The purpose of UAT is to determine the degree of convenience, simplicity, and intuitiveness of the interface and the degree of user satisfaction. Therefore, when planning UAT, the following tasks should be considered:
- Ensure that the task supports all possible use cases well and that test use cases are designed with real situations in mind. A user can use the complete set of tools for this testing.
- Check that the program meets business requirements. It must be designed in such a way as to satisfy all the needs of partners and achieve their goals.
- Identify possible inconsistencies develop a plan to eliminate them. At this stage, errors in functionality are identified to be corrected without compromising the timing of the project launch.
User acceptance testing is an important step in preparing a product for market launch. Let’s see what UAT testing is, what types exist, and how to conduct it.
What Is User Acceptance Testing?
User acceptance testing is one of the stages of the software life cycle. In other words, this is end-user testing. It includes test suites to achieve the above goals. Before launching a web project, UAT is performed after functional, system, and regression testing.
Why Is User Acceptance Testing Important?
From a technical point of view, a product can be functional but fail during direct use. Then the main losses fall not on revision and new testing but the loss of reputation. In most cases, buyers will not want to purchase a product that has already shown itself to be of poor quality.
User acceptance testing performs a completely different function than other types of testing. Therefore, it is designated as a separate item in preparing the product for release. In addition, the reasons for which the program can fail are very different – they are extremely difficult to trace in the development process. For example, an error may occur if the developers do not convey clear requirements or because the new code that is effective for virtual deployment in the dynamics of real work shows itself as unfinished.
After summing up the results of UAT testing, you can be sure that you are releasing an effective, convenient, fully developed product to the market.
5 Type of User Acceptance Testing
Before proceeding with the testing itself, it is necessary to understand what types of UAT testing exist and when they are carried out.
Alpha testing
This is often performed internally during development. At this stage, system defects are identified, which developers eliminate before the product gets tested by external testers or customers. The methods used for conducting alpha testing are “black box” (when the tester does not know the code base and only checks the operational functions of the software) and “white box” (testing taking into account the internal structure of the software).
Beta testing
This is field testing. Unlike alpha testing, it is carried out in real-life circumstances. UAT is organized with a group of external users who test the product in their conditions, after which they leave feedback. In this way, developers receive direct feedback. This allows you to improve the quality of the product and reduce the number of unforeseen failures and risks.
Operational acceptance testing
Operational or production acceptance testing validates the work processes and the system itself. In other words, they test things that involve the operating system and software, such as backup plans, software maintenance processes, and security checks. The results will show the availability of the product system.
Prototype testing
Even at the stage of creation, when there is already a minimum viable product (MVP), developers launch some prototypes. By testing these prototypes, the team can find bugs and improve some points before determining the actual version of the program. Then, verification is carried out with the involvement of focus groups consisting of potential users. During testing, they check the convenience and compliance of the product with the user’s requirements, and the test team observes and records their reactions – verbal and behavioral. The information obtained will show which direction to move the marketing and branding teams.
Contract and regulation acceptance testing
At this stage, the starting point for testing is the agreement with the requirements for the product – how it corresponds to the contract with the customer. In addition, an important part is the verification of compliance with the requirements of national security, legal regulations, and data protection.
How To Perform User Acceptance Testing
User acceptance testing metrics are critical to launching a product, so it needs to be done correctly. When you are ready to start testing yourself, there are eight required steps to complete. We will talk about them further.
Analyze the Business Requirements
The stage of creating test scripts plays one of the key roles. When developing these situations, it is necessary to rely on the following documents:
- Project charter
- Business applications
- Technological process diagrams
- Business requirements document (BRD)
- System requirements specification (SRS)
They should be extremely accessible and understandable to all team members.
Create a UAT test plan
Create a strategy that will be followed during the verification of the product for compliance with business requirements. This approach includes entry and exit criteria for UAT, test scenarios, test methods, and timing.
Identify Test Scenarios
The definition of scenarios must be carried out, taking into account a high-level business process. Moreover, they should contain clear testing steps. Finally, the scripts will serve as a starting point for the next step.
Create UAT Test Cases
At this stage, test cases cover the maximum number of use cases.
Prepare Test Data (Production-Like Data)
The best option is encrypted operational data. This is necessary for security and privacy reasons. However, the tester must be familiar with the database flow.
Run the Test Cases
Perform data-driven and test-case testing.
Record the Results
Document and report any errors or failures found. After correction, the last two processes must be repeated.
Confirm the Business Objectives
Analysts or testers at the end of the work should send an email with a signature confirming the positive results of the end of testing. In addition, the report should contain the following information:
- Test plan
- Scenarios
- Examples of conducted UAT
- Test results
- List of defects
At the end of the approval, the product is sent to production.
Output
Conducting user acceptance testing reduces the cost of fixing bugs and protects the company from losing customers who are dissatisfied with the quality of the product.
