Problem:
How much friction can I expect if I want to test X?
As in: can I access in the required systems, can I look in the systems logs and data, can I populate test data?
Few quick thoughts in no particular order - i may be wrong in categorizing, so please feel free to correct me.
People
How many years of testing experience
Any previous Domain specific experience
What test case , defect management tools have you used
Any experience with Automation , performance, OAT testing
Any team leading experience
Aspirations of the team members - growth plans, Training plans
Preferred type of working - Hybrid, Remote, Office
Travel constraints
Any special skills like Excel Macros, presentations, event organising experience, other talents…
Any vendor partners to work with
Are the roles and responsibilities agreed with all partners
Leave plans
what is the organisation structure, Reporting structure
Who are the key stakeholders
Product / Vision
Is there a clearly articulated project /product vision
Is the vision known to all the stakeholders - no exceptions
have all of them read and committed to the achievement of this vision
What are the mechanisms to ensure we are on target to achieve the vision
Process
What methodology does the project follow
What is the nature of the project - is it a maintenance project, safety critical projects like medicals, airlines, integration projects, or hardware /Software projects
What is the mechanism to register risks
What is the mechanism to discuss and mitigate risks
do we have a centralised document management systems
Do we have defined folder structures in terms of what needs to be placed where
What is the reporting mechanism - Daily, weekly, monthly
Do we have defined templates for each of the deliverables
Are the deliverables and their milestones agreed
do we have test strategy in place
do we have test plans in place
Do we have defined test case stucture
do we have clear workflows defined for story’s, defects, requirements
what are the review process for the deliverables
Is there a defined defect triage process
Time
How long has the project been running if it is an existing project, if it is a new project, what are the start and end dates
How long are the sprints/test levels
How are we currently doing on the project plan - are we delayed or are we on track
What are the timezones we are working in - global teams
Code freeze timelines
Public holidays across each country operating
Deployment frequency and days of the week when deployments are normally done.
Time required to stand up a new environment
time required for a data refresh from the prod
Time required for onboarding a resource
time required to process a request for access to a tool or any thing on the project
Frequency of reports
Frequency of meetings
Resources
What are the test environments available to use
What is the test data availability
How constantly are the data refreshed
What is the specification of the test environments
Do we have a prod like environment specially during performance tests and operational acceptance tests
What are the tools available for Test case, Defect Management, Requirement management - Jira, Confluence / Document management - Sharepoint, Confluence
How easy or difficult to get new tools
what are the spec of Laptops/desktops for the teams
Depending on the tests - for eg; Mobile testing - do we have a lab where the devices are available for testing, which can simulate various networks, bandwidths, etc
Problem
What are the common problem prone areas as per experience
what are the remedial measures taken in the past
Do we have retrospectives. Lesson learnt documentation and action tracker
