Reporting software defects and bugs is a crucial part of software testing. It helps developers fix the issues and improve the quality of the product. However, not all defect reports are clear, accurate, and actionable. To avoid confusion, frustration, and delays, you need to follow some best practices for reporting software defects and bugs. Here are some of them.
A defect tracking tool is a software application that helps you record, manage, and monitor the defects and bugs in your software project. It allows you to create, update, assign, prioritize, and close defect reports. It also provides features such as search, filter, notification, collaboration, and reporting. Using a defect tracking tool can help you organize your defect reports, track their status, and communicate with your team and stakeholders. Some examples of defect tracking tools are Jira, Bugzilla, Mantis, and Trello.
Don't make bugs too complicated... Should Have - Minimum words - Required information, Get to the Point - Screenshots, logs if required - Short & crisp sentences - Test steps clear and concise - Know Your Audience The reader is neither a Shashi Tharoor nor interested in reading stories :)
Once as a Technical Project Manager, my team was rushing to meet a deadline for a major client. Late into the project, a bug slipped through the cracks during our rush. In my haste, I quickly noted down the bug in brief and passed it to my team to fix. The lack of details led to confusion, delayed resolution, and tension amongst team members, affecting overall productivity. This experience taught me an invaluable lesson about the importance of detailed bug reporting and effective communication. Taking extra time to describe bugs thoroughly, while prioritizing clear language and visual aids, could have saved us more time in the long run.
Utilize the defect tracking tool efficiently. It is important to add every detail of bug while reporting the bug , add proper steps to reproduce the bug, attach screenshots, provide test data, expected outcome and the actual outcome , if possible add recording as well. This ensures that anyone who is looking at the defect ticket is able to reproduce the bug and this process is also essential to reduce the dependency on the tester to replicate the bug every time , Detailed and efficient bug writing saves a lot of time.
The major part for filing any bug is 1 preconditions 2 Environment 3 steps to reproduce 4 Map correct requirements/ test case to bug When we include preconditions it will be very is to reproduce the bug many times This will help Developers to understand better & fix the bug
Use a defect tracking tool like Jira or ALM - Update below: 1. Steps to run the (journey)testing. 2. Attach error Screenshots, splunk or dynatrace logs to capture details. Better to add both success and failure logs(timestamps) 3.Let the required teams know to get the things done at the earliest.
A defect report template is a standard format that defines the information and structure of a defect report. It provides a consistent and comprehensive way to record details about the defect or bug. Generally, it contains elements such as a unique ID, summary, severity rating, priority ranking, status label, description, assignee name, reporter name, and date. The description should include steps to reproduce the issue, expected and actual results, environment details, and any screenshots or attachments. This template helps you ensure that all the necessary information is captured accurately and in an organized manner.
According to me indicating the frequency and consistency of the issue is very crucial. Is it reproducible every time, or does it occur sporadically? This information helps prioritize and diagnose the bug.
Always make sure that logs you attach are accessible for developers - it saves a lot of time during investigation phase. Keep log files consistent- instead of calling log files log1, log2 and so on, try to name them in accordance with their content e.g. - service_crash.log, extraction_error.log.
Standard bug report template is essential as it helps the QA team for both existing and newcomers to follow the same protocol to ensure the quality of the bugs are always up to a certain standard set by those existing QA members. In regards to what the template contains its not much because I follow a concept where the ticket should be concise and informative at the same time. The following items are necessary: 1. Accurate bug title 2. Detailed problem statement 3. Expected behaviour (either in words or link of the exact point in the document to follow) 4. Attachment (Recording is preferable to avoid putting in steps to replicate) 5. Logs (if the bug is high or critical) Having these details makes the developers fix the issue faster.
Bug reports template is important, but it should be way more straightforward than everybody thinks. You should encourage people to report things. Some of them will be defects, some improvements, and some misunderstandings. Organizations should bring value from each of them. Fix bugs, update documentation, rethink UI/UX approach. If you force people to fill many fields in the report, they will ignore that possibility. Keep a balance between value and effort.
Absolutely, a standardized bug report template is crucial for efficient issue management. Here are the necessary elements as per me: - ID: Auto-generated by the system. - Title: Structured format for clarity like "Environment Name - Feature Name - Bug Title" - Steps to Reproduce: Clear and concise actions. - Environment Info: Context details. - Attachments: Screenshots, videos, etc. - Expected Result: Desired outcome. - Actual Result: Observed behavior. - Environment Logs: Troubleshooting aid. - Severity and Priority: Bug impact and urgency. This template helps me in keeping information consistent, also making it easier to talk about and fix problems.
Writing clear and concise defect reports is essential for effective communication and resolution of software defects and bugs. To achieve this, you should use simple and precise language that is easy to understand, active voice and present tense to describe the defect or bug and its effects, keywords and phrases relevant to the software domain and terminology, bullet points and numbered lists to organize important information, and screenshots and attachments to illustrate your defect report. Additionally, you should avoid vague, ambiguous, or irrelevant information that can confuse or mislead the developers and stakeholders. Lastly, make sure to use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation to ensure readability and professionalism.
Writing clear bug reports is important, but sometimes people are overextending. For example, when you're explaining the bug that is not happening every time, it isn't easy to replicate. Put as much info as you can. On the other hand, when reporting an easy UI bug, sometimes short details + screenshots/screen recordings would be enough to aim and fix it. Try to figure out what works and what does not for the teams you're working with.
An effective bug report ideally contains the following: Clear Steps to Reproduce: Precisely outline the steps to reproduce the bug. The more specific, the better. Include all necessary details like OS, browser version... Expected vs. Actual Result: Describe what the expected result should have been and compare it with the observed behavior. Environment Details: Note the environment in which the bug occurred — software versions, devices, browser information, and any other related information. Screenshots, Screen-recordings, or Logs: Visual proofs or logs can provide invaluable context. Impact: Evaluate the severity and impact of the bug. Is it a critical issue impacting core functionality, or a minor one?
Writing a good bug report is necessary when you put your bug in the bug tracking tool. Here are the few things which should be a part of your bug report. - A one liner summary which helps the developer to decide from which component this bug belongs to. - probability of the issue - Environment details where is big is induced - Version details of the application or product - Steps to reproduce bug - Logs of the Bug - Last but not least, Evidences supporting the bug occurrence. These details can help developers and other team members to reproducing your bug and fixing it.
This is for the best practices in QA is to make bug / defect reports clear and concise, in terms of the problem statement, expected behaviour and others. I tend to even avoid putting in Steps to replicate to make it much easier for the developer I do it step by step in the recording for clarity purposes. Always follow certain formats to make it as detailed as possible.
Along with writing clear defect report, Bug should contain version or build details, Test Data details, Screen shot or Recordings. Also in defect report Steps to Reproduce should be clear and should be written in simple one by one steps for anyone to understand.
Reviewing and updating your defect reports is important for maintaining accuracy and relevance of your software defects and bugs. You should check your defect reports for any errors, omissions, or inconsistencies before submitting them to the defect tracking tool. You should also update your defect reports whenever there is a change in the status, severity, priority, or assignee of the defect or bug. You should also add any comments, feedback, or suggestions that can help the developers and stakeholders understand and fix the defect or bug.
Actually I agree that reviewing and updating defect reports is a fundamental aspect of effective defect management. It ensures that defect reports accurately reflect the state of the software, facilitate clear communication, and support informed decision-making. By following these best practices, teams can streamline the defect resolution process, maintain transparency, and ultimately deliver higher-quality software to end-users.
As per me before reporting a bug we need to understand the impacted area of the bug and should report all the scenarios so there will be less forth back and we are able to deliver good quality products on-time. Also, always review once, whether we are able to replicate issues or not and if anything looks missing then we should update steps and if require more details then we should add in the comments section. Try to report bugs concisely and precisely, so that it takes less time for another person to understand and work on it.
During further testing, if the similar issue is reproducible in other API's or UI, that can be updated in same bug rather than creating a new bug.it will help developers to reduce their task by giving same fix at multiple pages/cases
Collaborating and communicating with your team and stakeholders is vital for ensuring timely and effective resolution of software defects and bugs. You should share your defect reports with the relevant people and teams, such as developers, testers, managers, and clients. You should also respond to any queries, requests, or notifications that you receive from the defect tracking tool. You should also participate in any meetings, discussions, or reviews that involve the defect or bug. You should also provide feedback and acknowledgment when the defect or bug is fixed or closed.
Reporting software defects and bugs is a key skill for software testers. By following these best practices, you can create and manage defect reports that are clear, accurate, and actionable. This can help you improve your software testing process, quality, and performance.
In my previous role at a startup, dealing with bugs was routine. The official fix involved many people from the organization. For example, the monitoring tool sends a notification and alerts of an error. The engineer on bugs reads the alert and diagnoses the issue. A bug-task is created and sent to the top of the backlog. If the bug is serious, a message is sent to the engineering team detailing the problem. At this point a different engineer would pick up the bug-task, fix it, ask for reviews on the pull request, and send the fix up to a staging environment. An available product manager would then verify the bug behavior is gone and approve the bug-task for production.
I would like to add one point here yes using the defect tracking tool like Jira QTest HP-ALM are the best practices , yet creation of the own template and circulating that within a Team ( relevant to scrum framework ) helps everyone like : developers, testers, product owner, stakeholders aware of the defect status Defects logged , worked in, Fixed, Retested etc along with the number of the defects found and the timeline ( in how many days , number of defects , severity , detection and resolution date etc) ; the overall Defect Status maintenance will help to provide an insight of the product’s quality, readiness and vulnerability. Also creation of the relevant metrics from the defect Status Report becomes easier .
If the developers have questions or need more information, be responsive and provide the requested details promptly. Collaboration can speed up the resolution process
If the testers report a defect, please respond promptly and do not ghost them. Even a response saying you are looking into it is better than no response.
A defect should speak for itself. Once you log a defect, make sure to provide all the possible details for the Dev to debug! It shows the discipline! And the report can be in any simple format which is aligned with the Stakeholders need!
Also In most cases when you come around a bug,we can all agree that we usually try out a few things to see if they can work temporarily as the bug is being fixed.I used to do this a lot when I was working as a tester.Its a good practice to include your workarounds in the test report.This will enable users to continue using the software as they wait for a permanent fix.Make sure to provide step-by-step instructions to users regarding your temporary fix.You can also include screenshots of the steps in the report if possible.And lastly, should there be any potential risks or limitations associated with your workaround,Kindly include it in the report because users need to be aware of it.
Provide context/impact of bugs when giving status updates to stakeholders. They won't necessarily see the impact on project timelines, or business requirements
Defects need to tell the story of what went wrong with the application, what lead to the application behaving incorrectly, what steps can be performed to again recreate what went wrong, Where (environment) the issue was uncovered and finally screenshots of when it went wrong
While technical details are obviously important, don't overlook the end-user's perspective. Describe how the bug affects the user's experience or disrupts their workflow. This adds a sense of urgency and a clear context, driving teams to adopt a user-centered approach towards bug resolution.