Have you ever had to test a bug case and could not make heads or tails on what it is about? End up spending a lot of time and effort on deciphering the description and trying duplicating the issue. Asking yourself, what in the world are they talking about? All this effort and time cost money. Thomas Burke outlines you how to write up a good defect case, so that whoever has to verify it can do it without having to spend a lot of precise time figuring what the issue is and how to test it.

1. How to Write an
Efficient Defect Case &
Save Money
By: Thomas Burke
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logo here
September 1, 2015

2. Thomas Burke
QA Lead
thomas.burke@mediacurrent.com
tburke6742@Twitter

3. My Background
● Have been in the QA business for over 15 years.
● Started in the IT business as a tech support specialist and then
moved on to setting up and supporting LAN's.
● My QA experience has taken me from being a QA Analyst to a QA
Manager and a QA Lead.
● Graduated from Southern Polytechnic State University with a
Master's degree in Quality. Earned BA from Rutgers.
● I have a great passion for QA and improving processes. Enjoy
training and mentoring people. Have a positive outlook and believe
that things will get better with continuous improvement.
● Worked for a number of fortune companies such as GTE, Ernst &
Young, Zenith, Epson, Lockheed, AT&T, and Cox Enterprises as well
a number of privately owned businesses such as Mediacurrent.
@Mediacurrent

4. Design/Theming
● Usability Testing
● Responsive Design
● Drupal Theming
● Annotated Wireframes
@Mediacurrent
Development
● Drupal Support
● Custom Module Development
● Large Scale Systems Integration
● Security & Performance Expertise
We help organizations build highly impactful, elegantly designed Drupal
websites that achieve the strategic results you need.
Digital Strategy
● Content Strategy
● Content Generation
● Result Metrics
● Marketing Automation Integration

5. Our Clients
5

6. ● What is a defect?
● Types of defects
● Who writes a bug report?
● When should a bug report be written?
● Elements of a good defect case
● What’s next after defect is written up?
● Tips on reducing defects
@Mediacurrent
Agenda

7. Why should we care
about good bug
reporting?
@Mediacurrent

8. Better bug reporting saves you money $$$
@Mediacurrent

9. How does it save money$
● Does not waste time trying to duplicate the issue. This impacts
everyone involved in the project including developers, front-end,
project managers, and QA.
● Time = $ Waste cost $
● Poorly written defects will not be tested right and are often sent
back to be fixed which wastes time
● The better the bug report is written and can be reproduced, the
sooner it will get fixed with the least amount of time invested.
@Mediacurrent

10. What is a bug?
@Mediacurrent

12. Types of Defects
@Mediacurrent

13. Types of defects 1
● Requirement / Design
● Front-end / Theming
● Coding
● Training
● Environment
@Mediacurrent

14. Types of defects 2
● Performance
● Security
● Enhancement - becomes a case
● Browser / Mobile
● User Experience
● User Error
@Mediacurrent

15. Who writes a Bug
Report?
@Mediacurrent

16. Defect Authors
● Developers
● Project Managers
● Quality Assurance
● Front End
● The Customer
● Management
@Mediacurrent

17. When should a Bug
Report be written?
@Mediacurrent

18. Timing is Key
● As soon as an issue has been found it should be logged
● Need fast feedback to fix the issue early
● Once the code is in QA
● If development is not complete then bounce case back to
the developer
● When you see an issue then do a screenshot and then see
if it can be duplicated.
@Mediacurrent

19. Elements of a Good
Defect Case
@Mediacurrent

20. Breakdown of a Bug Case
● Title of the bug
● Description
● Steps
● Acceptance Criteria
● Expected results
● Screenshot or Video
● Severity
● Assigned to
● Status
● Reference to requirement
@Mediacurrent

21. Title of the Bug
● Very Important
● First thing everyone reads
● Should be short and concise
● Remember that more details can be added in the
description field
@Mediacurrent

22. Bug Title Example
Good title will include: Project Name - Sprint#- Page bug is
found on - short description of the issue.
Example of good title:
ABC Project Bug: Sprint3 - Home page - Contact Us link returns
404 error
Example of a bad title:
Link does not work
@Mediacurrent

23. Description Example - Bad
Examples of bad descriptions:
- When I move my mouse over this stupid icon, it does not
wiggle like it should
- Clicking on this link doesn’t do anything
- This page seems slow to me
@Mediacurrent

24. Description Example - Good
Example a good description:
When you go to the home page at abccompany.com/home and
click on the ‘Contact Us’ link in the header - a 404 error is
returned. This occurs in all browsers
Steps:
1. Navigate to the home page of abccompany.com/home
2. Click on the ‘Contact Us’ link
3. A 404 error will be returned
4. Expected results: clicking on link should redirect user to
the ‘Contact Us ‘ page.- abccompany.com/contact-us
@Mediacurrent

25. Screen Shots
● Lots of screenshot tools available
● Adds good visual picture of the issue
● Most bug reports should have a screen shot
● Add arrows or text to screen shot
@Mediacurrent

26. Screen Shot Example
@Mediacurrent

27. Screen capture tools
● Skitch
● Snag-It
● Jing Project - does videos as well
● Keyboard - crtl / print screen
● FireShot - for Firefox
● Faststone Capture
@Mediacurrent

28. Video capture tools
● BB Flashback Express
● uTipu
● Jing
● CamStudio
● ScreenToaster
@Mediacurrent

29. How Severe is the Bug?
@Mediacurrent

30. Is the bug like this ?
@Mediacurrent

31. Bug Reporting
● Assigned to field - assign to who can fix the issue
● Who to assign it to: Depends on the project - some have all
issues assigned to the Project manager - Others you can
assign to lead developer or front end developer
● Status - set to open initially. Once fix has been successfully
tested then approve or close the issue.
● Reference - if the issue can be traced to a feature or
requirement do that. Helps with traceability and finding
root cause of the defect.
@Mediacurrent

32. What is next?
● When a defect has been fixed then testers need to verify
● If issue is fixed then case can be closed or approved
● If not fixed then it goes back to developers or frontend
@Mediacurrent

33. Tips
● Communication is key
● Ask the team if they have seen an issue before logging it
● Search to see if issue has been logged before
● Try to prevent duplicates
● Work with the quick fix
● If not quick then log it
● Toward the end of release or sprint then consult with
Project Manager before assigning the defect. It may not
need to be fixed for that release.
@Mediacurrent

34. “Quality can not be inspected into a product or
service; it must be built into it.”
~Harold F. Dodge
@Mediacurrent

35. Thank You!
Questions?
@Mediacurrent Mediacurrent.com
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