5 Questions to Ask During Requirements Review as a QA QE

Get clarity early, prevent bugs later.

When you’re new to QA, sitting in a requirements review meeting can feel overwhelming. Everyone’s throwing around terms like “acceptance criteria,” “edge cases,” and “business logic” — and you’re wondering what you’re supposed to say.

Good news: You don’t need to know everything. But you do need to ask smart questions that ensure the product is testable and ready for quality checks. Here are 5 beginner-friendly questions every QA can ask to show up strong in these meetings.

1. What are the success criteria for this feature?

Why ask it: You need to know how the team defines “done” or “working.”
Example: If it’s a login feature, does success mean you land on the dashboard? Do you also get a welcome message?

2. Are there any edge cases we should consider?

Why ask it: Developers and product managers may not think like testers. Asking this gets people thinking beyond the happy path.
Example: What happens if the user tries to log in with an expired password? Or enters emojis in the name field?

3. What are the user roles or permissions involved?

Why ask it: Different types of users may experience the feature differently, and you want to make sure that’s testable.
Example: Do admins see different buttons than regular users? What about guests?

4. Are there any dependencies or integrations?

Why ask it: If the feature connects with another system, you’ll want to know so you can prepare test data and verify those connections.
Example: Does the payment feature talk to an external service like Stripe or PayPal?

5. What should we not expect this feature to do?

Why ask it: Sometimes it’s easier to clarify what’s out of scope so you don’t test things the team didn’t intend to build — yet.
Example: If you’re testing a profile page update, are users supposed to change their email? Or is that a future release?

You don’t have to ask a million questions — but asking the right ones shows you’re thinking critically and setting the team up for success. These 5 questions help prevent confusion, reduce bugs, and show you’re serious about quality — even if you’re new to the field.

Pro tip: Write these questions down and bring them to your next review. You’ll sound confident, curious, and collaborative.