1.4Bad Example / Good Example: Bug Reports
Bad Bug Report
Title: Discount not working
Description: The discount code doesn't work. Please fix.
What is wrong with this report: It forces the developer to ask: Which discount code? Which product? Which environment? What did you expect? What did you see? Every question is a round trip that wastes both people's time. The title is unsearchable -- there could be dozens of "discount not working" tickets. The tone ("Please fix") implies the developer should already know what the issue is.
Good Bug Report
Title: 10% discount code SAVE10 not applied to order total on checkout page
Environment: Staging (v2.4.1), Chrome 121, logged in as test-user-03
Steps to reproduce:
- Add "Wireless Headphones" (SKU: WH-200) to cart
- Navigate to cart page
- Enter discount code "SAVE10" and click "Apply"
- Success message "Discount applied" appears
- Click "Proceed to Checkout"
Expected: Order total should be $99.00 ($110.00 - 10% discount)
Actual: Order total shows $110.00. The discount success message appeared but the total was not recalculated.
Additional context: The discount works correctly on the cart page (shows $99.00) but reverts on the checkout page. This may be a state management issue between the cart and checkout components.
Attachments: Screenshot of cart page (discount applied), screenshot of checkout page (discount missing)
What makes this report effective:
- The developer can reproduce the issue in under 2 minutes
- The title is specific enough to find later via search
- The "additional context" offers a hypothesis without being prescriptive
- Evidence is attached, not described from memory
- No blame, no frustration, just facts
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