How should severity be determined in Trusted Tester bug reports?

• A. Based on the color of the UI theme.
• B. Based on personal preference.
• C. Based on the time of day.
• D. Based on impact on core functionality, user experience, and likelihood, using predefined severity levels (e.g., Critical, Major, Minor).

Answer: (D)

Severity is about how serious an issue is for users and the product, measured by its impact on core functionality, user experience, and how likely it is to occur. Using predefined severity levels like Critical, Major, and Minor standardizes triage and prioritization, so teams know what to fix first. The aim is to reflect real impact and likelihood, not cosmetic details. For example, a crash that prevents saving work is high severity, while a small visual glitch that doesn’t affect usage is low severity. Choices based on UI color, personal preference, or time of day don’t reflect actual impact or likelihood, so they aren’t appropriate.