Independent Software QA Testing Services
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is a type of software testing performed by the end-user or the client to verify/accept the software system before moving the software application to the final production environment. User Acceptance Testing is usually deployed in the last phase of testing after functional, integration, and system testing are conducted.
The major purpose of User Acceptance Testing is to validate a seamless end-to-end business flow. However, it does not focus on correcting cosmetic errors, spelling errors, or system testing. User Acceptance Testing is carried out in a separate testing environment usually with a production-like data setup. It is a kind of black box testing where two or more end-users are generally involved.
The need for User Acceptance Testing arises after the software has undergone Unit, Integration, and System testing, as developers might have built the software based on requirements document based on their self-understanding and the further incorporated changes during later development stages might not have been effectively communicated to them, hence testing whether the final product is deemed acceptable by client/end-user, user acceptance testing is highly needed.
User Acceptance Testing is usually conducted by the intended users of the system or software. This type of Software Testing is conducted mostly at the client location which is referred to as Beta Testing. Once the Entry criteria for UAT are fully met, the following tasks are needed to be performed by the testers.
Step 1) Analysis of Business Requirements
The most important activity in User Acceptance Testing is to identify and develop test scenarios. These test scenarios are usually derived from the below-stated documents:
Project Charter
Business Use Cases
Process Flow Diagrams
Business Requirements Document(BRD)
System Requirements Specification(SRS)
Step 2) Creation of a User Acceptance Testing Plan:
The User Acceptance Testing test plan strategy outlines what will be used to verify and ensure an application meets its business requirements. It also documents the entry and exit criteria for User Acceptance Testing, test scenarios and test case approaches, and the estimated timeline of testing.
Step 3) Test Scenarios and Test Cases identification
Identifying the test scenarios concerning high-level business processes, and creating test cases with clarified test steps. Test Cases should sufficiently cover most of the User Acceptance Testing scenarios. Business Use cases are the usual input for creating the User Acceptance Testing test cases.
Step 4) Preparation of Test Data:
It is best advised to deploy live data for User Acceptance Testing. However, all live data should be scrambled for ensuring privacy and security reasons and the test team must be familiar with the database flow.
Step 5) Execute the test cases and record the results:
Involves executing test cases and reporting bugs if any. Also ensuring Re-testing for bugs once fixed. Test Management tools can be deployed for execution.
Step 6) Confirm Business Objectives met:
Business Analysts or User Acceptance Testers need to send a sign-off closure email after the User Acceptance Testing. After sign-off, the product is usually considered good for production. The deliverables for User Acceptance Testing are Test Plan, User Acceptance Testing Scenarios and Test Cases, Test report, Sign off, and Defect Logs.
Exit criteria for User Acceptance Testing:
Before moving into production, the following exit criteria need to be considered:
Following standardized industry best practices should be ideally considered for ensuring User Acceptance Testing Success:
In regular software development scenarios, User Acceptance Testing is usually carried out in the QA environment. If there is no staging or User Acceptance Testing environment.
User Acceptance Testing is then further classified into Beta and Alpha testing, but it is deemed not so important when the software in question is usually developed for a service-based industry.
User Acceptance Testing usually only makes more sense when the customer is involved with the system to a much greater extent.
With User Acceptance Testing, the client can be assured of “What to expect” from the product rather than employing guesswork or assumptions.
The benefit of a successful User Acceptance Testing ensures that there will be no surprises when the product is finally released to the markets.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) also referred to as beta or end-user testing is defined as the process of testing the software by the end-user or client to determine whether it can be considered acceptable or not. User Acceptance Testing is usually performed by end users/clients. It is a test phase that largely depends on the point of view and perspective of the end users and relies heavily on the domain knowledge of a department that represents the end users.
What would be the right time to conduct this test?
User Acceptance Testing is always conducted in the final phase of testing after functional, integration, and system testing are fully executed. This is usually the last step before a product goes live for production.
User Acceptance Testing is usually carried out in a separate testing environment with a production-like data setup. Most of the time User Acceptance Testing is carried out in a QA environment if there is no staging or User Acceptance Testing environment.
Tools that can be used for user acceptance testing
What happens if you don’t do the User Acceptance Testing?
Supposedly if a software is complete according to the functional specifications and there are business requirements and processes that are known only to the end-users that can be either missed to be communicated or misinterpreted. User Acceptance Testing plays an important role in validating if all the business requirements are fulfilled or not before releasing the software for its final market use.
Many businesses have reportedly suffered huge losses due to post-release issues. The cost of fixing the defects after release is always much greater than fixing them before.
Why is User Acceptance Testing required?
This testing service ensures the validation of software against the specified business requirements. I.e Validating all end-to-end business flow and evaluating operational ease of use. The use of live data and real use cases make this testing an integral aspect of the release cycle.
What are the other testing services you must opt for along with User Acceptance Testing?
Once User Acceptance Testing is completed, Automation testing can be further opted for once the product is stable.
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