this tool stakeholders define the scope of a project. I think it has some particular template also to develop a charter like we do in project management too. Thanks Aatisha ---
**Author:** ![jahnvi01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/aeb1de/32.png) [@jahnvi01](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/u/jahnvi01)\ **Post date:** [15 October 2020 05:57 UTC](https://club.ministryoftesting.com/t/what-is-a-charter/40983/7 "2020-10-15T05:57:58Z")
A statement of test objectives,and possibly test ideas about how to test.Test charters are used in exploratory testing .