Defects are an inevitable part of software development. If they occur when an app reaches your customers, it impacts not only user experience but also your brand’s credibility.
A defect must be logged and resolved immediately before it drives your customers away. And a prompt resolution is possible only through effective defect reporting.
A defect report must be precise and descriptive enough to help developers understand it and resolve the issue, as well as enable product managers to schedule when the defect should be resolved based on business impact.
In this blog, we will understand what a defect report is, why it is important, and how to write a good defect report.
What is a Defect?
A defect, also known as a bug, error, or fault, is any unexpected behavior in the software. Defects can arise anytime during the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) or even after deployment.
To put it simply, a defect is when a software doesn’t behave as defined in the requirements, functional specifications, or design documents.
Some Common Software Defects Examples
1. User Interface (UI) defects
UI defects are bugs or errors that hamper the appearance of the software’s interface, preventing customers from smoothly interacting with it, leading to a poor experience. UI defects include misaligned buttons, broken links, overlapping icons, scrolling issues, low resolution, and message popup failures.
2. User Experience (UX) defects
UX defects are design shortcomings that impact the quality of a software. This includes inconsistency in the design of menus and layouts, font across pages, unclickable CTAs, absence of a success message after submitting forms, and no clear exit signs.
3. Security defects
Security gaps can leak sensitive customer information and make the software vulnerable to cyberattacks. Defects may arise due to obsolete codes, SQL injection attacks, weak encryption, unrestricted URLs, cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, and integration of open source libraries.
4. Performance defects
Performance defects make software slow and unstable, leading to high bounce rates. Excessive memory usage, slow loading, network latency, frequent system crashes under overload, and slow data retrieval are some examples of performance defects.
What is a Defect Report in Software Testing?
A defect report, or bug report, is a formal document with details about the defect. It typically includes how the defect was found and in which environment, the severity of the defect, and steps to reproduce it.
The defect report is not merely documentation of a defect’s existence; it is designed to help developers track and resolve the defects efficiently without ambiguity.
Why is a Good Defect Report Necessary?
You spend months building a software application. The last thing you want is for it to malfunction when it reaches your customers. A defect report documents every little detail about the defect in a clear and structured manner.
The report acts as a historical record for all the issues found during the development phase, so if there is a similar defect in the future, it can easily be fixed without starting from scratch.
What Does a Defect Report Contain?
1.Defect ID
Every defect has a unique identifier for tracking it throughout its lifecycle. An example could be “Bug ID: #4567.”
2. Defect title
The title is a short but clear summary of the defect to help developers understand the issue at a glance.
3.Defect description
This is a detailed explanation of the issue. It should include what actually happened, what should have happened, and any initial observation or notes.
4.Environment
Note down the environment where the defect was found the platform (macOS, Android, Windows), browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox), and the device (mobile, desktop, tablet).
5.Defect priority and severity
Severity describes how badly the defect affected the software’s functionality. It’s categorized as Critical, Major, Minor, and Trivial.
Priority level indicates how soon the defect should be fixed, and is marked as High, Medium, and Low.
6.Steps to reproduce the defect
It’s a clear, step-by-step action plan for developers to replicate the defect, understand its root cause, and resolve it so it doesn’t reappear.
7.Expected result
The expected result states what would have happened if the software had worked as intended.
8.Actual result
It describes what actually happened when the defect occurred.
a.Evidence of defect or attachments
Evidence means screenshots, logs, and videos to support the investigation. Visual proof often makes it easier for developers to understand what caused the issue, reproduce it, and resolve it faster.
b.Additional information
Although this is optional, any additional information, such as error messages that appeared during the defect, might help developers get deeper insight into the issue.
c.Assigned to
Every defect is assigned to a developer who’s responsible for fixing the issue.
How to Write a Good Defect Report
Poorly written reports with vague descriptions, incomplete reproduction steps, or incorrect assignment of severity only increase confusion, delay resolution, and cost higher. Here’s how to write a good report:
1. Define the defect title
A clear, one-line summary of the defect helps identify the nature of the issue and makes tracking easier throughout the resolution process.
Example: “Login button unresponsive in Android devices”
A defect title that accurately describes the issue makes triaging easier and avoids defect duplication.
2. Write a detailed description of the defect
Developers must document in detail exactly what happened during the defect and whether it involves crashes, UI errors, or compliance gaps. The more precise the description is, the easier and quicker it is to resolve it.
Description example: When a user enters the login credentials into the fields and clicks on the “login” button, the button does not respond on Android devices. However, the button works for iOS devices.
3. Specify the test environment where the defect was discovered
The details of the environment where the defect occurred are crucial for developers to reproduce it. Simply mentioning the device is not enough. You must note the operating system, application version, network conditions, device model, browser, and its version.
Example: Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (App version v3.8.2)
4. List steps to reproduce the defect
Document the sequence of actions that led to the defect so that the tester can replicate the defect under the exact same conditions.
Example:
- Open the app on Samsung Galaxy S21 under 5G network
- Enter your login credentials
- Click the login button and observe If the login button does not respond, does it display an error message, remain inactive, or redirect to the same login page? Take a screenshot or record a video as evidence.
5. Assign priority and severity
Correctly assigning severity and priority ensures critical defects get fixed first.
Defects are categorized as:
a. Critical
These are defects that affect the core functionality of the software, lead to system failure, and require immediate attention. Security breaches that expose sensitive customer information, data corruption, or a full system crash fall under this category.
b. Major
These are issues that affect software functionality but do not cause complete system failure, such as a defect in the user interface that impacts the visuals or a two-factor authentication that doesn’t work.
c. Minor
These defects affect non-critical features of the software, which may cause inconvenience for the users, but do not stop them from using the software. Examples include a misplaced button or a search bar that overlaps with the header.
d. Trivial
This is a defect that does not impact the software’s functionality and is purely aesthetic, and it may include typos, uneven icon sizes, and button styles.
Based on the severity of the defect, priority levels are assigned. A defect categorized as “critical” should be marked “high” priority, meaning it needs to be resolved immediately to avoid further customer frustration.
6. Assign status
Every defect must have a status indicating its current stage to help teams track progress and manage workload.
Typically, defect status stages are:
NewA defect reported for the first timeOpenThe defect is currently being worked on by the developerFixedThe developer resolved the defect and sent it to the tester for verification.VerifiedThe tester verified the defect and confirmed it no longer exists. If the defect persists, it’s again marked as “open” for reinvestigation.ClosedDefects that have been successfully fixed and verified are marked as closedDeferredThe defect resolution has been postponed.RejectedThe defect was reviewed and determined not to be a valid issue.
7. Add additional information
Include any relevant observations that might help developers get a better understanding of the defect. For example, the defect seems to occur only under 5G network conditions.
Defect Report Template in Software Testing
It Doesn’t Stop at Reporting. Review. Revise. Repeat
Once you’ve prepared the defect report, ask yourself: are the reproduction steps detailed? Is the severity assigned correctly? Are the supporting documents relevant? Revising before hitting submit cuts down on unnecessary clarification rounds and reduces the chances of rejections.
It’s clear that effective defect management is critical to customer satisfaction, and to make sure defects do not keep resurfacing, testers need to reproduce and test defects on real devices.
This blog is originally published at Testgrid : Defect Report in Software Testing: A Guide for Developers and QA
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