Bug Report Form Questions, Template & Best Practices

Make it easy for your customers and internal teams to report bugs and streamline the Bug Reporting Process.

Bug-free applications are a myth. In today's digital landscape, software is crucial for businesses, but encountering bugs is inevitable. Studies reveal that software applications typically contain 15 to 50 bugs per 1,000 lines of code. However, effectively dealing with bugs is what sets successful companies apart.

To make bug reporting easy for customers and enhance the overall experience, it's a great idea to use Bug Report Forms and Questions. These forms serve as a streamlined solution for customers to report bugs effortlessly. By leveraging these forms, businesses can gather valuable insights, streamline debugging efforts, and improve the final product. In fact, according to UserTesting, 90% of companies credit bug reporting forms for significantly boosting software quality and customer satisfaction.

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In this blog post, we dive into the world of bug report form surveys - survey questions, best practices, and template for collecting bug-reporting feedback. Learn how businesses can leverage bug reporting survey questions to simplify bug reporting for customers and enhance their products and the in-app experience.

Table of Content

What is a Bug Report Form?
Key Questions to Use in Bug Report Forms - Uses & Examples
Best Practices for Creating a Bug Report Form
Where to Add Bug Report Form?
- Adding Report a Bug, or Issue on your Website, Product or App
- Types of Bug Tracking Form Embeds
Connecting your Bug Report Form to Customer Service Desks
Connecting your Bug Report Form to Issue & Project Tracking Software
Conclusion

What is a Bug Report Form?

A Bug Report Form is an online survey form that allows users or testers to report bugs, issues, or glitches they encounter while using a software application, website, or digital product. It provides a standardized format for collecting information about the problem, making it easier for the development team to understand and address the reported issues effectively.

A Bug Report Form can be helpful for both your team and customers so that they can effectively communicate and address software issues in a streamlined manner. Here's a Bug Report Form Template that can be easily embedded in your product or app, or website where users can conveniently access it and report bugs.

Key Questions to Use in Bug Report Forms - Uses & Examples

Creating an effective bug reporting form involves considering the key components necessary to gather comprehensive information. From basic details to more specific ones, a well-crafted bug report form ensures accurate and actionable responses from both your team and customers. The questions in the bug report survey should be clear, concise, and unambiguous, minimizing any confusion or misinterpretation.

This clarity ensures that the responses received are accurate, enabling your team to work effectively on resolving the reported issues. Here are some bug report survey questions that gauge different aspects which you can consider to create an effective and easy-to-understand form.

Bug Report Form Questions to Define the Bug

The title field offers a quick overview or headline for the reported bug. Through the bug title, your development team can easily identify the nature of the bug without delving deeper into the detailed description. It also serves as a common reference point when discussing the bug, enabling efficient collaboration and ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding the reported issue.

A clear bug title facilitates efficient record-keeping and tracking in the bug-tracking system. It enables easy search, filtering, and sorting for data-driven analysis and pattern identification, thereby helping to enhance the software quality. You can use any of these questions to get a relevant title from your users based on the bug encountered.

Please provide a brief title for the bug.

Summarize the bug title in a few words.

What would be the most accurate title for the bug?

Give a concise title that captures the essence of the bug.

Bug Report Form Questions to Describe the Bug

The next significant component of a bug report form is the detailed description of the bug that elaborates on the title. A detailed description of the bug serves as a narrative space for users where they can explain the bug they have found in their own words providing crucial information that helps the development team understand the issue and work towards a resolution.

A well-written bug description answers three essential questions - what, where, and when. If your bug reporting survey questions manage to seek answers to these questions, you can be sure to capture comprehensive information about the bug and facilitate effective bug resolution.

Here are some questions that address the "what, where, and when" aspects of a bug

What: Please provide a detailed description of the bug and it's observed behavior.

Where: Where within the software or system did the bug occur? Specify the specific module, page, or functionality.

When: Can you provide information on when the bug was first encountered? Was it during a specific action, scenario, or under certain conditions?

Consider these additional questions related to the bug report description to add to your bug reporting survey form.

Did you receive any error messages or warnings related to the bug?

Are there any specific conditions or actions required to trigger the bug?

How frequently does the bug occur? Is it consistently reproducible?

Did the bug cause any data loss or unexpected behavior?

Did you try any troubleshooting steps before reporting the bug? If yes, what were they?

Bug Report Form Questions to Get Screenshots

Allowing your users to add a screenshot option to provide visual evidence of the bug helps developers and QA teams to diagnose the bug accurately. To make your bug reporting survey even more effective, you should give the option of capturing the complete screen, a specific part of the screen, or certain elements present on the screen.

This approach can help in:

Highlighting the exact area or feature where the issue is occurring
Removing unnecessary clutter in cases where bugs are confined to a specific area or component of the screen
Saving time and effort in capturing and uploading screenshots and explaining the bug's location or behavior through text alone
Giving focussed feedback on individual UI elements, features or functionalities

This can be further enhanced by adding annotations over the screenshots where attention can be brought to specific issues.

For example, suppose the user encounters a bug on a website where a button is not functioning correctly. In that case, users can draw an arrow pointing to the button, add a text annotation explaining the expected behavior, and even encircle the button to emphasize it. The annotations help the development team understand the exact location of the issue and the expected behavior more effectively.

Here are some bug reporting survey questions you can include requesting users to add screenshots.

Can you please provide a screenshot of the issue you encountered?

Could you capture a screenshot of the error message or warning you received?

Could you provide a screenshot highlighting the specific area or element where the bug occurred?

By leveraging these forms and general support best practices as discussed here, businesses can gather valuable insights, streamline debugging efforts, and improve the final product.

Bug Report Form Questions to Upload Attachments & Files

While the screenshot option specifically allows users to capture and include screenshots of the issue, the attachment or upload option enables users to include various types of files or documents like images, log files, or even videos relating to the bug report. By giving the option to attach files of different types and sizes, you broaden the scope of collecting bug reporting feedback from users.

Here are some questions that can encourage users to add attachments to the bug report survey.

Are there any additional files or attachments you would like to include that might assist in resolving the bug? If yes, please upload them here.

Do you have any relevant screenshots, diagrams, or visual materials that can help explain or illustrate the bug? Please attach them here.

Have you performed any tests or experiments related to the bug? If yes, please provide any relevant files or results that you obtained during the testing.

Bug Report Form Questions to Define Bug Severity

Not all bugs are equal. While some would require immediate attention, others can be attended to later. Whether the bug caused the complete app to fail, certain functionality to fail, or doesn’t cause any significant impact, you can determine the level of severity a bug has on the system's functionality, user experience, or business operations. Assigning a priority to these bugs would further define how urgently the bug needs to be addressed. You can add 1 to 10 rating questions to highlight the severity of the issue or simply ask questions conveying low to high priority to help the development team prioritize and fix the most disruptive bugs first.

Including these questions in the bug reporting form facilitates efficient bug triaging and empowering teams to make data-driven decisions.

How would you rate the bug's severity on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most severe?

Does the bug cause a complete failure of the application or a critical feature? Please select one: Yes, No.

How frequently does the bug occur? Please select one: Rarely, Occasionally, Frequently.

Based on the bug's impact and urgency, please assign a priority level: Low, Medium, High.

Is the bug preventing you from completing essential tasks? Please select one: Yes, No.

Does the bug result in data loss or corruption? Please select one: Yes, No.

Considering the bug's severity and potential impact, how soon should it be resolved? Please select one: Urgently, Within a week, Within a month.

Bug Report Form Questions to Reproduce the Bug

By capturing detailed information about the steps involved in reproducing the bug, you provide insights to the development team to understand the exact conditions and actions required to trigger the issue. This results in saving time and effort in the debugging process. Consider these questions in a bug reporting survey to prompt users to mention the steps in reproducing the bug.

Can you provide a step-by-step walkthrough of the process that triggered the bug?

Were there any specific inputs, selections, or configurations made before experiencing the bug?

Did you navigate through any specific screens or modules before the bug occurred? If yes, please provide details.

Did you perform any particular actions or operations that triggered the bug? If so, please explain.

Did the bug occur consistently, or was it intermittent? If intermittent, please describe any patterns or specific scenarios in which it occurred.

Bug Report Form Questions to Define the Bug Behavior

By capturing information about the actual behavior observed and the expected behavior, you allow the development team to compare the expected outcome with the actual outcome, identify any discrepancies, and pinpoint the root cause of the bug. It also ensures that the team clearly understands the desired behavior, allowing them to work towards aligning the software with the intended functionality.

Consider these questions to understand the resulting and expected behavior of the bug from users.

What behavior did you observe when encountering the bug?

How does the observed behavior differ from your expected behavior?

What specific features or functionalities were affected by the bug's behavior?

Can you provide any additional information or context regarding the expected behavior and the observed behavior?

Did the bug impact your ability to complete specific tasks or workflows? If yes, please provide details.

Is there any other relevant information about the resulting and expected behavior that you believe would be helpful for us to know?

Bug Report Form Questions on Environment & Configuration Fields

Capturing information about the user's environment and configuration, such as operating system, browser version, device type, and relevant settings, provides valuable context to the development team. This context helps to identify any compatibility issues with different setups. It allows the development team to consider specific factors that may contribute to the bug, such as hardware limitations, software dependencies, or conflicting settings. This information enables more targeted troubleshooting and increases the chances of finding a resolution quickly.

Here are some questions you can add to a bug report survey to understand your users' environment and configuration details.

What operating system are you using?

Windows

macOS

Linux

iOS

Android

What version of the operating system are you using?

Windows 10

macOS Big Sur

Ubuntu 20.04

Others

Which web browser were you using when you encountered the bug?

Chrome

Firefox

Safari

Edge

What is the version number of the web browser you were using? (e.g., Chrome 92.0.4515.159, Firefox 89.0.2)

Are you accessing the software on a desktop/laptop or a mobile device?

If you are using a mobile device, can you please specify the model?

Are there any specific settings or configurations you have modified that could be relevant to the bug? If yes, please provide details.

Were there any other applications or software running simultaneously that might have interacted with the software in question?

Are you using any specific plugins, extensions, or add-ons in your web browser? If yes, please provide details.

Did you encounter the bug while using a particular network (e.g., office network, home network, public Wi-Fi)? If yes, please provide details.

Additional Comments Questions for Bug Report Forms

Users may have specific circumstances, observations, or suggestions related to the bug that can aid in understanding and resolving the issue more effectively. Providing an open-ended comment section encourages users to share any additional information they deem important, ensuring that no crucial details are overlooked in the bug reporting process.

Consider these questions to seek additional comments from users related to bug reporting.

Is there any additional information or context you would like to provide about this bug?

Do you have any suggestions or ideas for resolving this bug or improving the affected feature?

Is there anything you would like to share about your experience with this bug or the affected functionality?

Best Practices for Creating a Bug Report Form

To create a bug report form that captures the maximum customer response, paying attention to several key aspects, such as whether your bug report form is optimized to gather valuable insights, is essential. It is also crucial to ensure that your bug reporting form facilitates clear and concise communication between the survey taker and the team responsible for addressing the issue. The form should empower survey takers to express their concerns effectively while enabling the resolving team to fully comprehend and grasp the reported problem.

Here are some crucial considerations that can increase your bug reporting response from customers:

Keep it Simple & Intuitive: A user-friendly bug reporting form should have a clean and intuitive design and user-friendly language. Avoid overwhelming users with unnecessary complexities or excessive fields and include only the essential information needed to address the bug.
Use Clear & Specific Labels: Clear labels help users provide the necessary details and ensure that the reported bugs are accurately classified. Each field should have a label that accurately describes the type of information required instead of vague or ambiguous terms that may confuse survey takers.
Add Option to add Screenshots & mages: Give your survey takers an option to support their bug reporting with screenshots, images, log files, or any other relevant supporting materials. Additional attachments provide valuable context to aid in bug identification and resolution.
Ensure Mobile-Friendly Design: Simplify the input process using mobile-friendly controls and minimizing typing requirements. A mobile-friendly design encourages broader participation, as users can report bugs conveniently from their smartphones or tablets.
Follow Iterative Improvement: Keep evolving your bug reporting form based on the customer feedback and development team. Take an iterative approach by regularly reviewing the form's performance and fine-tuning it, making it more user-friendly and enhancing the quality of the bug reports received.

Where to Add Bug Report Form?

While bugs in apps and software are inevitable, and it's a great idea to make Reporting an Issue or Bug easy for customers, it may not be a great idea to put it in the forefront. Let's explore some easy ways you can embed the Bug Report Form in your app or software, which makes it easily accessible but a little away from focus.

Adding Report a Bug, or Issue on your Website, Product or App

In the Footer

Add 'Report an Issue' or 'Report a Bug' links in the Footer of your website or platform to make it accessible on all the pages as the customers browse. On click, this can open the Bug Report Form in a new browser tab or in as a popover survey where customers can fill out the details and report a bug.

Floating Button on the Webpage or Product page or In-app

You can add a Feedback Button as a Side Tab on the Website or In-Product or In-App to allow customers to easily report an issue or bug. The form could be entirely about bug reporting or could be logic-based where you ask customers - What would you like to share today? Share Feedback, Share a Complaint, Report a Bug. If the customer chooses Reporting a Bug, the follow-up questions could be the same as your Report a Bug Form.

In the Settings Popup or Page

A lot of products and apps like to add a link 'Report an Issue' or 'Report a Bug' or 'Submit a Ticket' in the Settings page or pop up. This is again a great idea as it makes it easily accessible without being in your face.

Types of Bug Tracking Form Embeds

Feedback Button

The feedback button acts as a direct channel for users to communicate their feedback without disrupting their browsing or interaction flow. Placing the feedback button in any easily accessible location ensures that users can quickly find and access the form whenever they encounter a bug. When users click on the feedback button, it typically triggers a feedback form or survey where they can provide detailed information about the bug they encountered.

Popup Survey

A popover survey is contextually relevant and can be triggered to gather bug reports without hindering the user's ability to navigate or interact with your website or application smoothly. If you do not want to disrupt the user experience, consider adjusting the size of the popover surveys so that they occupy only a small portion of the screen, allowing users to see and interact with the underlying content.

Popover Survey

When customers encounter a bug, an unobtrusive way to seek bug reports from them would be by leveraging the popover survey. A popover survey gets triggered based on predetermined events, but it provides a convenient and focused space for users to submit their bug reports empowering them to easily provide a detailed bug report while using the product or app or going through the website.

Embedded Survey

Another effective way to collect bug reports is by embedding the form within the product, app or website that doesn’t disrupt the user’s workflow. The form becomes an integral part of the user interface, typically accessible through a dedicated section or a specific page. Users can navigate to this section and submit their bug reports directly within the product or app or while navigating the website without the need for additional browser tabs or external tools.

Link Survey

Another way to embed the bug report form is by using a link that can be easily placed anywhere on your website, in-app or within the product itself - pretty much wherever you want your users to report a bug. You can even share the link survey in support channels or even social media groups to eliminate the need for users to navigate through a website to find and complete a bug reporting form.

Connecting your Bug Report Form to Customer Service Desks

When you're deciding to capture bug reports and issues using forms, it's a good idea to connect them to your customer service desks to allow your support team to view the bugs and issues, take action and resolve them for your customers.

You can integrate Zonka Feedback with your Customer Service Desks like Zendesk, Freshdesk, Helpscout, and more to automate creating new tickets as soon as a new Bug Report Form is submitted on your website or in-app.

Here's how you can do it:

Connect Zonka Feedback with the Customer Service Tool or ITSM you're using.
Enable creating new tickets when a new survey response is received. Here you can add conditions as well. For instance, if your form has the first question as a choice between 'Report an Issue' and 'Share Feedback,' then you can add a condition to create tickets only when the response to question 1 matches 'Report an Issue.'
Customer Details for logged-in users like email address, name and phone number would automatically be synced to your service desks, and your customer support team can work their magic thereafter.

Connecting your Bug Report Form to Issue & Project Tracking Software

To streamline the bug tracking and resolution process, you can integrate your bug report form to issue and project-tracking software tools. This integration allows for a seamless transfer of bug report data from the feedback form to the designated tracking system, enabling efficient assignment and tracking of the reported issue.

In Zonka Feedback, you can integrate the bug report form to Jira where when a user submits a bug report, relevant information can be automatically populated in the connected software tool, creating a task for the development team.

Here's how you can perform the integration:

1. Connect Zonka Feedback to issue-tracking and project management software Jira.

2. Once you have given the required information and permission, you will be logged in to Jira. Enable the ticket creation option for the new survey response.

3. Customer details and responses can be automatically synced for logged-in users ensuring your development team can directly view the bug report responses in Jira.

Why are Bug Reports Important?

Bug reports play a vital role in the software development and maintenance of your product. By taking up bug report surveys, users can convey any issues encountered while using your product or services. This creates a continuous feedback loop between the users and the development team.

To fully understand the significance of bug report forms, consider the following reasons:

Bug reports drive iterative development by incorporating user feedback and improving product quality and functionality to meet customer expectations.
It helps prioritize fixes based on severity, impact, and frequency, ensuring maximum impact on stability and usability.
Addressing bug reports promptly demonstrates a commitment to your customers, increasing satisfaction and loyalty and reducing churn.
Bug form reports promote internal collaboration by facilitating teamwork and collective problem-solving within the company to create better products.
Through bug reports, you can gather valuable data on the types and frequencies of bugs encountered, which can then be analyzed to make decisions in product enhancements and resource allocation.

Conclusion

Companies that work on their bug reports are more likely to be appreciated by their customers and team. Integrating bug report forms into your development process can set you apart in today's fiercely competitive landscape. These forms are crucial in enhancing software quality and ensuring customer satisfaction.

You demonstrate your commitment to delivering a reliable and seamless user experience by actively soliciting and addressing user feedback through bug report forms. The comprehensive data obtained through bug report forms help the development teams to prioritize and address bugs efficiently, resulting in faster bug fixes and a more stable software product.

Sign up for a 14-day free trial with Zonka Feedback to create a bug report form to capture maximum response and streamline your bug-tracking process.