Abstract
Issue tracking systems help organizations manage issue
reporting, assignment, tracking, resolution, and archiving.
Traditionally, it is the Software Engineering community
that researches issue tracking systems, where software
defects are reported and tracked as ‘bug reports’ within an
archival database. Yet issue tracking is fundamentally a
social process and, as such, it is important to understand the
design and use of issue tracking systems from that
perspective. Consequently, we conducted a qualitative
study of the use of issue tracking systems by small,
collocated software development teams. We found that an
issue tracker is not just a database for tracking bugs,
features, and inquiries, but also a focal point for
communication and coordination for many stakeholders
within and beyond the software team. Customers, project
managers, quality assurance personnel, and programmers
all contribute to the shared knowledge and persistent
communication that exists within the issue tracking system.
We articulate various real-world practices surrounding issue
trackers and offer design implications for future systems.
Refereed
No
