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Priority

Priority is a classification used to determine the order in which a defect or bug should be fixed. It is a business-driven metric that reflects the urgency of the issue and its impact on the user or the business. A high-priority defect needs to be fixed immediately, while a low-priority one can be addressed in a future release. Priority is different from severity, which describes how bad the bug is technically.

Priority vs. Severity

  • Priority: How soon does this need to be fixed?
  • Severity: How bad is the impact of this bug?

A bug can have high severity and low priority (e.g., a crash that occurs only in a very rare and non-critical scenario) or low severity and high priority (e.g., a spelling mistake on a company logo that needs to be fixed immediately for brand integrity).

Example: A tester finds two defects in a new application:

  1. A login defect that prevents all users from signing in. This bug would be assigned a high priority because it completely blocks the primary function of the application, causing a major business impact.
  2. A minor UI bug where a button's color is slightly off-brand. This bug would be given a low priority because it doesn't affect the application's functionality and can be fixed in a later release.