8 steps to JIRA field greatness

This is a condensed version of “8 steps to JIRA field greatness” available at: http://blogs.atlassian.com/2013/12/8-steps-to-jira-field-greatness/

ISSUE TYPES FIELDS WORKFLOWS

Hi! I’m the issue type bug. I start out with fields like

summary and description.

Once an engineer reviews me, I get a new field called

resolution.

When someone checks the change I get a new

field: verified build.

The Terms

The Problem: Field-itis

Why do I have to fill ALL this out? Half of this isn’t even

relevant to me!

Diagnosing Field-itis

Are people not filling out all of the needed information when creating issues?

Diagnosing Field-itis

Do people not submit issues because it’s too much work?

Diagnosing Field-itis

Are certain fields collecting bogus information because end users don’t understand its value?

•  What is the business value of this field?

•  What is required of the end-user to submit this information?

•  When in the issue lifecycle do you need this information?

STEP ONE"

The Cure IN 8 EASY STEPS"

Order fields on screens

STEP TWO"

GOOD FLOW

Fields general to specific and the most important fields are listed

first

POOR FLOW

Fields are randomly placed

on the form requiring many context shifts

Fill out the field description

STEP THREE"

•  Use the field’s description to educate users.

•  Keep the description short.

•  Use HTML as needed.

Respect the required option

STEP FOUR"

•  Have a way for your users to say, “I don’t know.”

•  Give each field a description (see step 3).

Remove unneeded fields

STEP FIVE"

Why do I have to fill ALL this out? Half of this isn’t even

relevant to me!

Spread out data entry

STEP SIX"

Scope each field

STEP SEVEN"

•  Use project contexts to limit where custom fields show up.

•  Forms that only have what's necessary make everyone more efficient.

Automate Everything

STEP EIGHT"

•  Rest API.

•  Get high fidelity detail about reported issues without burdening users.

Thank you!