Minimum requirements when logging defects

A colleague wrote a list of ideas to improve bug reports. The more detail a report has, the more stakeholders are aware of the impact and can triage it accordingly. When it comes to fixing it, software developers can work out the issue more easily…

It is important that all the required information is added to a defect at the time of raising it. This stops the need to refer it back to the original author for more information and therefore saves time.

It should also be noted that we report all defects raised to certain user groups, and it is important that they are able to understand what the issue is and how severe the issue is to them.

In order to meet the minimum requirement all bugs should contain the following:

Title

• The title must be clear and concise
• It should describe the problem
• Avoid using technical jargon

Description

• The description must clearly outline the problem being experienced
• It should explain the impact to the customer
• It should describe a workaround if known.

 Reproduction steps

• Reproduction steps to recreate the issue
• These should be clear and easy to follow
• Include any required environment configuration
• Include the actual and the expected outcome

 System info

• Enter the version of software the bug was found in

 Other checks

• Have the Area and Iteration paths been set correctly?
• Are relevant examples present with the record? (record number, sample data, screenshots etc.)
• Have the relevant error details been included? (stack trace, error message, error number etc.)
• Has the bug been linked to the test case/user story etc?
• Has this been linked to a relevant user story, requirement, or similar bug report?

 Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

If the defect is found during integration testing, the following must also be completed

• Stage Detected In
• Use Release Testing
• Complete Release Introduced In field