Many testers have undoubtedly encountered a situation when a tester joins a test that already contains many submitted or "known bugs". Which strategy would you choose for finding new bugs, avoiding duplicates and spending minimal time on it? We will explain in this article how to search for new bugs when there is a high number of already published bugs and provide some valuable tips.
Search for bugs in features with fewer existing bugs.
To identify such features, sort the bug list by "Features" or open the "Feature" filter in the "Bugs" tab and concentrate your bug search within a specific feature. As seen in the example, the tester only needs to review two bugs in the "03. Product Overview Page" feature to search for new bugs.
Also, to avoid duplicates, we recommend using the Known Bugs List and the "Similar Issues" feature. You can read more about this in our article.
Important: If you do not know what means "features", we strongly suggest reading our article "The Standard Features Descriptions".
Search for new bugs on mobile devices.
Testing websites on mobile devices may take a bit more time compared to testing on a PC. That's why most testers prefer PCs for website testing. However, the same websites may have more bugs on mobile devices than PCs. When testing on mobile devices, we recommend paying attention to how pop-up elements work, checking how the website adapts to different screen sizes, testing the functionality in both portrait and landscape modes and more.
Important: For this type of testing, it is recommended that you have at least a Bronze level tester to have access to all of your devices after 50% of the testing time has been completed.
Important: The design of the mobile version of the website may differ from the design of the desktop version. Such differences will not be bugs.
Tip: You can reproduce bugs reported by other testers on a PC on your mobile devices. This way, you'll simultaneously search for bugs on a mobile device and earn through reproductions.
Testing "non-standard" website pages.
Most website pages have a standardized design, and the chance of finding a new bug after checks by other testers is relatively low. That is why we recommend identifying "non-standard" website pages and focusing your attention on them. For example, many e-commerce websites have gift card pages, and there can also be detailed product pages with additional settings or configurations. This applies to all site pages; try to find different types of pages and sections and test them.
Below in the picture are examples of such "non-standard" pages.
Testing the "Explore" feature.
If this feature is mentioned in the test description, as you can see from the feature description, you can report bugs from all over the site here. Pay attention to website pages that other testers might miss. Some websites have a "Site Map" link through which you can check out all the site pages or access all pages through the footer or navigation.
Important: When checking different pages of the testing site, always check the URLs of the pages so that your found bugs do not go Out of Scope test cycle.
Summary
After accepting an invitation to test with many bugs or known bugs, you should briefly familiarize yourself with the site or application, identify sections with fewer reported bugs, and focus on non-typical functions or pages that may still need to be tested. Use different devices to find new bugs. As your experience grows, you can spend less time accepting a test invitation with many bugs than submitting the first acknowledged bug.