User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Explained

Have you heard of “user acceptance testing”? We are sure your answer would be “Yes” if you are involved in any part of the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle).

“It’s All About the User”

When it comes to this type of software testing, as the name suggests, the user is the key element. The users are the people who’ll use the application, or the client for whom the application is developed. So, basically UAT is performed by the client or end-user.

• Clients – They are the customers of the organization, the ones who require the organization to develop the software.
• End Users – The end-users of the software could be the customers themselves or the customers’ customers.

So, it’s vital to make clients or users a part of the whole quality strategy in the software development as well as the usability testing process.

We know that each project is different and has different requirements. And so, in this blog, I am sharing some general recommendations about UAT phase. Let’s get started!

What is UAT?

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is the final stage of any software project where the final users, or their representatives, test the product and approve it before going live. You can also simply define it as the critical stage of any project where the final product is tested and approved by the client before it is released to production.

Once the product is tested by QA on testing instances like Stage and Alpha, the product is deployed on a separate testing instance/environment like Beta for UAT and is shared with the client for user acceptance. The main purpose of acceptance testing cycle is to validate the end-to-end business flow. During this phase, the client might also provide feedback, which can be included in the current release or can be prioritized and planned for future release.

Major objectives of UAT

UAT should be well-planned, structured, and documented as it is a critical phase of system implementation projects.

There are three basic questions for UAT that define the entire objective for user testing:

1. Have all functionalities been specified? This question, although being handled during the initial phase of the project, needs to be checked by the Quality and Assurance teams during UAT for final confirmation.
2. Does specified functionalities work? Although the main aim is to see if the system works in business scenarios, there is still a need to check if the system works correctly.
3. Do functionalities work in business scenarios? User testing entails developing certain business scenarios which the system is expected to deal with and then running them against it.

The other objectives of the UAT process are:

• Reduces the risk of having defects post release – UAT prevents the loss of reputation that can be caused to an organization on releasing software with defects. Additionally, fixing items in development rather than production is less costly and risky to the business.
• Client gains skills and confidence to use the new system – This will help businesses build their support team from scratch, since the idea of a well-performed service is that of increasing revenues.

Prerequisites of UAT Process

Before giving the product for UAT, we need to make sure that the following pointers are in place:

• The business requirements document must be available since these requirements are considered as a datum point for UAT.
• The application code should be fully developed and must satisfy the Zero defects’ criteria.
• Unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and regression testing should be completed.
• The traceability matrix for the entire testing process needs to be completed.
• UAT environment must be ready.
• A pre-release note/user manual document must be ready for reference.
• Test plan with test cases (optional – depending on the client’s/user’s requirement) must be established.
• A handbook that includes everything they need – including test data, access links/file locations, instructions, what areas to concentrate on, how to report an issue, and any contacts they might need should be curated.

UAT Process

The user/client can begin with the UAT process once the product is developed. The time required for UAT may differ depending on how the user’s/client’s team proceeds with software testing.

The following steps are performed during any type of UAT:

1. Plan –

a. Plan the time frame and strategies for UAT.

b. Select the user testing team.

c. Select the technical writing team.

2. Design –

a. Identify and create a test plan with test scenarios, test cases, and test data covering all the software’s functional scenarios in real-world terms.

b. Facilitate easy review and early finish by sharing the test plan along with test scenarios and test cases with the client/user.

3. Execute –

a. Execute the test using the test data.

b. Document the test results.

c. Start preparing any release document, if required.

4. Update the code, retest and sign-off –

a. Resolve the defects found in the system with the help of the development team and re-test (UAT).

b. Send sign off mailer after UAT from the business analysis team.

After this, the product should be ready to release with no open critical defect.

Risks in UAT

1. Risk: There are issues in the product that fail UAT.

Mitigation: Before you hand over the product to the user for UAT, make sure to work on the following points:

1. Perform testing in the UAT environment as well.
2. Make a report of known issues and share it with the user.
3. Share a resolution date for the shared known issues.
4. Share the list of critical modules you want the user to focus on.

2. Risk: The client/users start too late in the process OR are too busy for UAT.

Mitigation: Try to do a test run together to avoid the delay. Else, make sure to take progress reports from the users at regular intervals.

3. Risk: The user is blocking acceptance due to low priority items.

Mitigation: Communicate to the user and decide the priority and type of issue that should block acceptance. Anything outside the scope and low priority issues should be prioritized for the future releases.

In conclusion, UAT is an important stage of almost every project and keeping it in the forefront of your planning can really yield dividends, particularly in managing risk. We have covered enough points here which help you to understand the UAT in brief.

Reach out to us if you’d like to share your feedback about this blog and visit us at Nitor Infotech. Do also read this blog if you’d like to learn more about user aligned context-driven testing.