Story, defect vs test issue.

[Michał Kitowski]

Hi Community,

I am struggling with Jira type for test Issue (the issue in test itself). I was considering adding Test Issue type to Jira types (sometimes used by companies). However, in Agile word (what is the same for me) usually teams use Defect or Story for test issues (no unified approach). Could you please give your recommendation if test issue should be new type "Test Issue" or should I use Story or Defect type. Personally, I believe that Test Issue is more accurate and gives transparent view on project test issues and differentiate product issues.

Thank you,

Michal

[Gundlupet Sreenidhi · Accepted solution]

@Michał Kitowski,

In short: 

A Story is for requirements

A Defect/ Bug is for defects identified that needs to be fixed.

A Test is for recording the different steps that are to be followed in order to test a Story or Defect. There are multiple other issue types that may be necessary for Defect Management which you will decide based on your organizations Test Management Process.

All are used for completely different purposes. You may try to use Stories to record your tests, but this is not very efficient and not recommended. There are multiple Test Management plugins you can use for JIRA (Xray, Zephyr, etc..)

Test Management is a process in itself that has tremendous benefits and should not be considered as a part of Defect Management or Backlog management. 

We ourselves use XRay for Test Management - you can get details here.

You can also have a look at Zephyr as an alternative.

[Michał Kitowski]

Thank you Gundlupet,

Lets then assume that team cannot use other tool than Jira for test issue. Would you then recommend to add "Test Issue" type or use something already there in Jira choice?

Regards,

Michal

[Gundlupet Sreenidhi]

If you are unable to use any add-on / tool, then Yes - you should track all test cases using its own issue type. This helps with maintainability and reporting.

However I highly recommend using one of the Test Management process available in the market. Many of them are already supported in the Atlassian Marketplace.

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?query=test%20management

Note: You will still be working within JIRA for most of them - you need not go to a different tool for test management.