16 July 2024 Leave a comment QA
One of the most common questions among testers is: “When do I stop investigating an issue, log a defect with everything I’ve found, and hand it over to the development team?” This decision can be challenging, but there are strategies and best practices that can help guide you through the process.
Factors to Consider
Deciding when to stop investigating and log a defect depends on several factors:
- Testability of the Product: How easy is it to track down the bug? Do you have good logging, control over your test environment, and the ability to set up test data easily?
- Ratio of Programmers to Testers: If you have one tester to six programmers, and they spend all their time pinpointing bugs, they won’t discover many new bugs.
- Skill Levels: Consider the relative skill levels of programmers and testers. Do you have a high turnover in programming and a relatively experienced test team, or vice versa?
- Understanding of the System: How well do the programmers and testers understand the entire system? Do programmers work only on their components with little exposure to other interacting systems?
- Feedback Loop: How long is the feedback loop between testers and programmers? Can you communicate directly to build a better understanding of the required information?
Practical Steps
Here are some practical steps to help you decide when to stop investigating and log a defect:
- Ensure the issue can be consistently reproduced.
- Streamline the sequence of actions to reproduce the problem to the bare minimum.
- Rule out incorrect configuration or corrupt data.
- Check if the application log provides useful information. Can you increase logging to get more details?
- Verify if anyone else has reported the problem. If there’s already a bug report, you might not need to spend more time on it unless the existing report lacks sufficient details.
- Assess the criticality of the issue. If it’s not critical, you might ask developers to look at it when they have time rather than creating a detailed bug report.
- Determine the likelihood of a user encountering the problem.
Communication is Key
Communication between testers and developers is crucial. If possible, bring developers over and go through the issue together. This can help both parties understand and value the bug more effectively. Pair programming or pair testing is an excellent approach to ensure both testers and developers are on the same page.
Conclusion
There is no one-size-fits-all heuristic for deciding when to stop investigating and log a defect. It requires a combination of factors, practical steps, and effective communication. By considering the testability of the product, the ratio of programmers to testers, skill levels, understanding of the system, and the feedback loop, you can make a more informed decision.
For a more detailed guide on managing test documentation, visit our documentation section. Additionally, you can explore advanced testing techniques in our blog.
Enhancing Your Testing Process with Repeato
In the realm of test automation, tools like Repeato can significantly streamline your process. Repeato is a no-code test automation tool for iOS and Android that allows you to create, run, and maintain automated tests for your apps quickly and efficiently. Using computer vision and AI, Repeato simplifies the setup and use of automated tests, making it an excellent choice for quality assurance. For more information, visit our release notes page.
