Identifying bugs is crucial in the testing process. When you find a bug, it is essential to report the bug for it to be fixed properly. Writing a bug report is thus a crucial stage of the bug lifecycle, which comes right after it is identified. This stage lays the foundation for Debugging and ensures a bug-free user experience. This guide explores what is a bug report and how can you write a bug report effectively.
What is a Bug Report?
In the course of the QA process, when a bug has been identified, it has to be documented and sent to developers to be fixed. Given that software is exceptionally complex, layered, and feature-heavy in the current digital environment, most QA pipelines generate multiple bugs.
Additionally, developers often work on multiple development projects simultaneously, which means they have a considerable number of bugs requiring attention. They have to operate under significant pressure and can be overwhelmed without the right resources.
Naturally, QAs spend considerable time researching how to report a bug in a way that benefits developers and helps them debug with speed and efficacy.
Benefits of a good Bug Report
A good bug report covers all the crucial information about the bug, which can be used in the debugging process:
- It helps with a detailed bug analysis.
- Gives better visibility about the bug and helps find the right direction and approach towards debugging.
- Saves cost and time by helping debug at an earlier stage.
- Prevents bugs from going into production and disrupting end-user experience.
- Acts as a guide to help avoid the same bug in future releases.
- Keeps all the stakeholders informed about the bug, helping them take corrective measures.
Elements of an Effective Bug Report
When studying how to create a bug report, start with the question: What does a bug report need to tell the developer?
A bug report should be able to answer the following questions:
- What is the problem?
- How can the developer reproduce the problem (to see it for themselves)?
- Where in the software (which webpage or feature) has the problem appeared?
- What is the environment (browser, device, OS) in which the problem has occurred?
Want to do a quick bug check on your website across browsers & devices?
How to write an Effective Bug Report
An effective bug report should contain the following:
- Title/Bug ID
- Environment
- Steps to reproduce a Bug
- Expected Result
- Actual Result
- Visual Proof (screenshots, videos, text) of Bug
- Severity/Priority
1. Title/Bug ID
The title should provide a quick description of the bug. For example, “Distorted Text in FAQ section on <name> homepage”.
Assigning an ID to the bug also helps to make identification easier.
2. Environment
A bug can appear in a particular environment and not others. For example, a bug appears when running the website on Firefox, or an app malfunctions only when running on an iPhone X. These bugs can only be identified with cross browser testing or cross device tests.
When reporting the bug, QAs must specify if the bug is observed in one or more specific environments. Use the template below for specificity:
- Device Type: Hardware and specific device model
- OS: OS name and version
- Tester: Name of the tester who identified the bug
- Software version: The version of the software which is being tested, and in which the bug has appeared.
- Connection Strength: If the bug is dependent on the internet connection (4G, 3G, WiFi, Ethernet) mention its strength at
the time of testing. - Rate of Reproduction: The number of times the bug has been reproduced, with the exact steps involved in each reproduction.
3. Steps to Reproduce a Bug
Number the steps clearly from first to last so that the developers can quickly and exactly follow them to see the bug for themselves. Here is an example of how one can reproduce a bug in steps:
- Click on the “Add to Cart” button on the Homepage (this takes the user to the Cart).
- Check if the same product is added to the cart.
4. Expected Result
This component of Bug Report describes how the software is supposed to function in the given scenario. The developer gets to know what the requirement is from the expected results. This helps them gauge the extent to which the bug is disrupting the user experience.
Describe the ideal end-user scenario, and try to offer as much detail as possible. For the above example, the expected result should be:
The best way to detect all bugs is to run software through real devices and browsers. Ensure that software is run through both manual testing and automation testing. Automated Selenium testing should supplement manual tests so that testers do not miss any bugs in the Quality Assurance process.
