6 Most Common Problems in a Defect Management Tool

Last updated on October 18th, 2022 at 05:42 am

The defect management system is one of the most important components of the software development lifecycle. Whenever a bug or error pops-up while developing an application, it is the need of the hour to look after the most common problems that are found in defect management tools and how they can be avoided.

1. Redefining Complicated Bug Reporting Process:

Each bug that is reported in the defect management system is self-explanatory. However, sometimes the identification of a bug is done at later stages of the software development process, where testers do not have much time to describe the bug in details. Thus, most of the times the required fields are left empty, which can cause confusions for development teams. Thus, software testers are coming up with various solutions for making the bug reporting process simpler and easier than before. Once this process is simplified, it requires less time to report bugs into the system.

2. Bug Tracking Tools:

We know that choosing an effective bug tracking tool is quite challenging. Different software applications require testing with the help of different issue tracking tools. Developers usually do not have much time to check the bug reports in detail due to which they require robust tracking tools that can fit their requirements and help them achieve their goals. Features of issue tracking tools should be more user-friendly, robust and time saving so that development teams do not have to use a combination of more than one tool.

3. Similar Bug Tracking Templates:

Development teams working on a similar project require using the same bug tracking template, otherwise, there can be issues arising at final stages of software development. This can cause them a lot of cost and time, so as to save both, developers use a single template throughout the process.

4. Priorities:

In a defect management system, all bugs appearing are prioritized. Development teams working on these bugs and errors often set priorities according to their own domain and overlook that some bugs may cause huge impacts if left unattended for a long time. Thus, this process should be improved so that no time is wasted and important issues are not ignored. This will speed up the software testing process and ensure achieving product quality.

5. Allow Control to Testers on Test Environment:

Testers usually do not have complete control of the test environment, which means they are not aware of which tests have been assigned or not. They are not even updated with the current status of these bugs when development teams are working on them. This causes a lot of chaos and makes testing more complicated. Thus, software testing experts should have proper control on tests where they can view the updates regarding each test case scenario.

Utilizing Bug Tracking Tools for Reporting Only:

Sometimes, testers use official email addresses to report bugs, which is not the right way. They should be discouraged to do so, and use only the bug tracking tools for reporting any bugs that they have identified during any stage of the software development process.

The aforementioned solutions to pitfalls in defect management tools can help the testers in improving their testing efforts and getting quality software which is their core purpose.