Bug bashes are one of those old-school, highly effective engineering rituals that somehow still feel underrated. If you work in a product team and haven’t yet facilitated one, you’re probably missing out on a powerful feedback loop just before release.
In this post, we’ll walk through how we run bug bashes in the Monetization Tribe, what you need to set it up, who participates, and how to structure it for speed and alignment.
What Is a Bug Bash?
A bug bash is a focused session where engineers, product managers, designers, and researchers come together to explore and test a feature before release. Unlike traditional QA, a bug bash aims to simulate real-world usage across multiple devices, browsers, roles, and perspectives.
“It’s not about testing to pass. It’s about testing to break.”
Bug bashes aren’t there to replace automated or regression tests—they exist to expose blind spots, gather feedback from cross-functional perspectives, and uncover hard-to-reproduce issues.
Why Do We Run Bug Bashes?
Here’s why we do it every time we wrap a new product cycle:
- They help us catch bugs early and cheaply.
- They foster team ownership of quality.
- They expose the product to real usage diversity (devices, networks, roles).
- They build empathy and shared context across engineering, product, and design.
- They create a space for collaboration without blame.
- They complement our automated testing strategy with human perspectives.
| Benefit | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Fast bug discovery | Critical issues are surfaced before real users encounter them |
| Cross-team learning | Everyone gets hands-on time with parts of the product they don’t own directly |
| Lower release risk | We turn subjective assumptions into actionable bugs or improvements |
| Human perspective | Captures issues that automated tests can’t detect |
When Do We Run a Bug Bash?
We schedule a bug bash when:
- We’re close to a major release.
- All user stories are complete and merged into the feature environment.
- There’s enough stability that exploratory testing is meaningful.
- Our automated tests are passing and the codebase is stable.
- We want to collect early signals from broader usage.
Typically, we run the session a week before release—but we adjust based on scope and team readiness.
Who Facilitates It?
In our tribe, engineers usually facilitate bug bashes. But facilitation can rotate to anyone willing to coordinate and keep the energy focused.
We recommend two facilitators per session to handle coordination, unblock participants, and manage documentation.
How We Run It
We split the bug bash into four phases. Each one is short, intentional, and builds toward impact:
1. Preparation (15 min)
- Define the facilitators.
- Prepare the bug bash spreadsheet or board.
- Confirm access to staging environments or mobile builds.
- Share scope and testing instructions.
- Send calendar invite with RSVP and agenda.
Checklist:
- [ ] Facilitator(s) defined
- [ ] Bug bash sheet created
- [ ] Access to feature env verified
- [ ] Calendar invite sent
2. Check-in & Kickoff (10 min)
- Check all participants can access tools and environments.
- Introduce the feature and what we’re trying to explore.
- Emphasize collaboration over perfection—no blame if bugs are found.
- Remind folks to log all findings with:
- Steps to reproduce
- Screenshots (if possible)
- Device/browser info
3. Exploratory Session (50 min)
- Everyone explores the product independently.
- Facilitators monitor the bug sheet and unblock anyone stuck.
- Participants log findings directly into the shared doc.
We strongly recommend using a spreadsheet or Jira board with required fields:
- Title
- Steps to Reproduce
- Expected vs. Actual
- Environment (browser/OS/device)
- Priority
- Reporter
4. Wrap-up & Prioritization (20 min)
- Designers and Product review all reported issues.
- Clarify whether issues are real bugs or misunderstandings.
- Assign priorities (P0–P2).
- Create Jira tickets from the top issues and tag them as
bugbash.
We only take what’s critical into the current sprint. The rest can be groomed into the backlog.
Final Thoughts
Bug bashes bring the team together to own quality, not outsource it. They promote curiosity, humility, and feedback. And they help you release with more confidence—because you’re no longer guessing how people will use your product.