When you a receive a bug report that is hard to understand from a person with whom you have never had contact, it can be difficult to get a complete picture of what is wrong. Assuming that you can make some contact with them, here is a good process for clarifying a report:

1. Start by communicating your desire to be helpful and fix things. This will start the relationship out with the right tone. Users are often so used to being treated like nuisances that they will be very reticent to discuss things at first and will almost be apologetic for things they notice. Once they figure out that your top priority is fixing things, communication will become easier.
2. Try to gauge the priority of this bug for this user in terms of their overall workload. This might be something very small to them and they are swamped with work, or it might be preventing them from completing something important. Say something like, "I saw your bug report and I wanted to get a little more information, if you have time. I couldn't tell from what your report whether it was actually blocking your work, or just an annoyance."
3. If the user has time and interest, start with the "Tell Me a Story" bit described a few days ago, but in addition to focusing on the details of the bug, try to gauge the user's level of technical skill, and their overall feeling about the system. Your goal is not only to fix this bug, but also to get them to feel good about the system. It sounds touchy-feely, but perception is everything, and if they want to vent about lots of things they think are wrong, it can help if they know you are listening, and you can get invaluable information about how things are actually used.
4. As you are talking with the user, it can sometimes help to categorize them for future reference, because it can help you understand where they are coming from:
• The Power User - The most valuable kind of user because they push the limits of the system. They will report a lot of bugs, and will care if they are fixed.
• The Squeaky Wheel - Reports a lot of bugs but often of the preference type. Reports need to be read with more skepticism than usual.
• The Boss - While someone in charge might report bugs that you otherwise would push off, fixing their bugs might have a stronger effect on the overall use of the system because of their influence. Plus, they might be the ones controlling your budget.
• The Geek - A tech-savvy user can be an invaluable source of not only bug reporting, but also as a kind of translator between the way that you think and the way that the users think. However, watch out for geeks trying to be overly helpful and offering endless "free advice".

Tomorrow: Clarifying the Bug Report, Part II