Defect Management Best Practices Guide

Creating Effective Defects

Clear Defect Titles

  • Summarize the issue in one sentence
  • Include the component or feature affected
  • Example: “Login button does not respond to clicks”

Detailed Descriptions

  • Describe the steps to reproduce the issue
  • Include expected vs actual behavior
  • Add environment and configuration details
  • Attach screenshots, logs, or error messages

Severity and Priority

  • Set severity based on impact (Critical, High, Medium, Low)
  • Set priority based on business need and urgency
  • Consider user impact and frequency of occurrence

Linking to Test Cases

  • Link defects to the test case that discovered them
  • Link related defects together
  • Track which test cases need to be updated after fixes

Defect Lifecycle

Status Management

  • Use appropriate statuses (New, Assigned, In Progress, Fixed, Closed)
  • Update status as work progresses
  • Close defects only after verification
  • Reopen if issues persist after fix

Verification Process

  • Verify fixes in the same environment where found
  • Re-execute the original test case
  • Test related scenarios to ensure no regression
  • Document verification results

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