Make Test Steps Great Again
Always pay fantastic attention to QA details
One of the things that I see over and over is when QA engineers fail to provide detailed testing steps to reproduce a bug. The tester assumes that the developer understands the vague steps to reproduce the bug.
There are usually three reasons why QA gets into a vague state.
- Rushing to get the bug into Jira. Perhaps QA found a bunch of similar issues and they are reporting as many issues as possible.
- Working on the project for a long time and knows the project very well. Why add details that no one cares about?
- Bug isn't critical to get into the details. Usually, the title says it all - why add details to a low priority issue?
QA is in the Details
QA is in the details business. One of the rules of any QA Engineers:
QA should always be going out of the way to paying fantastic attention to the testing details.
This applies to everything from writing test cases to writing automation. The value QA brings is in the details.
Don't Make Exceptions
The thing is if you start making some exceptions to the rule then it slowly becomes a habit.
This is similar to how when you make an excuse that it's ok to eat one Twinkie when you're on a diet. Next thing you know you justify going to McDonald's for lunch.
At the End of the day
It's important to keep providing detailed steps on how to reproduce an error. No matter how unimportant the issue is. You never know some future bug may encounter a similar issue and your detailed steps could help speed up the patching process.
Remember: Don't take shortcuts.