How would you approach testing a feature with no requirements or documentation?

Clarify first

• Who is the primary user and what outcome are they trying to achieve?
• Are there any similar existing features in this product or competitor products I can reference?
• Are there legal, compliance, or accessibility constraints that apply even without a spec?
• What does "done" look like — what would a stakeholder accept as evidence the feature is ready?

Approach: structured exploration

• Use exploratory testing charters to guide sessions: "Explore the error states of [feature X] using invalid inputs for 45 minutes, noting any state inconsistency or missing feedback"
• Tour the feature to understand its structure before testing: identify inputs, outputs, data flows, and integrations
• Document observations in real time — behavior observed becomes the de-facto specification

Risk-first prioritization

• Ask: what failure would matter most to users or the business? Start testing there
• Common high-risk areas even without a spec: data persistence (is it saved correctly?), security (is any user's data accessible to another?), integrations with other systems (what breaks if this feature fails?)
• Review adjacent features for regression risk — what existing functionality could break?

Stakeholder sync

• Explicitly log assumptions made in the absence of requirements as test conditions and get confirmation before sign-off
• Raise unresolved questions as formal issues in JIRA; link them to the story
• Present a risk report: "I tested these areas and found these behaviors — these areas I could not test due to missing context; here is the residual risk"

Build the spec from testing

• Session notes and bug reports become living documentation; seed automated tests from verified behaviors in the next iteration

Close: document everything — observed behavior, unanswered questions, risk areas not covered. Automated testing comes after behaviors are confirmed; don't automate undocumented assumptions.