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291 views10 pages

Defect Severity & Priority in Software Testing

hi

Uploaded by

Anonymous S5fcPa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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10/24/2016

DefectSeverity&PriorityinSoftwareTesting

Defect Severity & Priority in Software Testing


What is Defect Severity?

In software testing, defect severity can be defined as t


impact a defect has on the development or operation
component application being tested.

Higher effect on the system functionality will lead to th


assignment of higher severity to the bug. Quality Assu
engineer usually determines the severity level of defec

Defect severity can be categorized into four clas

Critical: This defect indicates complete shut-down of t


nothing can proceed further
Major: It is a highly severe defect and collapse the system. However, certain parts of the system
functional
Medium: It cause some undesirable behavior, but the system is still functional
Low: It won't cause any major break-down of the system

What is Defect Priority?

Defect Priority states the order in which a defect should be fixed. Higher the priority the sooner the
should be resolved.

Defects that leave the software system unusable are given higher priority over defects that cause a
functionality of the software to fail.

Defect priority can be categorized into three class

Low: The defect is an irritant but repair can be done once the more serious defect have been fix
Medium: During the normal course of the development activities defect should be resolved. It c
a new version is created
High: The defect must be resolved as soon as possible as it affects the system severely and cann
until it is fixed

Tips for determining Severity of a Defect


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Decide the frequency of occurrence: In some cases, if the occurrence of a minor-defect is freq
code, it can be more severe. So from user's perspective, it is more serious even though it is a min
Isolate the defect: Isolating the defect can help to find out its severity of the impact.

Difference between Defect Priority and Defect Severity


Defect Priority

Defect Severity

Priority defines the order in which the developer


should resolve a defect

It is defined as the degree of impact tha


has on the operation of the product

Priority is categorized into three types

Severity are categorized into five types

Low
Medium
High

Priority is associated with scheduling

http://www.guru99.com/defectseverityinsoftwaretesting.html

Critical
Major
Moderate
Minor
Cosmetic

Severity is associated with functionality


standards

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Priority indicates how soon the bug should be


fixed

Severity indicates the seriousness of the


the product functionality

Priority of defects is decided in consultation with


the manager/client

QA engineer determines the severity lev


defect

Priority is driven by business value

Severity is driven by functionality

Its value is subjective and can change over a


period of time depending on the change in the
project situation

Its value is objective and less likely to ch

High priority and low severity status indicates,


defect have to be fixed on immediate bases but
does not affect the application

High severity and low priority status ind


defect have to be fixed but not on imme
bases

Priority status is based on the customer


requirements

Severity status is based on the technica


the product

During UAT the development team fix defects


based on priority

During SIT, the development team will f


based on the severity and then priority

A software system can have a

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Let see an example of low severity and high priority and vice versa

A very low severity with a high priority: A logo error for any shipment website, can be of low s
not going to affect the functionality of the website but can be of high priority as you don't want a
shipment to proceed with wrong logo.
A very high severity with a low priority: Likewise, for flight operating website, defect in reserv
functionality may be of high severity but can be a low priority as it can be scheduled to release in
cycle.

Defect Triage

Defect triage is a process that tries to do the re-balancing of the process where test team faces the
limited availability of resources. So, when there are large number of the defect and limited testers t
them, defect triage helps trying to get as many defects resolved based on defect parameters like se
priority.
Defect Triage Process:

Most systems use priority as the main criteria to assess the defect. However a good triage process c
the severity as well.
The triage process includes following steps

Reviewing all the defects including rejected defects by the team


Initial assessment of the defects is based on its content and respective priority and severity setti
Prioritizing the defect based on the inputs
Assign the defect to correct release by product manager
Re-directs the defect to the correct owner/team for further action
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Guidelines that every tester should consider before selecting severity

Severity parameter is assessed by the tester whereas the priority parameter is assessed by the prod
manager or by the triage team. For prioritizing the defect, it is imperative for a tester to choose the
severity to avoid confusion with the development team.

Understand the concept of priority and severity well


Always assign the severity level based on the issue type as this will affect its priority
Understand how a particular scenario or test case would affect the end-user
Need to consider how much time it would take to fix the defect based on its complexity and time
defect

Conclusion:

Assigning wrong severity to defect can delay the STLC process and can have some drastic implica
overall performance of the team. So, the responsible person needs to be precise and accurate on
assigning defect.

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1Comment

Guru99

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Jointhediscussion
ShaifaliYadav5monthsago

Higuru,
Wanttoaskonequestion,testerssetthepriorityorseverityofdefect?
becauseaccordingtosomesitestesterssetthepriority.Pleasemakeitclear.

Reply Share

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DataProvisioninginSAPHANA

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