Overview
Every QA beginner have a question in their mind that “How to report a bug or which skills are required for that?”. Bug reporting requires a specific set of skills which are different from those needed in other areas such as development or design.
Software Development Matrix
The reason why QA is a special kind of profile is because it’s the one part that is in the middle of the software development matrix. They are working with developers, designers, product managers, users & clients.
The Role of QA is like a middle man. The middle man(i.e QA) is the one who in touch with alpha and beta testers,customers. They are also the ones that have to inform the web developer to change (fix) their code.
They are also the ones to inform the web designers that their design isn’t good enough for the end users.
Quality Analyst communicates with the product team and makes sure they are on track to fix the existing bugs. All these people have a different plan of things to be done and it is up to QA to make sure that teams are working together and knows what needs to be done.
So what are some great bug reporting skills you should have?
Step 1: You need to have some basic tech skills.
As a tester, you are hired to test/check certain software or products thoroughly. You’re the one who’s following every little step and hint.
It really takes some great skills to find bugs, document them and provide a proper description of how to make them reproducible.
If you are a bit familiar with different programming languages then it’s an advantage for you. I’m not saying that you must be a genius , definitely not , just a bit familiar with programming languages so that you can communicate with developers in charge of fixing the issues.
Step 2: You need to be good at communication
To establish a strong business relationship effective communication is very important .So much money has been lost due to poor communication.
It’s so easy to guide a development team in the wrong direction by simply having a bad management or mismatch in terminology.
Step 3: You need to be diplomatic
As a tester, you must be able to work together with all types of people in an efficient manner.
You should be able to work with a bit of crankiest people here and there and get the job done in reasonable time.
Your open-minded culture of trial & error is absolutely key here.
Step 4: You need to be a good negotiator
Negotiation is a key component for QA agents and a part of their daily life.
In order to get things done in a reasonable time, negotiation skills are very important. Here’s why.
The developers are busy with their work, so they’ll have to fix the bugs within required time . That means there will be a lot of communication between QA and development on when and what should be done.
So, it will definitely help you in these situations, if you are a good negotiator.
Step 5: You have to be good at testing
You must have to be good at testing. Having a good understanding of STLC (Software Test Life Cycle), different testing concepts, Workflows, and technique is a very important.
If you don’t have that, you’re not the person suited for this role.
Step 6: You need to be a deep diver (deep tester)
When you’re dealing with finding bugs you should require a certain level of curiosity. If you don’t, your instructions are bound to be vague. So if you have a curious mind, then you can become a good tester.
As a bug reporter, you spent a lot of time on the product and you know all the details of the product. Be prepared to dive deep into your product for finding defects, so that end users can use a quality product.
Step 7: You need to understand your product as a consumer
The software has to fulfill a different function. Understanding the product requirements and their uses help the users is key to being able to communicate well with everyone.
When the bug reporter needs extra information from the user, it doesn’t really help to communicate in technical terms. When this happens, the bug reporter has to understand the product from an end user’s (consumer) point of view and what he or she was trying to do.
Conclusion
Problem reporting is a key component of the software development lifecycle. Accurate defect descriptions and valid verification all contribute to timely and complete problem resolutions. That means bugs are fixed quicker, so a better version of your software gets in customer’s hands as quick as possible.
