Definition: A clarifying question is a follow-up question that checks or confirms understanding of something already said. Instead of opening new ground, it narrows in on a detail to make sure both people mean the same thing.
So what? Misunderstandings are a common source of wasted effort and missed bugs. A clarifying question is a quick way for a tester to confirm scope, conditions or meaning before acting on an assumption.
Examples: Asking "Was this problem happening on all browsers?" after someone describes a bug. Checking which environment or user type a reported issue applies to before trying to reproduce it.
