Using jira for issue management

1. user experience agency

2. Using JIRA for issue
management; good, bad,
ugly
Duncan Minchin
Digital Producer
duncan@zabisco.com

3. Research
What is JIRA?

4. • JIRA is a project tracking tool that is used to track bugs and defects,
link issues to related source code, plan agile development, monitor
activity and report on project status.
• JIRA is used for issue tracking and project management by over
14,500 organisations in 122 countries around the globe.
What is JIRA?

5. In computing, the term issue is a unit of work to accomplish an improvement in a
data system. An issue could be a bug, a requested feature, task, missing
documentation, and so forth. The word "issue" is popularly misused in lieu of
"problem." This usage is probably related.
- http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Issue+%28computers%29
An issue definition

6. Research
What makes JIRA good for issue management?

7. • Simplicity
• The ability to track everything
• Link issues to source code
• Advanced Search and Reporting
• Personal Dashboard
What makes JIRA good for issue management?

8. • Bug - A problem which impairs or prevents the functions of the product.
• Epic - A big user story that needs to be broken down.
• Improvement - An improvement or enhancement to an existing feature or task.
• New Feature - A new feature of the product, which has yet to be developed.
• Story - A user story.
• Task - A task that needs to be done.
Understanding different issues

9. Evaluate
The good...

10. • Detail, detail, detail –Adding detail takes time initially; however the issue will be resolved much more efficiently.
1. Description – An easy to follow and detailed description that includes the steps leading to the error and an
exact description of what error is occurring is crucial. Below are the important questions you should
answer:
• What happens?
• Where it happens?
• When does it happen?
• How does it happen?
2. Screenshots – Allows the developer to view the issue immediately and be a lot more efficient in fixing the
issue.
3. Video – Capturing the exact actions that caused the error (For more complicated errors).
4. Assigning to the correct developer. A management task, but assigning the bug to the best person to deal
with the error based upon their expertise is an important step in resolving the issue quickly.
The good...

11. Example:
1. Appropriate type and priority level
1.
2.
2. Correct version affected 3.
4.
3. Component and Environment completed
4. Detailed description with screenshot and
link to the exact location of the error
Good Example

12. Evaluate
The bad...

13. • A bug that’s not a bug
• Short Descriptions
• Everything is a high priority
• Environment and components left blank
The Bad...

14. Understanding levels of priority:
1. Blocker - Blocks development and/or testing work, production could not run.
2. Critical - Crashes, loss of data, severe memory leak.
3. Major - Major loss of function.
4. Minor - Minor loss of function, or other problem where easy workaround is present.
5. Trivial - Cosmetic problem like misspelt words or misaligned text.
Everything is a high priority

15. Bad descriptions:
“The icon on the left hand side has not shown up on my computer, yet it shows
on my colleagues?”
“RSS feeds have not yet been included on the website.”
“Can you please reduce the spacing on the footer. It seems excessively long.”
Bad examples

16. Evaluate
The dam ugly issues!

17. • Logging a bug which is in fact a change request
• Linking two separate errors together into one issue
• Logging a bug which is actually a request for assistance
The dam ugly...

18. • Organise the to do lists in priority order for your developers
• Design your workflows to match your development process
Two functions to help organise your efficiency

19. Summary

20. • After looking into what makes good, bad and ugly issues its important to follow
the simple steps in slide 10 and to avoid the bad and the ugly points. This will
improve your efficiency, productivity and most importantly, the quality of the
software you produce.
Summary

21. Thank you!
Duncan Minchin
Digital Producer
duncan@zabisco.com