Testers have a huge responsibility to uncover software bugs, regardless of their functionality and user interface. They can raise bugs whenever non-conformance is found.
This article aims to explain the importance of both functional and cosmetic bugs and provides factors to consider when prioritizing them. It includes real-life examples for better understanding.
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What You Will Learn:
Importance Of Functional And Cosmetic Bugs
Bugs are inevitable in software development, so thorough testing is crucial. Software testing helps identify bugs missed by developers.
Unidentified bugs can be costly when in a live environment, so proper testing and test planning are essential to enhance software quality.
Fig 1:
The above figure shows an image file that the software failed to display, which can severely impact the business.
Cosmetic Bugs And Their Significant Importance
Cosmetic requirements refer to the user interface or front-end appearance of the software, which often changes between different releases, especially in projects following agile methodology with sprint releases.
Clients often request changes in the user interface to improve usability and optimize the software design for business purposes.
Examples of cosmetic requirements:
- Menus should use Calibri font.
- Textbox A should be 1.2 inches.
- All reports should have H1 size titles with ‘002522’ color.
These requirements aim to enhance usability and optimize the software for business purposes.
Fig 2:
The above figure depicts functional and cosmetic issues. A functional issue is the checkbox not being displayed for the option “Use DeathByCaptcha,” while a cosmetic issue is the lack of uniform font usage.
Priority Factor For Cosmetic Bugs Or Needs From Clients
Clients generally assign a higher priority to cosmetic needs as they focus on making software interactions simple and efficient, ensuring goal accomplishment. When there are issues with the user interface, clients raise low-priority bugs to vendors.
Developers prioritize functional aspects over cosmetic aspects as they are usually low-impact areas. Testers want all client requirements implemented in the software and raise bugs when they are not met. Developers focus on whether the bug can cause a functional break.
Discussions among testers, developers, and clients result in recommendations from the testing team, which may be implemented in subsequent releases.
Real Example #1)
The client requested the company logo to appear on the home page within the title frame with quick loading. The vendor delivered the software, but the logo took time to load. The client perceived this as a live issue, causing damage to the vendor’s reputation. The root cause may be the image’s size, nature, or other factors. Though not a functional issue, it was treated as a live issue with significant impact.
Functional bugs – Critical and priority factors
Bugs are usually prioritized based on client-defined priority and potential business impacts. Developers prioritize high-critical bugs that affect their work. Clients prioritize functional and cosmetic bugs in the same release based on their impact and priority. Functional bugs are treated as more critical, while cosmetic bugs follow the client’s decisions.
Fig 3:
The above figure showcases functional issues like design and text overlapping, as well as cosmetic issues like font problems.
Real Example #2)
The same client had multiple releases with the vendor and was satisfied with the deliverables. However, they identified functional and display issues in some business scenarios. The client prioritized fixing functional issues immediately and prioritized display issues in multiple releases. They were ready to go live with fixes for some display issues and most functional issues, recognizing their potential impact.
Business Impacts
Functional bugs can cause severe business impacts, as they lead to non-conformance with client requirements. Cosmetic bugs affect usability and appearance but have a lesser impact on business. Although not severe, they can create difficulties for users.
Real Example #3)
A vendor delivered a new version of a mobile software application. Certain features required users to click on links frequently, causing usability issues. The vendor had to reconsider the design and flow, and after making changes, the application gained more users. Usability plays a significant role in such applications, even without functional changes.
Comparative Study Between Cosmetic Bugs And The Functional Bugs
There are various differences between functional and cosmetic bugs in the software testing life cycle. Here are some comparisons:
| Comparison Area | Functional Bugs | Cosmetic Bugs |
|---|---|---|
| Degree of Recreation | Recreating functional bugs requires effort from testers or clients. | Recreating cosmetic bugs requires minimal effort as they are identified at the UI level. |
| Criticality | Functional bugs are often critical and can severely impact business. | Cosmetic bugs are rarely critical. |
| Priority | Priority is defined by clients. | Priority is defined by clients. |
| Potential Impact | Functional bugs have the potential to cause serious business issues. | Cosmetic bugs can have potential impacts but are not as severe. |
| Enhancements Consideration | Functional bugs are not considered as enhancements. | Cosmetic bugs can be considered as enhancements. |
| Costs When Not Fixed | Functional bugs incur high costs when found in the live software. | Cosmetic bugs have minimal costs. |
| Potential Causes | Functional bugs can have multiple causes, including coding issues, sync issues, and dependent application issues. | Cosmetic bugs can be caused by design issues or unsupported files. |
Cosmetic bug illustrations
Cosmetic bugs can impact areas with company logos or partnership images that fail to load properly. Though they are non-functional bugs, they can become severe. The following illustrations highlight the importance of cosmetic bugs and their significant role.
Case Study
Vendor B is developing Software A, delivering code drops every month after a base version release. Clients provide lists of issues, bugs, and enhancements with assigned priorities and criticalities. The clients expect Severe, Major, and P1 bugs to be fixed by week 30, High and P2 bugs by week 35, Low and P3 bugs by week 40, and P4 bugs by week 40, with 3 days buffer time between releases.
Observations:
- Pipelined releases require adherence to schedules to avoid impacting subsequent plans.
- Client-assigned priorities determine release timing.
- Delays in low-priority bugs can elevate their priority and impact.
- Minor delays can turn low and minor bugs into major issues.
Testers & Developers Meet
Testers think developers’ work is not over after finding many bugs. After testing, developers often reject bugs raised by testers that they consider not genuine. This leads to arguments between testers and developers, which can be resolved by a project manager to optimize deliverables and minimize defect leakage.
Conclusion
This article explained the importance of cosmetic and functional bugs and compared them in terms of criticality, priority, and client recommendations. To ensure a well-balanced software with bug resolutions, it is advised to treat bugs based on criticality, priority, and client recommendations.
About the author: This article was written by Nagarajan, a test lead with over 6 years of testing experience in various functional areas like banking, airlines, and telecom, both manual and automation testing.
What are your thoughts on cosmetic and functional bugs? Share your opinions below.