Rarely do we have a topic as polarizing and heated in the uTest Community Forums, but when it happens, it’s always the perfect storm of fireworks –
and while fireworks don’t make good radio, they certainly make juicy debate for our monthly uPanel webinars.
Some post-Independence Day fireworks were launched in last week’s Community uPanel webinar, Should Testers Report Every Bug? The session arose out of a community discussion launched earlier in the year by Gold-rated uTester and Test Team Lead (TTL) Lucas Dargis in which Lucas shared some unorthodox advice for new testers:
“I tell them to ignore low-value bugs; don’t even bother reporting them.”
Over the course of the discussion, many agreed, but some fell in the camp of ‘all bugs are worthy’ of bringing to the attention of the customer. Count Gold-rated uTester and TTL Ryan LaMontagne in that group. Because of the two very different opinions on the value of reporting certain types of bugs, Lucas and Ryan graciously shifted their two trains of thought from the forums to a live debate on the subject in last week’s webinar.
Ryan’s view: All bugs should be reported – First, Ryan reiterated that it’s a great learning experience starting off with the bugs that you can find – and as you get used to uTest or testing in general, and get used to the customers and what they look for down the line, you can refine the scope of what you’re reporting a bit. Ryan also added that if the customer scope of a project isn’t clearly defined, it would be a disservice to the customer not to report all of the bugs – how do I know it isn’t important if the client hasn’t stated that it is important?
Lucas’ view: Only valuable bugs should be reported – Lucas’ response provided some fire – his belief is that even if customer scope isn’t well-defined, testers should lean on their past history to make educated and well-informed decisions on what they think the customer will deem to be valuable.
Even after Lucas’ rebuttal, like a fine match of tennis, the question was volleyed back – what if testers are new and don’t have a past history to lean on? You get the picture. This was a true debate in every sense of the word. A key takeaway from Lucas’ advice to new testers is that his Gold-rated testing bragging rights have humble beginnings: new testers need to take a step back and watch a test cycle unfold before chiming in on what they may deem as a valuable bug.
In addition to this debate, be sure to also register for our next uTest Community Panel session which takes place next week: Mobile as a Gateway to Opportunity. The session is at 3pm ET (US) on Tuesday, July 23.
