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1.3Priority vs Severity
These are different dimensions. Severity measures technical impact. Priority measures business urgency. They often align but not always.
| Low Severity | High Severity | |
|---|---|---|
| High Priority | CEO's name misspelled on About page | Payment processing crashes for all users |
| Low Priority | Tooltip misaligned on admin settings page | Data export corrupts records (feature used once per quarter) |
Severity Levels
| Level | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | System unusable, data loss, security breach | All users cannot log in; credit card numbers exposed |
| Major | Key feature broken, no workaround | Checkout fails; cannot place orders |
| Minor | Feature works but with issues, workaround exists | Search results display incorrectly but users can filter manually |
| Trivial | Cosmetic, typo, minor UI issue | Button misaligned by 2px; typo in footer |
Priority Levels
| Level | Definition | Response Time |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Fix immediately, all hands on deck | Hours |
| High | Fix this sprint | Days |
| Medium | Fix next sprint | 1-2 sprints |
| Low | Fix when convenient | Backlog |