What are the advantages of allowing software users to identify and report bugs and what are the disadvantages?

What are bugs?

Software bugs are a flaw, mistake or failure which occurs in computer systems, which leads to incorrect or unexpected results. This typically happens because of an error in programming. A bug can cause a variety of issues, from being a minor inconvenience to making a software program non-operational.

There are two general types of bugs: either there is an error in the code or data passed to the code cannot be digested, because that specific type of data was not used or available in the development stage. In an ideal world, bugs would not occur or be fixed in the development stages, but in reality even the most well-loved applications and systems will have some errors. It is vital that these bugs are reported.

Why is it important to report bugs?

It is very important that software bugs are reported. This is because to initiate the process of fixing, the developers need to be aware of the issue and what it looks like. If the dev team is unaware, then the length of time that the issue will be present is longer, and the repair process will be significantly lengthened, as someone else down the line will need to spot and report the error at a later time.  

If this is a program that you use frequently, this creates a direct issue for you as well, as the quality of user experience will be lowered, and in some cases, if the error is severe enough, the program may become fully unusable to you. Similarly, if this is a service which you plan to use for an extended period of time, reporting bugs is a straightforward way for you to contribute to improving the program's quality and stability in the future.  

Reporting bugs can also prevent more serious issues in the future. By letting the dev team know about a small bug, you may be assisting in the prevention of other related issues appearing. For a simple illustration, think of it as a house you are renting. If you don’t tell your landlord about a leaky pipe, it may one day burst and flood your home. By keeping the landlord informed from the start, you are giving them the opportunity to fix the issue and prevent other potential negative consequences.

What is the best way to report bugs?

The intention of a bug report is to highlight and describe an observed issue and explain the steps taken to produce it so that tech specialists can pinpoint its cause and come up with a resolution. While the developers usually have the necessary skills to fix the issue, the end user often does not have the required knowledge on how to accurately report an error. Not providing enough information and context in regard to the bug are ways to create an unhelpful report, so what are the steps to generating a good bug report?  

1).  Summary of the bug:

The objective is to provide as much information and context as possible. From this description, the support team should see how the issue looks to the end user. They can then combine data from the report with internal information, such as system logs, to establish a clear understanding of the error.

The details provided by the user need to be clear and precise. It is best to describe exactly how the issue presents itself and under which circumstances, e.g. what steps led you to the issue, location of the error, browser used and time it occurred. The goal is to have as much detail upfront as possible. This is one of the cases where oversharing is welcome.

This advice is applicable when contacting Nordigen’s support team as well. For the fastest resolution to the issue, make sure to provide all relevant information, including the account_id, reqisition_id, and aspsp_id. If all the relevant information is provided, the developers will have all the needed details straight away and won’t need to wait for anything extra before fixing the issue.

2). Ways to reproduce the bug:

It is important to provide an accurate list of steps that led to the error occurring. This is vital as it lets the support team replicate your actions and retrace the steps to the root cause. If the error cannot be reproduced, the root cause cannot be found and the issue will not be fixed. Therefore, it is vital to be as clear and accurate as possible, providing all the information possible in regard to the steps before the bug.

3). Visual evidence:

Providing photos or videos of the issue is helpful for multiple reasons. Firstly, it is helpful in showing steps that led to the issue, aiding in reproducing it on the side of the technical team. Secondly, it can provide extra context; letting the developers see the issue first-hand. 

Finally, it allows the support team to establish if the situation is truly a software bug or if there may be an error caused by the user. In case of bank authentication or authorisation, snapping a screenshot with the URL visible will make things clearer for the devs and will save time both ways.

4). Bug Severity:

Describing how detrimental the bug has been when interacting with a program will help the developers determine which errors are prioritised when fixing. The more severe bug, especially when experienced by a greater number of people, will make its way to the top of the list over minor bugs. 

This helps the team organise issues and plan accordingly. It is worth noting that exaggerating the problem will not help in the process of fixing it, as the information will be inaccurate and may hinder the process of reproducibility.

5). Any additional information required by the organisation:

Some programs and companies may require supplemental details that are specific to their systems. In this case, these requirements should be communicated to the user when submitting the bug report, to ensure that this is included in the report.

What do you need to provide to Nordigen support to solve a bug issue?

If there are ever any issues with software bugs when using Nordigen’s services, please let our support team know straight away. The kind people of the team will be sure to quickly help with your situation. The most valuable information to provide includes:

• The steps needed to reproduce the bug (this includes details on which bank, what flow)
• Context information needed to find the bug event in the logs (account_ir, requisition_id, time, user email)

References

Christensen, M. (n.d.). How to Write an Effective Bug Report That Actually Gets Resolved (and Why Everyone Should). Lucidchart. https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/how-to-write-an-effective-bug-report-that-actually-gets-resolved-and-why-everyone-should

GoodFirm. (n.d.). What is a software bug? https://www.goodfirms.co/glossary/software-bug/

Ho, J. (2020, August 17). A Guide to Better Bug Reporting. BetterProgramming. https://betterprogramming.pub/a-guide-to-better-bug-reporting-9cd81b17351f

Martsuk, J. M. (2020, May 5). Issue reproduction: why reproducing bugs matter. Testlio. https://testlio.com/blog/issue-reproduction-why-reproducing-bugs-matter/

Software Testing Help. (2021, September 26). The Art Of Bug Reporting: How To Market And Get Your Bugs Fixed? https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/bug-reporting-get-your-bugs-fixed/