Bug reports

What's a bug report?

Firstly, a bug, commonly called a defect or problem, is anything that is perceived to threaten the value of the software. A bug report, is the information about the bugs that we find that we collate and supply to the product owner, stakeholders, or developers. Some means of documenting and communicating our defects within the application that we're testing or the software. 

Can you give some examples of things that you'll find in bug reports?

As part of bug reports, we will have, usually, a a summary of what the bug is, a detailed description with some environment information, attachments of screenshots or videos of the bug, and log files possibly too. And you would also have a priority and severity for the bug.

What's the value of a bug report?

Logging a bug allows us to track the progress of that bug. It also may be some time before the bug is addressed depending on its severity and priority. So logging the bug means that we won't forget about it. And it's a good starting point for developers to be able to fix an issue.

What are the pitfalls?

Counting bug reports as a means to determine quality can be misleading. Quality is subjective, and one person's bug is another person's feature. And also just focusing on writing a bug report can have adverse effects on having the collaborative and meaningful conversations about the bug by developers and stakeholders as well. And also badly written bug reports can also damage your reputation as a tester.
RiskStorming image
An educational tool to explore Risk Analysis and Quality Strategy building with the whole team.
Explore MoT
Episode Eight: Exploring Quality Engineering image
Explore the principles and practices of quality engineering
MoT Foundation Certificate in Test Automation
Unlock the essential skills to transition into Test Automation through interactive, community-driven learning, backed by industry expertise
This Week in Testing
Debrief the week in Testing via a community radio show hosted by Simon Tomes and members of the community
Subscribe to our newsletter
We'll keep you up to date on all the testing trends.