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tfsproject-managementagilescrum

If Bugs are on the same level as PBIs, how do I know where the bug came from in TFS 2015?

Our Supervisor mentality is that if a bug is found in the future he wants to do this:

  1. Find the PBI that describes the functionality that is not working correctly.
  2. Update that PBI to current Sprint.
  3. Create a Bug and put it under that PBI.
  4. Create a task and put it under that Bug.
    • The rationale behind this is that he considers that PBI to not have correctly finished, so it has to be re-opened, and he wants the Bug to be under that PBI so that he knows what functionality was not working correctly.

I'm under the impression that the correct way really only has 2 options:

  1. Treat Bugs at the same level as PBIs when you find them in a future iteration - create the Bug but just be as descriptive as possible so you know what functionality was the problem.
  2. Treat the Bugs as a Task, so either create a new PBI, or copy\move the previous PBI to the current sprint, and put the Bug under that PBI, but DON'T create a task under the Bug, the Bug essentially is a task.

What would be a solution for our shop?

Solution

  • Actually you just need to associate the work items (PBI > Bug > Task). Once the association is created, then you can find the linked work items under Related Work.

    In my opinion, both options are OK. The two options you mentioned only reflect how the work items shown on backlogs and boards. But if you already linked the related PBIs, Bugs, Tasks, then open any of the work items you can find the relationship between them (Parent/Child ~ where the bug came from).

    For example:

    1. Treat Bugs at the same level as PBIs (Bugs are managed with requirements)

    enter image description here

    1. Treat the Bugs as a Task (Bugs are managed with tasks)

    enter image description here

    UPDATE:

    Both of them can not completely achieve your requirements (No better ways to achieve that based on the current features ).

    However if you are more concerned about where the bugs come from, then option 2 ( Treat the Bugs as a Task) is better, as it can show dependencies/relationship intuitively in backlogs (Bug is under specific PBI).

    If you are more concerned about the hierarchical structure of the work items, then option1 (Treat Bugs at the same level as PBIs) is better (PBI > Bug > Task).

    Whatever you can find where the bug comes from via the related link.