What is Bug Tracking System?
According to a report by the CISQ[1] (Consortium for IT Software Quality), a small application with just 20,000 lines of code may contain as many as 200 significant errors that are likely to affect its performance. This is why product testing is included as one of the most crucial steps in the product development life cycle, as it makes it possible to identify these errors and fix them in time before the product is released. This is what bug tracking is all about.
Bug Tracking – Definition
Bug tracking refers to the process of identifying and monitoring defects in products, prioritizing and fixing them. This is essential to delivering a product that meets the user’s needs and stays ahead of the competition.
Bug Tracking Process
The bug tracking process involves detecting bugs during testing, assessing their impact, determining their causes, and fixing them. Here’s an overview of what the process entails:
Bug detection
Bugs are typically detected during the product testing phase. It can be detected directly by the developer, reported by the end-user during beta-testing, or identified by a product tester. Sometimes bugs can also be picked up after products or features are deployed and reported by the end-user.
Flagging and assessing impact
Once bugs are identified and logged using a bug logging tool, the bug report containing the details of the defect is sent to the developer, who assesses the level of bug impact. Bugs are managed based on their severity which is why impact assessment is important. Bug prioritization can range between minor bugs to critical or impairing severity.
Root cause analysis
A root-cause analysis is necessary to determine the cause of the bug and how it can be fixed. Fixing the bug without identifying and addressing the root cause can lead to a recurrence of the same issue.
Bug fixing
After identifying the defect and its cause, the development team will get to work to fix it. In most cases, fixing a bug requires trying different approaches to troubleshoot and fix the issue.
Testing
After a bug is fixed, the software has to be tested repeatedly. Testing helps determine if the bug has been repaired and if there’s nothing else to fix. Sometimes fixing a bug may result in another one.
Report and data capturing
Bug tracking is a learning process for the development team. Data related to the tracking process are documented for reference and to avoid future occurrences of the same issue.
Why You Need a Bug Tracking System?
A good bug tracking system improves the bug tracking process by providing a single centralized case workflow from where defects can be monitored seamlessly. It also provides a platform for reporting, defect lifecycle management, and traceability of bug reports, among others.
The following are some of the reasons why a bug tracking system is necessary.
Prioritization and criticality
Bugs are meant to be fixed based on their severity. A bug tracking system will help determine the relative impact of a defect on the product. This way, the more severe bugs that can cause impairment (high priority or critical bugs) are given priority by the product team instead of the minor fixes (low priority).
Minimize disruption
A bug tracking software has tools for analyzing significant trends that the development teams can leverage to prevent recurring issues that disrupt the product development process. Given that bug tracking software helps collate all the available information, it will be easier to improve productivity, minimize effort spent on minor issues, and minimize disruption in product development.
Improved product development cycle
One of the main benefits of using bug tracking software is that it provides a centralized location where all the bugs related to a product can be managed and resolved. This fast-tracks the development process and makes collaboration between teams easier resulting in an improved development lifecycle.
Customer satisfaction
Customers do not like buggy products. Since most products are directly linked to operations, customers expect to have a seamless experience so they can focus on things that matter. But every product at some point has faced bugs. Some, more critical than others. But being able to resolve them quickly and getting the product back into production without delay can go a long way in instilling confidence and customer satisfaction.
Smoother product experience
The ultimate goal of using bug tracking software is to find, track, and fix defects faster and more seamlessly to ensure a delightful product experience. A bug tracking system brings together the product development, quality assurance, and testing teams into a single forum that allows them to deliver a product that contains as few bugs as possible thereby enabling a smooth product experience.
In Conclusion
Bug tracking is a complicated process with a lot of moving parts. With a bug tracking tool like Kissflow Workflow, businesses can manage all their bugs in a single interface, collaborate efficiently, and build better applications for their end-users. The platform makes it easier to gain a clear view of each bug, assess priorities, and track their status along the product life cycle. Try Kissflow Workflow today and improve your product development process with ease.
