How do you determine the severity level of a bug?

The severity level of a bug is determined based on its impact on functionality, performance, security, and user-friendliness of the product. Usually, a scale of 4 or 5 levels is used.

Examples of severity levels:

Severity Level	Description	Impact on the system
Blocker	Critically affects the main functionality, making the product unusable.	The system is completely inoperable or a key feature is unavailable.
Critical	Significantly affects important functionality, but the system is partially operational.	An important part of the system does not work, potential data loss or crashes.
Major	Affects non-core functionality or leads to incorrect operation of part of the system.	The function works incorrectly, causing user inconvenience.
Minor	Cosmetic defects, text errors, or insignificant design violations.	Does not affect functionality, only appearance or convenience.
Trivial	Very minor errors that do not affect the product.	For example, a typo in the description that does not impact anything.

Factors influencing severity determination:

• Impact on key functionality: How much the bug hinders the execution of main user tasks.
• Frequency of occurrence: How often the bug appears.
• Impact on data: Whether the bug can lead to data loss or corruption.
• Impact on security: Whether the bug can create a vulnerability in the system.
• Impact on reputation: Whether the bug can negatively affect the company's image.
• User experience: How much the bug worsens the user experience.
• Impact on business: Whether the bug can lead to financial losses or other negative business consequences.

Defining the severity of a bug is a subjective process that requires experience and understanding of the product. Often, a decision is made through discussion among QA engineers, developers, and product managers. It is advisable to have clearly defined criteria for each severity level documented in the project documentation.