What is the Severity and Priority in QA Engineering?

In QA (Quality Assurance) engineering, severity and priority are two key concepts used to manage and prioritize issues (bugs or defects) discovered during testing. These terms help teams determine the urgency and impact of each issue, allowing for effective prioritization of efforts. Let’s get an explanation of severity and priority.

Severity

Severity refers to the impact of a defect on the functionality of the software. It assesses how serious or critical the issue is in terms of its potential to harm the system or its users.

Severity — Application point of view.

Below mentioned common severity levels are included.

1. Critical
   Defects that cause complete system failure or data loss.
   Example: A banking application crashes when a user attempts to transfer money.
2. Major
   Defects that significantly impact the application’s functionality.
   Example: In an e-commerce app, users cannot add items to their shopping cart.
3. Minor
   Defects that have a moderate impact on the application’s functionality.
   Example: In a social media app, the “Like” button doesn’t work for some posts.
4. Low
   Defects that have a minor impact on the application’s functionality.
   Example: In a weather app, a minor cosmetic issue where the background color of the temperature display is slightly off.

Priority

Priority refers to the order in which defects need to be fixed. It is determined based on business needs, project timelines, and the overall impact of the defect on the project.

Priority — User point of view.

Below mentioned common Priority levels are included.

1. Critical
   Defects that must be addressed immediately, often requiring an emergency fix.
   Example: A critical security vulnerability that exposes sensitive user information.
2. High
   Defects should be addressed as soon as possible, preferably before the next release.
   Example: An e-commerce website issue preventing users from completing the checkout process.
3. Medium
   Defects that need attention but may not be as time-sensitive as higher-priority issues.
   Example: A moderate performance issue in an internal tool used by the support team.
4. Low
   Defects that are minor and can be addressed in a future release or during a maintenance phase.
   Example: Spelling mistakes on the webpage.

How to Separate Issues Using Severity and Priority?

1. Initial Assessment
   Evaluate the severity of the defect based on its impact on functionality.
   Evaluate the priority based on the business impact and urgency.
2. Assign Severity Level
   Critical and Major severity levels typically require immediate attention.
   Medium and Low-severity issues may be addressed in subsequent releases.
3. Assign Priority Level
   Critical and High-priority issues are addressed with the highest urgency.
   Medium and Low priority issues can be scheduled for later releases or maintenance cycles.
4. Communication
   Communicate the severity and priority levels to the development team, product owners, and other stakeholders.
5. Regular Updates
   Regularly reassess the severity and priority of issues based on changing project needs and priorities.

Examples
👉 If an application or a web page crashes when a remote link is clicked, in this case clicking the remote link by an user is rare but the impact of application crashing is severe, so the severity is high and priority is low.

👉 You find a spelling mistake in the name of the website which you are testing. Say, the name is supposed to be “Google” and its spelled there as “Gaogle”. Though, it doesn’t affect the basic functionality of the software, so the severity is low. But it needs to be corrected before the release. Hence, the priority is high.

By using severity and priority classifications, QA teams and development teams can efficiently manage and address defects, ensuring that critical issues are resolved promptly while also considering the overall project priorities. This helps in delivering a more stable and reliable product to end users.

The comment section is open for you to share special things, new updates, and mention mistakes regarding this content. I’m also learning new things from your comments.
I think sharing knowledge, learning new things, and helping others will help to develop a better world. Let’s share our knowledge to learn for everyone.🏆🏆🥇

Thank You. 🤝🤝

Read More Articles
Difference between Smoke Testing and Regression Testing.