An effective bug report is essential for a successful project and according to reports 7/10 of bug reports do not make sense to developers in the first impression and they have to spend a good amount of time figuring out the exact issues and where the issue is actually located. Bug reporting is an art and testers need to report defects and issues in such a way that developers do not have to spend a sufficient amount of time to understand those areas. To deal with such situations, a defect tracking software should be incorporated as it helps to convey the issues in a proper and timely way which is done through a specific format.
If proper defect tracking software is not incorporated in the testing cycle then the bugs would be ignored and there would be no way to ensure if an issue was fixed or not. It is really important to work around defined protocols so that things won’t be mismanaged in the later phase. No one should communicate issues to developers except through the defect tracking software as it helps to keep things documented and transparent.
Benefits of a defect tracking software
- A clear bug report can be generated
- Priority os issue can be defined
Variables Involved in an Effective Bug Report
Usually, developers are always working under pressure and are limited on time. These highly functional professionals can be of great help if you know how to communicate with them in a proper way. A bug reporting tool would act as a middle-man between the testers and developers and a worthy defect reporting mechanism can be induced by considering the following aspects.
Reporter: Name and email of the person who is reporting the bug.
Product: Name of product in which the bug was found.
Version: Mention the product version, if there is any.
Component: Sub-modules of the specified project.
Platform: There are various hardware platforms that are used such as PC, MAC, HP, etc. You need to be spicy where the bug was found.
Operating System: Name all the operating systems in which the issue was identified.
Priority: There is always a priority assigned to an issue that tells when an issue needs to be fixed. The priority level is defined from P1 to P5, P1 means the highest priority and P5 represents whenever it is convenient.
Severity: This defines the impact of the issue and is represented through different types.
- Blocker
- Critical
- Major
- Minor
- Trivial
- Enhancement
Status: Initially, when the defect is logged in defect tracking software, its status would be ‘new’ but with advancements, the status would change from time to time as per progress.
Assign to: Each bug is assigned to a specific person based on their expertise or the person who was responsible for the particular module from the start.
URL: Mention the URL of the page on which the bug was identified.
Summary: a brief summary to explain the nature of the bug, this would be up to 60 words which reflects the problem and its area.
Description: At this point, the issue is explained in detail.
Bonus Tips for Effective Bug Reporting
When a bug is identified during testing, one should report it immediately and should not leave it as a task which can be done later. In this way, a promising reproducible bug report can be generated. Also ensure the bug which is identified is reproducible and robust steps were considered for it. Testers should also remember that for similar functionality, the same piece of code is used in different modules. If there is an issue in one module then it means that other areas associated with that code need to be fixed too. A good summary needs to be written regarding the issue as it helps developers to analyze the loophole in a better way. Testers should also proofread the bug report before submitting it so that there is no ambiguity or misinterpretation which can cause issues.
Conclusion
An effective bug report can save a significant amount of time and cost. It is important to have a defined bug reporting strategy in your quality assurance process. If bugs are not communicated through a defined channel then its repercussions would be long-lasting and issues won’t be dealt with in a timely manner.
