How is uat testing performed

This is ideal as these are real-world users operating the software in a real environment. Creating test assignments Since you want to test every part of the software, you need to create specific test assignments. These test plans should be based on real user journey interactions. Remember that your users are not developers or business people, so you need to write instructions in everyday language.

Are all app buttons, drop-downs, and sliders working correctly? Are there overlapping elements preventing scroll? Clarify the feedback You need to thoroughly understand the feedback that you receive from testers.

Again, it is likely your participants will use non-technical language in their feedback. You can find numerous templates to assist you in creating a UAT feedback form. Here is a list of the top 20 for this year.

Common mistakes you need to avoid during user acceptance testing If you are new to UAT, it is normal to make mistakes. So, here are some common mistakes that are easy to avoid: Incorrect users: You must choose the right participants for your UAT. It is worth taking the time to find suitable testers. Lack of test planning: Provide your users with a set of guidelines so the application is fully tested. Not enough data: You need to support your participants as much as possible.

Allow your participants to use live data, so they get the most out of your user acceptance tests. This will ensure the experience is as close to using the live product as possible. Avoiding negative results: Quite often, tests are designed to look for positive results. You should include environments in which the product will more likely fail to get more realistic feedback. Common challenges of user acceptance testing There are many challenges you will hit when you start doing UAT.

Validation and verification activities in terms of overall product testing. Alpha testing is the initial stage of acceptance testing, typically performed by internal testers, to ensure that the product functions correctly and meets business requirements. Beta testing , the second type of acceptance testing, aims at meeting user acceptance criteria. UAT can be performed by. This enables the development team to fix most of the usability problems, bugs, and unexpected issues concerning functionality, system design, business requirements, etc.

The main purpose of acceptance testing is to validate that the product corresponds with the needs of users defined at the product discovery stage and is ready for launch. According to an Origsoft survey on UAT usage , over 75 percent of respondents said they conduct multiple cycles of end-user testing with 57 percent claiming the poor quality of the product as a reason.

Ensure correspondence with business requirements. As we already mentioned, UAT is done to verify that the product operates in the real-world circumstances as required and allows end users to solve targeted problems. If you skip UAT, you might miss out on some important flaws or system malfunctions that will inevitably cause user dissatisfaction.

Adjust initial requirements. Sometimes, as end users test the product, they can come up with some valuable thoughts on how to improve the tested software. Getting such feedback will allow you to adjust your requirements to get a result that will be more useful for your customers.

Avoid losses. Read on for more details. Second, we all know stories about product failures because of poor functionality and usability. UAT provides you with real-world user feedback and makes it far less likely to have losses caused by an unsuccessful product launch. In any case, UAT requires organization and preparation work to make it effective. Analyzing product requirements is the first step of UAT planning.

The primary source of input information would be the software requirements specification as it includes the complete scope of business and functional requirements.

Business requirements are the high-level objectives of your organization that communicate business needs. Functional requirements bridge a technical solution with the business requirements. The overview of these requirements will tell you exactly what you should test, whether the implemented solutions work for the users and solve problems for the business. Functional requirements can be translated into test cases, considering the success criteria of business requirements.

And that will help you form an overall testing strategy. Consider engaging your business analysts , QA engineers , or product owners for requirement analysis. The final planning stage is creating technical documentation for the UAT process. The following sections describe the documentation used in user acceptance testing. UAT test plan. Creating a UAT test plan will help you keep everybody aligned with the same objectives and vision.

The main document, it includes all the information concerning what will be tested, by whom, and how. End-user testing strategy. The strategy outlines the product you are testing, the purpose of user-acceptance testing, types of tests, and objectives. Your testing strategy should cover such information as. Entry criteria. These are the conditions that establish that the software is ready to be tested.

They are set at the earliest stage of planning by the development team, QA, business analysts, and stakeholders. Exit or acceptance criteria. These are the conditions that dictate that the software is valid for the users. Matching acceptance criteria would be the final stage of your UAT. Test scenarios. Test scenarios are hypothetical situations that users may encounter when interacting with your product. Their aim is to guide your testers through possible system usage problems.

Basically, a test scenario should convey a simple idea of what will be tested. They are written to validate that the system is usable, checking the end-to-end operations with real data. To write good test scenarios for user acceptance testing, consider involving end users in approval to include all the possible use cases, both common and uncommon.

Also, consider writing them in plain language, avoiding complicated phrasing or overly techy explanations. Test cases. A test case is a set of specific actions that are taken to test and verify a particular system behavior, feature, or functionality. Test cases are more detailed units that have to correspond with all the test scenarios.

Most often you will convert your user stories and business use cases to write efficient test cases. Examples of test cases are:. Test cases are efficient when there is a clear purpose stated, and the user is able to understand what they should do to complete it.

The user guide to a test case may look like this:. You may also include expected results in the test case, so that the user is aware of what is going to happen:. Reporting standards. Define how a report should look and what information an end user should provide. The UAT test plan outlines the strategy that will be used to verify and ensure an application meets its business requirements. It documents entry and exit criteria for UAT, Test scenarios and test cases approach and timelines of testing.

Identify the test scenarios with respect to high-level business process and create test cases with clear test steps. Test Cases should sufficiently cover most of the UAT scenarios. Business Use cases are input for creating the test cases.

It is best advised to use live data for UAT. Data should be scrambled for privacy and security reasons. Tester should be familiar with the database flow. Execute test cases and report bugs if any. Re-test bugs once fixed. Test Management tools can be used for execution. After sign-off, the product is good to go for production. UAT Tester should possess good knowledge of the business. He should be independent and think as an unknown user to the system.

Tester should be Analytical and Lateral thinker and combine all sort of data to make the UAT successful. Tester or Business Analyst or Subject Matter Experts who understand the business requirements or flows can prepare test and data which are realistic to the business.