Best Practices for Effective Bug Reporting in Bug Tracking Systems

Bugs are almost an indispensable part of the software development cycle. A bug refers to an error, flaw, or defect within a computer program or system that causes it to behave unexpectedly, producing incorrect results or performing unintended actions. Simply put, bugs plague every project. A bug inevitably leads to various other complications, such as delays in release, noncompliance, and bad user experiences. Therefore, reporting it well is paramount to overall development and product quality.

What is a bug report?

A bug report is a critical document that provides a detailed account of the issue, defect, or flaw identified within the app. The primary objective of this report is to inform developers and all relevant stakeholders about the identified problem that requires investigation and resolution.

An effective bug report clarifies all relevant details regarding the bug, making it easier for developers to record, submit, and fix the issue swiftly and efficiently. It must include essential information such as the description of the problem, steps involved in reproducing it, expected and actual outcomes, and specific details about the environment in which the bug was identified.

Although the reality is often more complex, it is possible to write effective bug reports. Bug tracking systems, for instance, significantly help teams with this effort. They provide structure and a centralized platform where all bug reports can be efficiently managed with their wide range of features.

Why is Effective Bug Reporting so Crucial?

Effective bug reporting is a pivotal part of the software development lifecycle. One wrong move and everything collapses! Think of it like this – a bug report is a bridge that transports the team from identifying bugs to successfully fixing them and then getting them ahead with delivering high-quality products. Therefore, whether or not the team makes it to the other side has much to do with the quality of the report itself.

An effective report is one that substantially impacts projects in two ways.

1. Improves development efficiency

When bugs are reported well, it goes a long way in saving time and resources. With good reports, developers have the necessary clarity to recreate the bug, locate the underlying cause, and implement a fix without ambiguity. It also helps minimize the need for back-and-forth communication between developers and testers. Developers can better focus their time and effort on fixing the issue rather than decoding it. 

On the contrary, poor-quality bug reports result in project delays. Missing or vague information in reports can set off the entire development cycle on a downward spiral. Teams end up with misdiagnosed problems, incorrect fixes, and prolonged testing cycles. In an agile environment, well-constructed bug reports help maintain the pace by minimizing bottlenecks in the debugging process.

2. Reduced miscommunication

One of the common challenges in product development is the potential for miscommunication between testers and developers, especially regarding bugs and their fixes. Poor bug reports further amplify this.

Good quality reports help bridge this gap by giving them a clear and shared understanding of the issue.  They use standardized terminology and structured formats for reporting to ensure that all stakeholders – testers, developers, and project managers – are all on the same page. Maintaining such a level of structured communication considerably reduces the need for follow-up questions, and each stakeholder can confidently proceed with their intervention in fixing the bug and progress towards timely, high-quality delivery.

Unfortunately, many teams also miserably fail to write effective bug reports. Although they often possess the expertise in identifying bugs, it becomes challenging to clearly report the ‘what, why, and how’ of bugs, which is the essence of an effective bug report.

Critical Components of an Effective Bug Report

With much said about the importance of a well-written bug report, let’s take a look at what are the key components that make a bug report an effective one:

1. Concise and Descriptive Titles

We know how it is said, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But with bug reports, the contrary is what it must accomplish. The title must be clear enough to provide each stakeholder with sufficient insight into the issue, even without reading the full report.

Focus on keeping the title clear, concise, and descriptive. Two questions to ask yourself that can help with writing concise and descriptive titles are:

• What is the problem?
• Where does the problem lie?

Example

Poor Title: Site not functioning

Good Title: Error displayed during login as User01 on Chrome

Why it works

It answers both questions and provides a clear and direct context into the issue.

2. Detailed Descriptions

A detailed description helps to further build on the expectations set by the title. It must provide essential details such as context about the environment and the nature of the issue. The description must, therefore, answer these three questions:

• Environment details – Browser, device, OS, etc.
• Actions performed – What led to the bug?
• Impact – What functionality is affected?

Example

Poor Description: The page is showing an error.

Good Description: Attempting to log in as User01 in the QA environment on Chrome shows an error “Cannot read content.” Other admin actions are unaffected.

Why it works

Such a description immediately informs all stakeholders about the exact context of the bug.

3. Detailed Steps to Reproduce the Bug

The information provided in this section must equip developers to replicate the issue and see the bug for themselves. These steps should be listed clearly and step-by-step. It must also include expected vs. actual results to help stakeholders understand intended functionality from the user’s perspective versus how the software behaves due to the bug.

Example

Poor Steps: Open the browser and log in. Can’t submit a form.

Good Steps:

• Step 1 – Open www.example.com/admin and log in as User01.
• Step 2 – Navigate to Content Explorer.
• Step 3 – Click “Create Document.”
• Step 4 – Expected: The document creation screen appears.
• Step 5 – Actual: Error message “Cannot load content” is shown.

Why it works

Creating a bug report with such detailed steps helps ensure the bug is easily reproducible, enhances debugging, and assigns severity scores. Detailed expected vs. actual results help stakeholders quickly grasp what should happen versus how the bug disrupts the software’s intended functionality. Such a level of specificity provides them with clarity on where the issue lies and allows them to begin troubleshooting quickly.

4. Attach Relevant Screenshots or Videos

Visual evidence such as screenshots, logs, or video recordings can help illustrate the problem. When using screenshots, ensure that they are annotated if necessary. They must clearly show the issue without any other unnecessary information.

Example:

Capture the error in context if the issue involves a specific error message. In the case of more dynamic bugs, using a video to showcase the exact issue will help stakeholders understand and resolve it accordingly.

Why it works:

Providing visual evidence accelerates bug identification, especially in the case of front-end bugs or UI-related issues.

5. Include Environment Details

Clearly setting the context is critical when evaluating the issue. This is because it is possible for a bug to appear only in a particular environment and not others. For example, the same app feature might operate differently across different versions of Windows, browsers, or OS. Therefore, when reporting the bug, be sure to specify if the bug is observed in one or more specific environments.

Check to see if your report includes the below environment details:

• Type of device: Hardware and specific device model
• OS name and version
• The version of software which is being tested and in which the bug has appeared
• Strength of the network connection in which the bug was identified to show if the bug is dependent on the internet connection (4G, 3G, WiFi, Ethernet)
• The rate of reproduction or the number of times the bug was reproduced.

6. Prioritize Bugs by Severity

Severity indicates the extent to which the issue impacts the app’s functionality. Ensure that every bug is assigned a level of severity and corresponding priority, as this helps stakeholders understand the extent to which the bug affects the system and the priority with which it must be fixed. Severity is commonly indicated as ‘Low, Minor, Major, Critical’ and priority as ‘Low, Medium, High.’

Example:

• A broken submit button on a registration form might be a high priority due to its impact on users’ completion of a transaction.
• A misaligned button on the UI could be marked as low priority, but depending on the context, it could still be critical.

Why it works: Prioritizing bugs helps teams plan and allocate their focus on critical bugs without wasting time on less impactful issues.

Typical Errors to Avoid When Reporting Bugs 

1. Avoid bundling several issues into a single report

Each bug is different, and so should each bug report. When multiple issues are bundled into a single report, it becomes impossible to dismiss or close the report until each issue in the report is resolved.  As a result, when reporting the bug, make sure to include information about whether it was seen in one or more particular situations.

2. Avoid waiting for the perfect time to begin writing the bug report

Time is crucial when it comes to reporting a bug. Be conscious to promptly submit a bug report as and when you discover it during testing. Choosing to create reports later often leads to overlooking issues or crucial details in reporting an issue.

3. Avoid playing the blame game

While creating the bug report, it is essential to ensure that the tone of voice is suggestive and polite rather than authoritative. Using an authoritative tone has the tendency to impair the team’s morale and create an unhealthy work environment.

How Bugasura’s Bug Tracking Software Can Help You Implement These Best Practices

Bugasura’s bug-tracking software provides you with an array of features that are specifically designed to streamline and enhance the bug-reporting process. The tool allows you to implement all of the above best practices in an intuitive and efficient way.

Some of Bugasura’s key bug-reporting features include:

User-Friendly Interface: Bugasura’s interface is designed to be easily accessible by both testers and developers. This makes it easy for them to log, review, and respond to bug reports. The simplicity of its design promotes thorough and timely reporting without any unnecessary complexity.

Detailed Bug Reporting Templates: The tool provides templates that greatly help with standardizing the bug report structure, improving report quality and easing cross-team understanding. It allows for customization so that testers can ensure that all essential bug details are included, such as:

• Clear, Descriptive Titles with automated title suggestions and prompts to help ensure that the report title is clear, concise, and informative. This directly impacts the ease with which developers are able to understand the issue’s nature and scope.
• Detailed Descriptions with Templates that prompt testers to add context on the environment, actions leading to the bug, and impacted functionality. This minimizes ambiguity and ensures that all necessary information is filled in.
• Step-by-step Reproduction Instructions to allow testers to log clear, sequenced steps to reproduce bugs, along with expected vs. actual results. This ensures that the bugs can be replicated accurately and quickly resolved.
• Visual Evidence for Enhanced Clarity by which screen capture and annotation features can be included, allowing testers to attach clear, relevant screenshots or video recordings.
• Environment Contextualization feature makes it possible to provide specific fields to log bug environment details, such as device type, OS version, browser type, and network connection strength. Such information ensures accurate bug diagnosis by equipping developers to replicate the exact conditions in which the bug was identified.
•  Automated Severity-Based Prioritization allows testers to assign specific severity (Low, Minor, Major, Critical) and priority (Low, Medium, High) levels to the issue. This automation supports effective triaging and allows teams to focus on the most urgent problems that need resolution first. Testers can also align prioritization with project goals.
• Timely Reporting is also made possible with Bugasura’s user-friendly interface and mobile accessibility. Testers will be able to quickly log bugs as soon as they are discovered. With instant reporting teams are able to reduce delays as well as address and resolve issues promptly.

Seamless Collaboration Features: Bugasura’s built-in communication tools offer testers, developers, and other stakeholders a common platform to discuss bugs. This significantly reduces miscommunication and ensures that everyone is on the same page. Its features, which include comment threads and real-time updates, make collaborative bug resolution a smooth and efficient experience.

Comprehensive Dashboard: The tool’s dashboard feature provides an organized and comprehensive view of all bugs reported. Details such as status, severity, and resolution progress make it easier for stakeholders to get a quick and overall understanding of the development. This centralized visibility eases bug tracking and workload management a whole lot easier for project leads and developers alike.

To wrap it all up….. we say what we said at the start… Effective bug reporting is that bridge that decides if the team gets from chaos on one side to the other side of smooth and efficient product delivery!

Now that you know the best practices for effective bug reporting. All you need to do is to get it done the smarter, quicker, and impeccable way with Bugasura’s bug reporting software. With its intuitive features and robust functionality, it is designed to help your development team succeed.

Put it to the test!

Frequently Asked Question