How Do You Get Better Bug Reports From Users? 205
itwbennett writes "You can try to train them, you can try to streamline or automate the process, you can demand that all bug reports go through a middleman (i.e., a QA tester) or you can throw up your hands and accept that users will forever submit bug reports that in no way help you solve the problem. Like the stages of grief, you've probably tried or experienced all of these at some point. But have you found any approach that really works for getting useful bug reports from your users?"
Depends on the user base (Score:4, Informative)
I've worked in support organizations for 15 years. In a commercial environment where you can afford the staff, having a tiered approach works best - you have a help desk to gather and refine the questions and answer the small stuff, then work your way up to the engineers that wrote the code. The tough part of that is having a skilled enough help desk to know when to skip the canned questions and just forward a request on once you have the right information.
For organizations without those resources, you need to rely on the user base to be the help desk. Give them as much concise information as possible and frame the bug submission so that any and all needed data is in the report. Then it's up to the developer to give good information back to the user.
As an example, I had a problem with my laptop's trackpad going wonky. Ubuntu made it really easy to compile information about my system and submit it as a bug report, then open it for me so I can add any additional text I wanted. The answer I got back asked me to try a different kernel, and included well-documented links and information on how to get and install it. Just saying something like "yeah, go grab something out of backports" doesn't help the user if they have no idea what you're talking about.
Re:Make them feel connected. (Score:5, Informative)
How is a USER supposed to track down a bug?
In the same way a beta tester does (among other things). Every time I do 'X' then 'Z' will happen instead of 'Y'. Please fix.
Recreating a repeatable problem is a pretty good start. In my experience the hardest part seems to be getting the average user to explain what the problem in a way that can be understood that is beyond 'it just doesn't work'
The NSA method works. (Score:5, Informative)
- Record all their actions on a self overwriting one hour long file.
- Give them a "one button" way of reporting a bug. The button saves the user and the time, then waits for five minutes and then sends you the recorded actions file.
It's simple to develop and gives you a lot of information. It might be illegal in some countries.
Re:Follow up (Score:4, Informative)
That is nothing. I love it when users are overly specific, because they are always specifically wrong.
In user speak "My Password won't work." is code for everything, including an unplugged computer.