7.5Burndown Charts for Bug Resolution

The Bug Burndown

A bug burndown shows the remaining open bugs over time, tracking whether the team is closing bugs fast enough to meet the release date.

Open Bugs Remaining

25 │ ●
20 │   ●  Ideal burndown (dashed)
   │ - - ● - - -
15 │       ●  - - -
   │         ●      - - -
10 │           ●          - - -
   │             ●              - - -
 5 │               ●                  - - -
   │                 ● ─ ─ ● (actual stalls here)
 0 │──────────────────────────────────→ Release Date
   D1  D3  D5  D7  D9  D11 D13 D15

Reading the Burndown

Pattern	Meaning	Action
Actual tracks ideal	On track to close all bugs by release	Continue current pace
Actual above ideal (falling behind)	Closing bugs slower than planned	Add resources, deprioritize low-severity bugs, or extend timeline
Actual below ideal (ahead)	Closing bugs faster than planned	Good position; use extra time for exploratory testing
Actual flattens (plateau)	Bug closure has stalled	Investigate blockers: are fixes waiting for review? Environment issues?
New bugs added (burndown goes up)	Testing is still finding new bugs faster than fixes are closing them	Too much scope; prioritize ruthlessly

Bug Burndown Formula

Expected Bugs Remaining on Day D = Total Open Bugs x (1 - D / Total Days)

Example:
  Start: 25 open bugs, 15 days to release
  Day 5 expected: 25 x (1 - 5/15) = 25 x 0.667 = 16.7 bugs
  Day 5 actual: 19 bugs

  Status: Behind (19 > 16.7). Need to increase fix rate by 14%.