Bug tracking metrics provide insight into product defects and stability. Important parameters include:


• Bug Defect Density - Defects per KLOC (thousand lines of code) indicates code quality. A lower density signals stable code.
• Open Bug Count - Total active bugs in the backlog represents product health. Optimizing testing to minimize open bugs is important.
• Bug Resolution Rate - Speed of resolving reported bugs impacts release cycles. A higher bug resolution rate enables faster go-to-market.
• Bug Reopen Percentage - Bugs reopened after resolution due to improper fixes or testing point to test coverage gaps. Keeping reopen percentage low ensures bugs are thoroughly validated.
• Severe Defect Percentage - High priority bugs affecting critical functionality impact user experience. Tracking severe defects shows effectiveness of early defect detection.

According to Capgemini’s World Quality Report 2020-21, organizations that are quality leaders have 60% lesser critical defects than their peers.

Test coverage metrics indicate the scope and completeness of testing:

• Test Case Coverage - Percentage of test cases executed versus planned provides visibility into test coverage. Goal should be near 100% coverage.
• Code Coverage - Code blocks, branches and statements covered through testing reveals gaps to improve. Industry best practice is over 70-80% code coverage.
• ** Requirements Coverage -** Tracing tests back to requirements covered shows compliance and completeness. High requirements coverage reduces defects.

As per recent research by Testim, teams with over 70% code coverage deliver 62% fewer bugs than those below 50% coverage.

Analyzing cycle time helps optimize and accelerate testing:

• Test Planning Time - Faster test planning improves release velocity. Tracking planning time helps streamline and automate test design.
• Test Execution Time - Longer test cycles delay releases. Monitoring execution time identifies areas to optimize via automation and frameworks.
• Test Reporting Time - Quick insights from testing enables faster feedback to developers. Tools that automate reporting accelerate cycle times.

Post-release metrics validate software quality:

• Customer Defect Metrics - Defects reported after deployment signal escapes through testing. Analyzing field defects helps improve test practices.
• Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR) - Quick resolution of production issues ensures positive user experience. Lower MTTR demonstrates QA efficiency.
• ** Production Incident Rate -** Frequency of incidents measures release stability and reliability. Lower rates prove the value of QA.
• According to the World Quality Report 2020-21, quality leaders experience 50% fewer system failures than peers.

Monitoring user satisfaction provides the ultimate validation of release quality:

• Net Promoter Score - Customer likelihood to recommend the product indicates satisfaction. Higher NPS signals better experience.
• App Store Ratings - Monitoring ratings and reviews on app stores measures real-world experience. Improving QA to delight users raises ratings.
• Social Media Sentiment - Positive user mentions on social media demonstrates customer happiness. Lower negative sentiment proves QA’s business impact.
• As per 2022 research by Apptentive, apps with 4+ star ratings show 23% higher customer retention.

The key to effectively employing these metrics is consolidating them into integrated QA dashboards providing a single source of truth. Leading test management tools like PractiTest allow creating custom reports and metrics-driven dashboards to unlock data-informed decision making.

• Defining the right metrics and KPIs is crucial for QA success. Aligning testing activities to these metrics through tools, frameworks and processes elevates software quality. As metrics reveal efficiency improvements, QA delivers growing business value by releasing better products faster. Learn more about TestPapas’ end-to-end quality assurance services here. Our expertise in metrics-driven testing can help your organization release stellar digital experiences.