Manual testing interview questions

Severity is how badly the defect affects the system, and priority is how urgently the business wants it fixed. A spelling mistake in the company logo is low severity but high priority because every visitor sees it. A crash in a rarely used admin report with a workaround is high severity but can be low priority.

I would cover valid login, wrong password, unregistered email, blank fields, and boundary lengths for each field. Then I would check behaviour such as password masking, account lock after repeated failures, the forgot password link, and what happens on pressing Enter. I would also check that error messages do not reveal whether an email is registered.

Smoke testing is a broad, shallow check of a new build to decide if it is stable enough for further testing, such as launching, logging in and opening main pages. Sanity testing is a narrow, focused check of one area after a specific fix or small change. Smoke asks whether we can test; sanity asks whether this change looks right.

A clear title naming the area and condition, the environment, numbered steps to reproduce, the expected and actual results, and evidence such as a screenshot or recording. It should describe one defect and stick to facts. My test is whether a developer could reproduce it without asking me anything.

I first try to reproduce it again myself and note exact details such as the build, browser, test data and user role. Often the difference is in data or environment, so I share those and, if possible, a recording. If it still cannot be reproduced, we agree to monitor it rather than arguing.

I prioritise by risk: areas close to the change, core flows like login and payment, and features that have broken before. Then I add a broad smoke pass over the rest. I tell the lead what was not covered so the risk is a shared, informed decision.