Tips for Software Testers to Prioritize Bugs

While testing a software application, the testers identify a variety of bugs or defects. But the nature and severity of various bugs found in a single application differ. Some of these bugs need to be repaired at once, while others can be fixed sequentially. Often testing professionals categorize the bugs into four distinct categories, i.e., critical, high, medium and low.

Critical Bugs: These bugs often prevent the QA professionals from continuing the testing process. That is why; it becomes essential for testers to get the critical bugs fixed within 24 hours.

These bugs often prevent the QA professionals from continuing the testing process. That is why; it becomes essential for testers to get the critical bugs fixed within 24 hours. High-Priority Bugs: These bugs impact the software’s functionality and usability. The high-priority bugs must be repaired before the commercial release of the software.

These bugs impact the software’s functionality and usability. The high-priority bugs must be repaired before the commercial release of the software. Medium-Priority Bugs: Normally, this category of bugs affects only the software’s performance and usability. Hence, they can be repaired after the software is released.

Normally, this category of bugs affects only the software’s performance and usability. Hence, they can be repaired after the software is released. Low-Priority Bugs: These defects can be repaired in future due to their minimal impact on the application’s functionality and performance.

The testing professionals need to label each bugs as critical, high, medium, or low priority based on its severity and impact on the application’s functionality, performance and usability. They must keep in mind some simple tips to prioritize and label the bugs in the most appropriate way.

Simple Tips to Prioritize the Bugs Found in a Software Application

Assess the Severity of Defects Individually

The testers can assess the severity of a bug more accurately by assessing it in isolation. If the bug affects the application’s primary functionalities, it must be labelled as critical and repaired almost immediately. But the bugs which impact the application’s rarely used features can be repaired during the next build. When the QA professionals assess the impact and severity of the bugs identified in a software individually, it becomes easier for them to categorize and prioritizing them.

Consider Frequency of Occurrence

A defect in software may occur either frequently and sporadically. Often the bugs which occur frequently lead to application failure, and hence impact the application’s user experience directly. The QA professionals must refer to the bug reports and problem tickets to identify the bugs that occur frequently. They must mark such bugs as critical, and get them fixed in the next build.

Check Analytics of the Website or Mobile App

Certain bugs directly affect site performance, click-through rates, user signups and similar key metrics of a website or mobile app. The QA professionals can easily identify such bugs by checking the analytics of the website or app. They must label such defects as critical as they make the application lose revenue or traffic in a daily basis. These bugs must be repaired without any delay to maintain the application’s popularity and profitability.

Look for Bugs that Disrupt Business Activities

Many businesses nowadays use specialized applications to make the processes more efficient and employees more productive. Software Testing is important for modern business, so the defects found in an enterprise app often disrupt critical business processes and prevent users from accomplishing specific objectives. The testers can easily identify such bugs by referring to the application’s key performance indicators (KPIs). Also, they need to get these bugs repaired immediately to make the business processes more efficient and continuous.

Label Bugs Affecting User Experience as High Priority

There are a variety of bugs that affect the application’s usability and user experience directly. These defects must be repaired without any delay to make the application profitable in the longer run. The testers can always refer to the application’s KPIs to find out the bugs affecting its user experience. They must label such bugs as high priority, and get them fixed in the same build.

Always Label Specific Bugs as Critical

There are certain bugs that must be repaired almost immediately. Often security vulnerabilities make the application prone to targeted malware attacks and compromise sensitive user data. The testers must label such security issues as critical, and get them repaired almost immediately. If the security vulnerabilities in the application are not eliminated at once, the business have to address severe issues related to data breach, lawsuits, and legal liabilities.

However, the testers must remember that the significance of bug may differ from one project to another. So they must keep in mind the impact of each bug on the application’s functionality and performance at the time of prioritizing the defects. Likewise, they also decide the sequence of big fixing according to the severity of the bugs identified during the testing process.