In the world of software development, communication between testers and developers is key to delivering high-quality products. One of the most critical tools for this communication is the bug reporting. A well-crafted bug report can save time, reduce frustration, and ensure that issues are addressed efficiently.
Bug reporting is a skill everyone should master, whether you are a tester, a developer or just someone who wishes better software. Learn how to turn the frustration of finding bugs into the satisfaction of contributing to a more robust, user-friendly product with these nine simple steps:
1. Descriptive Ticket Title
The title of your bug report is the first thing developers will see, so it needs to be both informative and concise. It should provide a snapshot of the issue, allowing developers to quickly assess the nature of the problem.
Example: “Login Page – Error message displayed when valid credentials are entered.”
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Tip: Use a consistent naming convention for bug IDs to facilitate easy tracking and referencing.
2. Task Severity and Priority
Understanding the severity and priority of a bug is crucial for developers to allocate resources effectively.
Severity Levels:
- Blocker: Prevents further testing or use of the system.
- Major: Significant impact but does not block system use.
- Minor: Minor impact, system use is not affected.
- Trivial: Cosmetic issues with negligible impact.
Priority Levels:
- High: Needs immediate attention.
- Medium: Important but not urgent.
- Low: Can be fixed in due course.
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Tip: Collaborate with stakeholders to determine priority levels based on business needs.
3. Full Description
A detailed description is the heart of your bug report. It should clearly explain the issue, providing context and background information.
Example: “When a user tries to log in with valid credentials, an error message ‘Invalid username or password’ is displayed.”
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Tip: Include any relevant history or patterns observed, such as whether the issue occurs intermittently or consistently.
4. Environmental Data
Specifying the environment helps developers replicate the issue. Different setups may lead to different bugs, so this context matters a great deal. This section should include all relevant technical details.
Example: “Windows 10, Chrome 87.0.4280.88.”
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Tip: Include additional details like network conditions, screen resolution, or any specific configurations that might affect the bug.
5. Repro steps
Providing clear, step-by-step instructions to reproduce the bug is essential. This section should be precise and easy to follow.
Example:
- Navigate to the login page.
- Enter a valid username and password.
- Click the ‘Login’ button.
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Tip: Use numbered lists for clarity and consider including any preparatory steps needed before the main actions.
6. Expected Result
This section describes what should happen if the system is functioning correctly. It sets a benchmark for the desired outcome.
Example: “User should be redirected to the dashboard.”
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Tip: Be specific about the expected behavior, including any UI elements or messages that should appear.
7. Actual Result
Here, you describe what actually happens due to the bug. Highlight the discrepancy between the expected and actual outcomes.
Example: “Error message ‘Invalid username or password’ is displayed.”
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Tip: Include any error codes or logs that appear, as these can be invaluable for debugging.
8. Attachments
Visual aids can significantly enhance the clarity of your bug report. Screenshots, videos, and logs provide tangible evidence of the issue.
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Tip: Annotate screenshots to highlight key areas and provide context. Ensure videos are short and focused on the issue.
9. Visual Proof: Screenshots & Screen Recordings
Providing visual evidence is crucial for developers to quickly understand and reproduce bugs. Here are some tips for creating effective bug visuals:
- Clearly Show the Problem Area: Ensure the specific issue is visible and easily identifiable in your visuals.
- Provide Context: Include enough information for developers to understand where and how the issue occurs within the application.
- Highlight Error Messages: Make sure any error messages are visible and easy to read.
- Document Before and After States: Capture the state of the application before and after the bug occurs to provide a complete picture.
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Tip: While traditional screenshots and video recordings are useful, modern visual bug-reporting tools can significantly reduce the time spent reporting bugs and enhance the entire process.
Bug Reporting Do’s and Don’ts
By adhering to these do’s and don’ts, you can create more effective bug reports that facilitate quicker and more accurate resolutions, ultimately contributing to the development of higher-quality software.
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| Be Descriptive: Provide a clear and concise description of the bug. | Avoid Vague Descriptions: Simply stating “the element doesn’t work” is not helpful. |
| Provide Reproduction Steps: List the exact steps needed to reproduce the bug. | Don’t Skip Reproduction Steps: Failing to include steps to reproduce the bug can lead to delays in fixing it. |
| Include Environment Details: Specify the environment in which the bug occurred (the operating system, browser version, screen resolution) | Don’t Skip “obvious” Environmental Information: Failing to include this information causes additional back-and-forth with developers. |
| Assign Severity and Priority: Indicate how severe the bug is and how urgently it needs to be fixed. | Don’t Misrate Severity: Accurately assessing the impact of the bug helps developers prioritize their jobs and gives them more time to fix the most critical issues. |
| State Expected vs Actual Results: Clearly outline what you expected to happen and what actually happened. | Avoid Making Assumptions About the Cause: Let developers familiar with the app infrastructure investigate the cause and how it affects the entire system. |
| Attach Visual Evidence: Use cutting-edge QA tools to provide valuable visual content and technical information that make the problem easier to understand. | Don’t Rely on Just Your Great Writing Skills: Utilize all possible collaterals for issuing the issue – annotated screenshots, video recordings, or even a live shot of the element that misbehaves. |
| Review and Revise: Before submitting your report, review it for clarity and completeness. | Don’t Forget to Review: Ensure all necessary information is included. |
Automating Bug Reporting Documentation with Webvizio
While you could manually gather screenshots, system information, and logs, cutting-edge solutions like Webvizio can automate the entire process. Webvizio’s Chrome extension is designed for QA and product teams, enabling your entire team to easily generate detailed bug reports without needing to utilize an extra web application in their toolkit.
Here’s how it works:
- Capture and report bugs faster with point-and-click visual feedback on live pages and apps. Just pin issues directly on live web elements to provide essential visual context for your development team.
- Track bugs and content issues across devices. Use Chrome DevTools’ device emulation feature to monitor and address bugs and content issues on desktop, tablet, and mobile views.
- Annotate auto-generated screenshots for extra clarity. With the Webvizio Chrome Extension, you can annotate the automatically generated screenshots, including free-hand drawings, hide sensitive information, or even place notes directly on the screenshots.
- Create detailed bug reports with a single click. Webvizio captures visual annotations, technical specifications, console logs, and system information automatically, ensuring you don’t miss critical details and saving everyone time and effort on unnecessary communication.
- Seamlessly connect to Jira, Trello, ClickUp, Slack, and any tools your team uses. It will ensure no disruption to your team workflow and save time on many coping.
- Oversee all bug reports in an embedded planner. It is a simple way to keep track of issued bug reports in one place, avoiding the complexities of developers’ tools.
FAQs
A bug report serves as a clear communication tool between those who identify software issues and those responsible for fixing them. It documents the problem, its impact, and provides all necessary information for reproduction and resolution.
To write a good bug report, focus on providing clear and concise information. Include a descriptive title, detailed steps to reproduce the issue, the expected and actual results, and relevant environmental details. Whenever possible, include visual evidence to support your report.
The essential elements of a bug report are: a title, a description of the issue, steps to reproduce the problem, expected versus actual results, environmental details, and visual evidence (such as screenshots or recordings). Additionally, providing context about the severity and impact of the bug can be very helpful.
All-in-one bug reporting tools like Webvizio help you to cut development issue reporting time by half through automation that is not available in other stand-alone issue tracking and screenshot tools. It allows users to auto-generate comprehensive bug reports and issue tickets with just a single click.
