Bug Reporting & Triage Questions
Part of the QA Testing Roadmap
In short
'What makes a good bug report?' and 'How would you prioritise these five bugs?' come up in almost every QA interview. They test whether developers will trust your reports.
'How would you prioritize these bugs?' or 'what makes a good bug report?' — testing Phase 2 and Phase 3's defect management judgment against a practical scenario.
Think of it like this
The lost-and-found desk
Tell the lost-and-found desk 'I lost a bag' and they can't help. Say 'black backpack, red zip, left on platform 4 at 6:10 pm' and they'll find it. A good bug report is that second description.
Watch it happen
Sorting four bugs by priority
1/5An interviewer gives you four bugs and asks you to order them. Think severity and business impact.
The big ideas
What you need to know
Severity vs priority
Severity is how bad the impact is. Priority is how soon to fix it. They usually match, but not always.
Repro steps
Numbered steps anyone can follow, starting from a known state, with the exact test data used.
Evidence
Screenshot, screen recording, logs and environment details. Developers shouldn't have to ask you for them.
Stay neutral
Describe facts, not blame. 'Total shows 1000 instead of 900', not 'the coupon code is totally broken'.
See it in code
Walk through the code
1Title: Checkout total ignores coupon on second apply (Android 4.2.1)2Severity: High Priority: P13Env: Pixel 7, Android 14, staging build 4.2.1 (312)4Steps: 1. Add items worth 1000 rupees5 2. Apply SAVE10, remove it, apply it again6Expected: Total 900 rupees7Actual: Total stays 1000 rupees, coupon shows as applied8Evidence: screen-recording.mp4, logcat.txt1/3A specific title and a clear severity and priority.
A compact bug report you can describe in an interview. Every field answers a question the developer would otherwise ask.
Save yourself the pain
Common mistakes
Oops
Saying severity and priority are the same thing.
Do this instead
Give an example where they differ, like a low-severity typo in the company name on the home page that's high priority.
Oops
A title like 'Checkout not working'.
Do this instead
Specific titles: what fails, where, and under what condition.
Your mission
Report a real bug
Quick check
Which is an example of low severity but high priority?
Go deeper
- 1Practice prioritizing a sample list of bugs by severity and business impact.
- 2Prepare to explain what makes a bug report actionable versus frustratingly vague.
- 3Practice writing a sample bug report live if asked.
More manual testing at this stop
Test Case Design Questions
SDLC/STLC Questions
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