Issue tracking
If unexpected events occur in the system, customers and other users may report these issues.
Issue tracking involves:
- Managing issues.
- Associating issues with efforts to resolve underlying problems in the system.
- Informing customers of possible resolutions.
Requirements for issue tracking
You can often track issues using a separate system that lets you record and report the details of problems that users report. These details can include:
- Tasks the user was doing.
- Symptoms of the problem.
- Sequence of events.
- Error or warning messages.
Requirements for data collection
The user who initially reported the issue is considered the primary data source. This user can provide more information, such as:
- A crash dump, if the application includes a component that runs on the user's desktop.
- A screenshot.
- The date and time the error occurred.
- The user's location.
You can use this information to help debug and create a backlog for future software releases.
Analyze data
Consider the following scenarios when you analyze issue-tracking data:
- Different users may report the same problem. The issue-tracking system should associate common reports.
- Record the debugging progress against each issue report.
- Inform customers of the solution when you've resolved the issue.
- If a user reports an issue that has a known solution in the issue-tracking system, inform the user of the solution immediately.