Triage

Simplified version of <https://wiki.mozilla.org/Bugmasters/Process/Triage>.

How Triage Is Done

Goals

By the end of a triage meeting:

• All new issues filed since the last triage meeting have been looked at.
• An action has been taken:
  • Closed immediately.
  • Prioritized immediately:
    • Next release ("P1")
    • Following release ("P2")
    • Backlog — still valid but not tracked for a release ("P3")
    • Will accept patches ("P5")
    • WONTFIX
  • An action item has been assigned to a person to:
    • Investigate it in a timeboxed fashion. (E.g., is this bug reproducible? Does it go away if we fix Issue #NN?)
    • Break it down into work that can be prioritized or estimated. This includes options like producing a stop-gap solution or workaround.
• Existing issues tracking the next release have been skimmed and reprioritized if necessary.

The day-to-day

Drag-and-drop in Waffle:

<https://waffle.io/mozilla/tofino>

Roles

• Running the meeting. This person talks their way down each list in each section, briefly summarizing the issue or asking someone else to. This person is responsible for keeping things moving and reducing the need for others to scroll around and feel lost. This person also cuts off discussion/argument that runs long.

• Proposing an action. One or more people who are (a) aware of the product context, and (b) understand the issue, should propose what to do — "I don't think we can ship without this", "I don't think this is important". Note that proposing an action __does not involve solving the bug right here__.

• Questioning. Someone has the responsibility to be devil's advocate/ask good questions/etc. — "but can we ship without that?" "doesn't that really hurt the user experience?"

• Clicky-clicky. This person is responsible for making actions happen — dragging cards between columns, closing issues (now or later), making notes for follow-up work.

Releases

Cutting a release implies that the "Next Release" column is empty. If it's not, either we still have bugs to fix, or we need to update the board to match reality.

When a release is cut, some or all of "Following Release" moves to "Next Release". Some or none of "Backlog" moves to "Following Release".

Periodically, "Backlog" and "Patches Welcome" should be pruned, lest they end up as a dumping ground. Be realistic about what won't ever be fixed.