Defect report
Also called: bug report, defect ticket
A defect report is a request for someone’s time: it has to say who is affected, what they could not do and what happens if it ships.
A defect report describes a difference between what happened and what should have happened. A useful one has a title in user language, the conditions under which it happens, the expected result with its source, the impact on the journey and a clear request: fix before release, decide, or clarify.
Reports get ignored when they read like preference, when severity is inflated, or when the steps assume knowledge only the tester has. Product reads the title and the impact. Engineering reads the steps and the evidence. Both need to find their part quickly.
A defect template I introduced on one programme cut the number of tickets developers sent back by about 40%, mostly by making the expected result and the conditions mandatory.
Template: Defect report template