User Acceptance Testing is abbreviated as UAT. Here, the user is the client who has hired you to create software for them or customers to whom you will be selling your product. And, acceptance means approval or agreement. Software testing is performed by the client or user to see if the software is approved for release or not. In short, the main purpose of user acceptance testing is to verify that your software meets user needs and business requirements.
Developers are inclined to create a tunnel vision while working on the same apps for longer periods. Everything cannot be evaluated and assessed, particularly the front-facing side of the software. Bad user experience (UX), errors and post-release bugs are some other problems solved by the UAT. Perhaps, these bugs cannot be detected by the other testing methodologies. However, they become prominent in features flow and app design. Resolving these defects before app release will decrease primary negative reviews and impressions of your software.
Keeping this scenario in mind, we are presenting to you 5 steps process for user acceptance testing that all testing teams should always implement.
Planning
Planning is the first step in the process of user acceptance testing. Initially, you must establish your UAT agenda and the quality assurance agents and the testers you should require in project duration. One of the techniques involves the following steps.
How does your testing group look like? And then, work on that
- Sit down and thinks about the people who will be involved in UAT execution. This includes responsibilities and roles
- Bring your QA together and guarantee that everyone has a clear understanding of the responsibilities
- Form very clear communication guidelines and prepare them for testing.
During this process, it is very important to follow a particular workflow. As a result, you will be able to manage the errors, bugs, and other problems effectively.
Execution
There are numerous ways through which you can manage the execution of user acceptance testing. One of the methods is to gather the testers to your facility and execute testing there. On the contrary, if you are selling the software to customers worldwide, you will not be able to meet the testers personally.
In this situation, you should conduct one on one sessions with them through zoom, Skype, and other online telecom software. This will provide you with a load of qualitative and quantitative information from the users.
You will also be able to see insights that you have not always considered. You will attain a better understanding of savvy your customer is, and you will be able to modify all the important aspects of your software to make it effective.
Documentation
During the application process of user acceptance testing, you must document your complete progress. You must guarantee whatever you utilize permits you to record abnormalities, user feedback, and bugs, and all other important observations. In addition to this, you must keep in mind the main aims of UAT while documenting the progress.
- Make sure that the software performs the business functions as per the expectations.
- Make sure that the software is usable and useful from the customer’s or end-users point of view.
- Make sure that the software is acquiescent with legal and regulatory requirements.
- Confirm that the software is all set to be moved to production.
Evaluation
At this stage, you are required to see if the criterion has been assessed or not. This is the most detailed phase of UAT because you are gathering, accumulating, and analyzing information. You must have the answers to the following questions:
- Are there any failed tests?
- What difficulties happened?
- Who is responsible for the difficulties and can they be fixed?
- How many testers will be needed to get done with the test cases?
- What was the rating that test cases attained?
- What was the condition of mind of every tester?
The reason that these questioned must be answered is because they provide you context for the outcomes of the tests. This context indicates how your actual customers will communicate with and experience your software are different emotional and mental conditions.
Reporting
At this stage, you evaluate the bigger picture of the UAT, the insights attained and the lessons learned. The information gained at this stage allows you to enhance future test cases and improve your UAT workflow.
