Key Difference Between Severity and Priority
We all struggled to understand the difference between ‘Severity’ and ‘Priority’ when learning software engineering. Non-technical people see no difference. For him, both mean the same. According to the Software Engineer, the aforementioned two words have different meanings and are employed in various contexts. Understand them individually.
Severity vs Priority Comparison Table
A comparative table shows how Severity and Priority differ in problem tracking and project management:
| Feature | Severity | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The impact of a defect on the system or user experience, often categorized as critical, major, minor, etc. | The importance or urgency of fixing a defect, usually expressed as high, medium, low, etc. |
| Focus | Concerned with the seriousness of the issue in terms of functionality and impact | Concerned with the order or sequence in which issues should be addressed |
| Impact on User | Reflects how much the defect affects the user experience or system functionality | Reflects how urgently the defect needs to be resolved, regardless of impact |
| Example Levels | Critical, Major, Moderate, Minor, Cosmetic | High, Medium, Low, Immediate, Deferred |
| Determining Factors | Based on the degree of deviation from expected behavior and the impact on users or system functionality | Determined by business needs, deadlines, customer requirements, etc. |
| Responsibility | Typically determined by testers, QA teams, or those responsible for quality assurance | Often set by project managers, product owners, or stakeholders based on business priorities |
| Decision Making | Guides decisions on how urgently an issue needs to be addressed from a functional perspective | Guides decisions on the sequence of issue resolution based on business priorities |
| Relation to Business Goals | Reflects the technical impact on the product or system | Reflects the business impact or urgency of resolving the issue |
| Change Over Time | Severity usually remains constant for a specific issue | Priority can change based on project dynamics, business needs, or new information |
| Communication to Team | Communicates the technical impact of an issue to the development and testing teams | Communicates the urgency and business importance of resolving an issue to the entire project team |
| Example Scenario | A critical bug causing the application to crash would have high severity | A minor cosmetic issue might have low severity but high priority if it needs to be fixed urgently for a client demo |
| Resolution Timeline | Doesn’t necessarily dictate the timeline for resolution | Indicates the urgency and timeframe within which an issue should be resolved |
| Collaboration | Collaboration between technical and testing teams | Collaboration between development, testing, and project management teams |