Questions to help figure out what to test, question 1
On many projects, you aren't the subject matter expert and you don't write the code. In those cases it can be helpful to talk with the subject matter experts and programmers to better understand the subtleties of the software. I often find it helpful to get them to help me design different types of tests. To help pull out the information I need, I use questions.
One question is "Are there specific tests you would like me to run for regression purposes?" This question might tell you about their concept of risk. What are they worried about breaking? Where do they think the important logic is that exists today? Or what ares of the application do they feel is fragile? While this question may not apply to project where there aren't legacy assets, I like it because it gets people to think about some of the implications of the changes being made. Often times, we get into tunnel vision of what we're doing right now.
Based on how they answer, you might come up with a lot more questions on that theme.
One question is "Are there specific tests you would like me to run for regression purposes?" This question might tell you about their concept of risk. What are they worried about breaking? Where do they think the important logic is that exists today? Or what ares of the application do they feel is fragile? While this question may not apply to project where there aren't legacy assets, I like it because it gets people to think about some of the implications of the changes being made. Often times, we get into tunnel vision of what we're doing right now.
Based on how they answer, you might come up with a lot more questions on that theme.