Using Video for Better, Faster Bug Reports and Bug Capturing

If lengthy back-and-forths when identifying, recording, and resolving bugs have got your engineering team down, let's pick it back up with an easy-to-use tool that enables faster, more efficient bug resolution: screencast video recording.

Video offers a host of benefits when it comes to debugging, from easily capturing and sharing bugs to providing faster processes for understanding context. And it's all in a tool that is straightforward to use for technical and non-technical teams.

Document Bugs Quickly and Easily

Effective and efficient bug identification and resolution is crucial for engineering teams to deliver a high-quality product on time. While traditional methods of bug reporting typically rely on text-based communication, asynchronous video allows engineering teams to make this process faster and less fraught with misunderstandings.

Asynchronous video allows teams to record your tab, browser, or desktop, and add in voiceovers to give your team the context needed to diagnose and resolve bugs faster. Instead of typing out long messages, adding multiple screenshots, or scheduling live meetings to explain how to reproduce an issue, your team can capture all of this on video. You can also draw annotations on your screen to point out specific parts of an issue, providing a more immersive experience that leaves less to be misinterpreted.

The Problem With Traditional Bug Reports

Text Descriptions Miss Critical Details

"The button doesn't work" or "The page crashes when I click submit" tells your engineering team almost nothing. Even detailed written bug reports often miss crucial environmental factors, user actions, or visual context that engineers need to reproduce and fix the issue.

Screenshots Capture Moments, Not Actions

Screenshots show you what the screen looked like at one moment, but not the sequence of actions that led to the bug, what happened immediately after, or transient error messages that appeared and disappeared.

Live Meetings Waste Time

Scheduling a meeting to demonstrate a bug means coordinating calendars, hoping the bug reproduces during the meeting, and potentially needing to reconvene if something isn't clear.

Why Video Changes Everything

A 60-second video can show the exact steps to reproduce the bug, the user's environment, what the user expected to happen, what actually happened, any error messages, and the user's narration explaining their thought process. Engineers can watch the video multiple times, pause at critical moments, and share it with other team members who need to see the issue.

Try This: The Standard Bug Report Video Format

Train your team to record bug reports with this structure:

• ‍Introduction (5-10 seconds): "Hi, I'm [Name] and I'm reporting a bug with [feature]. Here's what's happening..."‍
• Environment Setup (10-15 seconds): Show your browser type and version, screen size, and any relevant settings.‍
• Reproduction Steps (30-60 seconds): Walk through exactly what you're doing: "First, I navigate to the dashboard... Next, I click on 'New Project'... When I click 'Save,' watch what happens..."‍
• The Bug (10-20 seconds): Clearly show what goes wrong with error messages, unexpected behavior, or missing elements.‍
• Expected Behavior (5-10 seconds): "What should happen is [describe expected outcome]."

Total time: 60-120 seconds for a comprehensive bug report.

Pro Tip: Use Annotations to Highlight Key Details

While recording or editing your video, circle the specific button or element that's causing issues, highlight error messages that appear briefly, or draw arrows to show where elements should appear but don't. This visual emphasis ensures engineers immediately see what you're pointing out.

Request Videos, Resolve Issues Faster With Submit

Using asynchronous video like Castify allows engineering teams to resolve issues faster with both internal and external reporting. With external customers, your engineering team can request a recording of the encountered bug with Castify Submit.

External clients can record their desktop and easily share the video via a web link, without downloading any software. With this video, your external clients can provide all the context you need to resolve bugs immediately, without time-consuming back-and-forths. Videos are also automatically organized where they can be sorted and stored to reference later, allowing your team to identify recurring issues and troubleshoot similar problems.

How Submit Transforms Customer Bug Reporting

Traditional customer bug reporting involves multiple email exchanges asking for clarification, screenshots that don't show the actual problem, and potentially scheduling screen-sharing calls. This takes days and frustrates everyone involved.

With Submit, it becomes simple: Customer shares a video link showing the issue, engineering watches the 60-second video, immediately sees the problem, and starts working on a fix.

When to Request Submit Videos

Not every bug report needs a video. Use Submit when:

• The issue is intermittent or hard to reproduce
• The description is vague ("It's broken" or "It doesn't work right")
• You've gone back-and-forth twice without clarity
• The issue involves visual elements or UI
• The customer is non-technical

Try This: The Auto-Response Template

Create a templated response for when bug reports need more information:

"Thanks for reporting this issue! To help us resolve it quickly, could you record a short video (30-60 seconds) showing exactly what happens?

Click here to record: [Submit link]

In your video, please show the steps you're taking, demonstrate what goes wrong, and mention what you expected to happen instead. No software to download."

Tips for Incorporating Screen Recorded Video

Add Video to Your Bug Tracking System

You don't need to develop an entirely new system. Teams can link videos directly in Jira tickets, GitHub issues, Linear, Asana, or any tracking system you're already using. Paste video links in issue descriptions, attach to specific tasks, and reference in comments during bug triage.

Create a Bug Report Video Checklist

Share this with your team:

Before Recording:

• Can you reproduce the bug consistently?
• Have you closed unnecessary tabs or applications?
• Do you know the exact steps that trigger the bug?

During Recording:

• State your name and what you're reporting
• Show your browser/app version and relevant settings
• Narrate each action as you perform it
• Clearly demonstrate the bug when it occurs
• Explain what you expected to happen instead

After Recording:

• Review the video to ensure the bug is clearly visible
• Add annotations if needed to highlight specific elements
• Include the video link in your bug tracking system

Share Bug Status Updates With Customer-Facing Teams

Create a shared resource where customer support can see videos of reported bugs so they can recognize them when customers call, workaround videos showing temporary solutions, and status updates on fixes. This prevents support from having to ask engineering for updates on every bug.

When a bug affects multiple customers, record a brief video acknowledging the issue, explaining what you're doing to fix it, the expected timeline, and any workarounds customers can use in the meantime.

Getting Started With Video Bug Reports

‍Week 1: Pilot With Your QA Team

‍Train QA on the bug report video format and have them record videos for all new bugs. Get feedback from engineers and refine your guidelines.

Week 2: Expand Internally

‍Train all team members on video bug reporting, add video links to your bug tracking template, and create a shared document with guidelines.

Week 3: Introduce to Customer Support

‍Train support on when to request bug videos from customers, set up Submit links, and create templated responses.

Week 4: Measure and Optimize

‍Track time from bug report to resolution, survey engineers on video quality, and identify areas where video adoption could expand.

Common Concerns Addressed

• ‍"Recording videos takes too long." A 60-second video takes 60 seconds to record. Writing a detailed bug report with multiple screenshots takes 5-10 minutes.‍
• "Not everyone is comfortable recording." Video bug reports don't require being on camera. You're recording your screen and narrating.‍
• "What about bugs that don't have visual components?" Even for backend bugs, video can show console output, network traffic, timing issues, or the impact on user experience.

Get Started

Ready to speed up bug resolution and improve communication across your engineering team? Castify makes it easy to record, annotate, and share screen videos for comprehensive bug reports.

Join engineering teams using video to reduce debugging time, eliminate miscommunication, and ship higher-quality products faster. Start recording better bug reports in minutes.