User Acceptance Testing is used by many industries to ensure their software products or web applications are up to standards before being shipped out to the end user. While it’s such an important part of the whole development process, not many people know what it is and it could be, that you don’t yet have DebugMe in your toolset to help you out near the end of the design process. This expert guide is designed to give you insight into what is user acceptance testing (UAT testing) and how it’s performed effectively.

What Is User Acceptance Testing?

UAT testing or user acceptance testing is the last testing phase of software development. User acceptance testing ensures that in real-world situations and scenarios, the software can handle the tasks that it was developed to do.

User acceptance testing is the critical and final stage of development that is to be performed before the new software or web application is to be sent out on the market. UAT testing may also be known as end user testing, application testing or beta testing.

UAT testing is usually carried out by either in house user experience and QA experts or by the general public through beta trials. When conducted in house, the user acceptance testing plan may include:

General Planning – The UAT testing strategy is outlined and planned.

– The UAT testing strategy is outlined and planned. Designing Test Cases – Test cases are developed to mimic that of real world usage.

Test cases are developed to mimic that of real world usage. Testing Team Selection – The team is selected that would best suit the test that needs to be carried out.

The team is selected that would best suit the test that needs to be carried out. Completing Test Cases and Documenting – Tests and the bug reporting are executed, bugs are logged.

– Tests and the bug reporting are executed, bugs are logged. Bug Fixing – Any bugs are then fixed and adjusted to ensure the product is bug free.

– Any bugs are then fixed and adjusted to ensure the product is bug free. Sign-Off – The sign off means that the product has been completely tested, fixed of bugs and is ready to roll out.

How To Perform It Effectively

UAT testing is very important to help ensure quality control of a product before being shipped out to the public. The following are the key elements on how to perform UAT testing successfully:

Consider Your Acceptance Criteria

The first stage of an effective user acceptance testing is to consider the key acceptance criteria. You need to list the different things that will need to be calculated before taking on the product. In general, you should analyze key business functionality in relation to the business industry the product will be used for. Once your criteria have been set you can then work on gathering your testing team.

Gather The Right Users For Testing

Generally, an in-house team will perform the user acceptance testing, however, testing can be completed by the intended users. It’s important for proper UAT testing to gather a team of the right end users to ensure the product will be tested effectively. Without gathering the right team, it can cause your user acceptance testing to be inadequate.

Know When The Testing Should Begin

UAT testing is essential but mustn’t be undertaken until the project is mostly complete. Here are some prerequisites that need to be met in order for the UAT testing to begin:

Application code needs to be developed.

Business requirements should be available.

Completion of unit testing, system testing and integration testing should be done.

Regression testing should be completed without any major problems or defects.

No high or medium defects should be in the system integration test phase.

Cosmetic errors may be acceptable before UAT testing is to be carried out.

All reported defects need to be tested and fixed.

Testing traceability matrix for testing should be complete.

The UAT testing environment should be ready.

Sign off communication from the system testing team should be implemented before UAT testing is executed.

After these prerequisites are accounted for, testing can begin on the project by:

Asking The Right Questions

During the process, it’s important to ask questions

How long does the software or application take to load?

How long does the software or application consume a minimum amount of resources?

Do all functions give the correct output and accept the correct input.

Does the software or application crash at any point during the operation?

These questions should be asked during the functional testing, unit testing, system testing, or integration testing. Overall the following questions should be answered to know if the test was a success or failure.

Does the software or application behave exactly as its anticipated to?

Would the user have trouble using it?

Is it what the user asked for?

Can the user use the software or application effectively?

In asking these questions you’ll be able to perform the user acceptance testing better to ensure the product is working effectively.

Conclusion

Completing user acceptance testing is important to the whole project when developing new software. By understanding what UAT is and how to perform it effectively you’ll be able to really improve the overall quality of your end product. So, are you ready to perform UAT testing?

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