Have you heard about “user acceptance tests”? If you’re involved in the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle), we are confident your answer is “yes.”
“It’s all about the user.”
As the name implies, the user is at the heart of this type of software testing. Users are either the clients or people who will use the application. UAT is a process that the end-user or client performs.
Clients: These are the people who pay the organization for the software.
End users – These could be customers or their customers.
It’s important to include clients and users in the quality assurance strategy for software development and usability testing.
Each project has its unique requirements. I will share some general recommendations regarding the UAT phase in this blog. Let’s get started!
What is UAT
The User Acceptance Testing process is an important part of the testing process. The final stage in any software project is when the end users or their representatives test and approve the product before it goes live. It can be defined as the crucial stage of any software project, where the final product must be tested and approved before the client puts it into production.
After QA has tested the product in testing instances such as Stage and Alpha, the product will be deployed to a separate environment/testing instance like Beta for UAT. The product is then shared with the customer for user acceptance. The primary purpose of the acceptance testing cycle to validate end-to-end flow is to test. During this stage, the client may also give feedback that can be incorporated into the current or prioritized for a future release.
UAT’s major objectives
UAT is an important phase in system implementation projects and should be planned, structured, documented, etc.
Three questions define user testing:
Are all functionalities specified? Although this question is handled in the initial phases of the project, it needs to be confirmed by the Quality and Assurance team during UAT.
Do specified functionalities work correctly? While the primary goal is to determine if a system is suitable for business use, it is important to ensure it works properly.
Does functionality work in business scenarios? User testing involves developing business scenarios that the system should be able to handle and then running it against it.
Other objectives of the UAT are:
UAT reduces the risk that software will have defects after release. Fixing items during development is also less expensive and risky for the business than fixing them in production.
Clients gain confidence and skills to use the system. This helps businesses create their support teams from scratch.
UAT Process Prerequisites
We need to ensure that these points are in place before we give the product out for UAT:
It is important to have the business requirements document available, as these requirements will be used for UAT.
The application code must be developed fully and meet the criteria of Zero defects.
It is important to complete unit testing, integration testing, and system testing.
The traceability matrix must be completed for the entire testing process.
UAT must be prepared.
Pre-release notes/user manual documents must be available for reference.
It is necessary to establish a test plan and test cases.
It is important to create a handbook with all the required information, including test data, file locations, access links, instructions on what to focus on, how to report a problem, and any necessary contacts.
UAT Process
Once the product has been developed, the user/client team can start the UAT process. UAT time may vary depending on how the client’s or user’s team tests software.
The following steps should be performed for any type of UAT
Plan
Plan the UAT timeframe and strategy.
Choose the user testing team.
Choose the technical writing group.
Design
Identify all of the possible functional scenarios with your software and create a real-world test plan, including test scenarios, test case data, and test data.
Share the test plan, test cases, and scenarios with the user/client to facilitate an easy review.
Execute
Use the test data to execute the test.
Document the results of your tests.
Start preparing the release document if necessary.
Update the code and retest it. Sign off
Resolve any defects in the system with the assistance of the development team and then retest (UAT).
After UAT, send a sign-off mailer from the Business Analysis team.
The product is now ready for release with no critical defects.
UAT: Risks
Risk: The product has issues that cause it to fail UAT.
Mitigation Before you give the product to an end-user for UAT, be sure to address the following points.
Test the UAT as well.
Report any known issues to the user.
Share the resolution date of issues that are known to both parties.
List the critical modules that you want your users to focus on.
Risk: Clients/users are starting too late or too busy to perform UAT.
Mitigation Do a trial run together to avoid delays. Otherwise, ensure that you get regular progress reports from users.
Risk: The user is blocking the acceptance of low-priority items.
Mitigation: Inform the user about the issue and determine the type and priority of the issue. Prioritize issues that are outside of scope or low priority for future releases.
UAT is a critical stage in almost all projects. Keeping it at the forefront of planning will pay off, especially in managing risks. This article has covered all the points you need to know about UAT.