How can we make our bug reports more understandable - blog post

🗄️ Archive
, ,
1

I wrote a blog post about improving our bug reporting:

I’d love to discuss this topic further - how are you reporting the discovered bugs? Did I miss anything?

1 Like
2

Hey Mirza,

I read your article and great job on it. The only part that I realized is missing is the severity and priority of the bug which is very important. Because by going through that, developers choose which bugs to resolve first.

Thanks

4 Likes
3

Hi @qaisarimtiaz that’s an excellent point, thanks!

2 Likes
4

Several years ago I wrote a blog post about bug reporting. Some things which could also be considered:

  • find the right balance between details and rough descriptions of the reprodeuction steps. There are accepatable shortcuts.
  • it is about finding Marlin. Marlin stands for ‘Make a real life impression now’.
  • it might help to add user’s thoughts between the reproduction steps. Why does a user perform this step?
  • some thoughts can be experienced as harmful, so this must be used with great care.
  • use personas to refer to. Identify needs of these personas and their feelings.
  • it is always possible to talk with developers instead of writing extensive bug reports.
2 Likes
5

@han_toan_lim great points, it’s true that when possible talking to the devs can lead to faster bug-fixing instead of going through the whole formal process.

1 Like
6

Mirza, great article, good valid points. I didn’t see (and hope I didn’t miss it) any mention of video recording. There are several ways to record the actual process of reproducing the bug, one is embedded in our test management tool (Testuff). Our experience, based on users feedback, shows a significant decrease in the time to report defects (less need to write lengthy description, add screenshots, etc.), less back-and-forth questions between dev and testers, and an easier way for the devs to understand - and therefore fix - the defect.

2 Likes
7

Hi @gil I mentioned it but briefly, I mostly use Bandicam (free version) or capture a gif.

1 Like
8

Strangely, in our company we don’t do assessments of impact or severity. This took me a lot of getting used to when I joined the firm, and I still sometimes put a statement in my bug reports, “If we assessed bugs for severity, I would assess this as a 2” (or whatever).

Perhaps I should prepare a paper on “Passive-aggressive bug reporting” :grinning:

2 Likes
9

@robertday that is unusual, at all the places I worked so far mostly used both, some used only severity (filled out by the tester) and the priority would be added by a project manager or a BA.

1 Like
10

Well, yes, that was what I thought, but no-one seems that fussed about it. Perhaps the fact that we have a rather specialist product and a small user base has something to do with it: all bugs are urgent (though some are more urgent than others).

2 Likes