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Acceptance testing & UAT testing
In this article, you will learn what acceptance testing and UAT testing is, what are its advantages and disadvantages, what acceptance testing types we know, and what tips will help make the UAT process more efficient.
Acceptance testing definition
Acceptance testing is a quality assurance (QA) process that determines the extent to which an application meets end-user requirements. This is the process of black box testing. Acceptance testing allows you to involve end users in the testing process and gather their feedback.
The QA team performs acceptance testing to ensure that the software or application meets the business requirements and end-user needs. The result of the acceptance test is either positive or negative (pass/fail). An unsuccessful result indicates that a bug is present and the software should not go into production.
The importance of acceptance testing
SOURCE: guru99.com/user-acceptance-testing.html
The importance of acceptance testing is huge, and if the test team skips acceptance testing, it is likely that the software will not conform to the original requirements. Upon successful completion of system testing within the SDLC, testers must perform an acceptance test:
- To make sure that the software is working in the desired way.
- To confirm that the software meets current market standards and competes with similar products in the industry.
- To gain confidence in the software to be deployed in production.
- To find bugs that were missed during the functional testing phase.
- To minimize or eliminate problems arising in the manufacture of the product.
Acceptance testing includes the following phases: planning, testing, recording, comparison and result.
After writing the test, end users interact with the software to assess its usability. The software should meet the expectations defined by the customer in the requirements. When the tests produce results, the IT department should report and correct any deficiencies that are found. If the results match the acceptance criteria for each test case, the test passes. However, if the test cases exceed an unacceptable threshold, they will fail.
Acceptance testing advantages
- It brings trust and satisfaction to clients because they are directly involved in the testing process.
- Users can more easily describe their requirements.
- The information gathered through acceptance testing is used by stakeholders to better understand the requirements of the target group.
Acceptance testing disadvantages
- Users should have at least a basic understanding of the product or application.
- Feedback on testing takes a long time because there are many users participating and individual users’ opinions may vary.
Acceptance testing types
- User Acceptance Testing UAT definition: user acceptance testing is used to determine if the product works correctly for the user. For testing purposes, specific requirements are selected in particular, which are used quite frequently by customers. It is also referred to as end-user testing.
- Business Acceptance Testing BAT definition: BAT is used to determine whether a product meets business objectives. BAT mainly focuses on business profits, which are quite challenging due to changing market conditions and new technologies, so the current implementation may need to be changed, resulting in additional expenditure.
- Contract Acceptance Testing (CAT): a CAT is a contract that stipulates that after the product is put into service, an acceptance test must be performed within a predetermined period of time, which should satisfy all acceptance use cases. Here, the contract is referred to as a service level agreement (SLA), which contains terms and conditions in which payment will only be made if the product’s services comply with all requirements.
- Regulations Acceptance Testing (RAT): the RAT is used to determine if a product does not violate the rules and regulations defined by the government of the country in which it is deployed. It may be unintentional, but it will have a negative impact on the business. In general, a product or application to be placed on the market must pass the RAT test, as different countries or regions have different rules and regulations defined by their governing bodies.
- Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT): OAT is used to determine the operational readiness of a product and it is a non-functional testing. It mainly includes testing for recovery, compatibility, sustainability, reliability, etc. OAT ensures the stability of the product before it is put into production.
- Alpha testing: alpha testing is used to determine the product in a development test environment by a dedicated team of testers, usually called alpha testers.
- Beta testing: beta testing is used to assess a product by exposing it to actual end users in their environment, they are usually called beta testers. Then feedback is gathered from users and bugs are removed.
Acceptance testing process
The acceptance testing process is divided into five stages:
- requirement analysis,
- test plan creation,
- test case designing,
- test case execution,
- confirmation of objectives.
- Requirement analysis
During this phase, the test team first analyzes the requirements document and then determines the goals of the software under development based on these requirements. Requirements documents, flowcharts and business use cases are used.
- Test plan creation
Test planning outlines the entire acceptance testing strategy. This strategy ensures and verifies that the software meets the specified requirements, objectives, schedule, estimates, deadlines, and resources needed to successfully complete the project.
- Test case designing
During this phase, test cases covering most scenarios are designed based on the test plan document.
- Test case execution
During this phase, all acceptance test cases with input values are executed. The tester collects and executes all user input to make sure that the software in the scenarios is working properly.
- Confirmation of objectives
Once all the previous steps have been completed, the testing team confirms that the software is free of bugs or defects and is ready to be handed over to the client.
UAT in software testing
User Acceptance Testing (UAT), which is performed on most UIT projects, sometimes called beta testing or end-user testing, is the phase of software development in which the software is tested in the “real world” by a designated audience or sales representative. This type of testing is not intended to be menu-driven (using a structured menu-based interface to guide users through the testing process), but rather to be conducted by business users to verify that the application will meet the end user’s needs, with scenarios and data representing actual use in practice.
UAT definition
User acceptance testing (UAT), also called application testing or end-user testing, is a phase of software development in which software is tested in the real world by its target audience. UAT is often the last phase of the software testing process and is performed before the software under test is released into production. The goal of UAT is to ensure that the software can handle real-world tasks and perform according to specifications.
Under UAT, users have the opportunity to interact with the software before its official release to see if any required features have been overlooked or if it contains any bugs. UAT can be executed in-house, by paid test subjects, or by making the test version available for anyone to download. Feedback from the testers is then directed back to the developers who make final changes before the final release of the software.
UAT meaning
The importance of user acceptance testing (UAT) is that it verifies two critical aspects:
- User requirements. Does the app meet users’ expectations? Is it easy to navigate and use?
- Business requirements. Can the application efficiently and effectively handle real use cases?
In other words, the software should help users perform real-world tasks without obstacles. Verification of these requirements usually comes in the form of signature or approval by stakeholders (“acceptance criteria”).
UAT entry acceptance testing criteria
Below are the conditions that must be met before UAT testing can be executed:
- Business requirements should be clear and accessible.
- The system and regression testing phase should be completed.
- All critical, major and minor defects should be fixed and closed (accepted minor defects are mainly cosmetic defects that do not interfere with the use of the product).
- A list of known issues should be created and sent to stakeholders.
- The system testing phase should be completed, allowing the product to move into the AT phase (usually done via email communication).
UAT exit acceptance criteria
There are certain conditions that the AT has to fulfil before the product can go into production.
Here are some of them:
- Acceptance tests should be performed and all tests should be successful.
- No critical/significant errors shall be left open. All errors should be immediately fixed and verified.
- The AT should be signed by all parties involved with the decision to approve/disapprove the product.
UAT test example
The online retailer is launching a new mobile app that allows people to order products from their mobile devices. The company outsourced the development of the app to a development company that specializes in this type of app on mobile devices.
Testers working for the vendor will perform user acceptance testing. The testers defined the most common scenarios as well as alternative and exceptional scenarios. Different user profiles have also been defined along with different order types.
Examples of test scenarios include:
- A new customer orders products with a value of less than 20€ in one order (small order, no free shipping).
- An existing customer orders products for less than 20€ in one order (small order, no free shipping).
- A new customer orders products for more than 20€ but less than 50€ in one order (medium order, no free shipping).
- An existing customer orders products for more than 20€ but less than 50€ in one order (medium order, no free shipping).
- A new customer orders more than 50€ in one order (large order, with free shipping).
- An existing customer orders for more than 50€ in one order (large order, with free shipping).
Acceptance test plan attributes
Below are some of the key attributes of ATP:
- Introduction: this section gives an overview of the project, the software being tested and the purpose.
- Acceptance test category: this section lists the types of acceptance testing that will be performed, such as user acceptance testing, system acceptance testing, and integration testing.
- Operating environment: this section describes the hardware and software environment in which acceptance testing will be performed.
- Test case ID: this is the distinguishing identifier for each test case.
- Test name: this is a brief description of the test case.
- Test goal: this section describes what the test case is designed to verify.
- Test procedure: this section describes the steps involved in executing a test case.
- Test schedule: this section specifies the dates and times when the test cases will be executed.
- Resources: this section lists the resources needed to perform acceptance testing, such as human resources, equipment and software.
User acceptance testing best practices
Identify your audience – Before you start user testing, it’s important to first identify the type of users who will be using your product or service. This can be done by conducting research on your target market and then creating a questionnaire to help you understand what types of users are currently using similar products or services. Once you have this information, it’s easy to create acceptance test scenarios based on the types of users you’d like to see.
Design acceptance tests – Once you’ve identified your target users and designed acceptance test scenarios, it’s time to start testing them! The best way to do this is to use a controlled environment where you can measure exactly how different groups of users interact with your product or service. This will help you identify any problems that may occur during normal use and give you the information you need to fix them.
Monitor your acceptance tests – Once you’ve completed your acceptance tests, it’s important to monitor and review the results so you can make any necessary changes.
Use the right tool – To achieve effective acceptance testing results, use the right set of tools to facilitate your existing workflow and process.
Prepare the testing environment – Run tests in a secure environment. Staging is a perfect copy of your production environment, an ideal playground for alpha and beta testers.
Prepare test case design – For large-scale and beta testing, design test cases that all users will track and report on. At the very least, mention the steps of case testing and the expected results.
Maintain prepared standards and protocols – It is advisable to list rules, regulations and compliances and have their respective acceptance criteria ready. You can also share them with the user group for acceptance testing so they have a more clear idea of the acceptance criteria.
UAT testers skills
The UAT tester should have a good understanding of the business. They should be independent and think like an unknown user of the system. The tester should have an analytical and open mindset and combine all kinds of data to make the UAT successful.
Acceptance testing tools
1. Testsigma
Testsigma is a tool for automating acceptance tests. Some of the features that make it ideal for test automation are:
- It’s a code-free test automation tool, so writing tests is like writing them in plain English. You don’t have to be a programming expert.
- You can start automating tests in minutes.
- Testsigma allows you to automate tests for web, mobile, desktop and API from one place.
- Test cases can also be modified very easily
2. Cucumber
Cucumber is a framework that uses a Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) approach. It allows testers to write test cases in a natural language format, making them easier to understand and maintain.
Cucumber supports multiple programming languages including Java, JavaScript, Python and Ruby.
3. Selenium WebDriver
Selenium WebDriver is a powerful framework for application acceptance testing. It provides a platform to automate browser interactions and validate application behaviour based on defined acceptance criteria.
Selenium WebDriver supports multiple programming languages such as Java, Python, C# and more, making it versatile and adaptable to a variety of projects.
4. SpecFlow
This is another popular acceptance testing framework that uses the BDD approach. It is similar to Cucumber, but is specifically designed for development in the .NET environment. SpecFlow supports multiple programming languages including C#, F#, Visual Basic, and .NET.
5. Robot Framework
This general acceptance testing framework can be used to test any software application. It is a keyword-driven framework, which means that test cases use keywords specific to the application under test. The Robot Framework supports multiple programming languages including Python, Java and JavaScript.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Wrong users: you have to choose the right UAT participants. It’s worth taking the time to look for suitable testers. It would be best to avoid users who aren’t interested in your app.
- Insufficient testing planning: provide guidance to users so that the application is thoroughly tested.
- Lack of data: you need to support the test participants as much as possible. Allow them to use live data to get the most out of user acceptance tests. You’ll ensure that the experience is as close to using a live product as possible.
- Avoiding negative results: tests are often designed to look for positive results. Consider including environments where the product is likely to fail to get more realistic feedback.
Conclusion
Acceptance testing is an integral part of behaviour-driven development and a key tool at our disposal to ensure we meet our business objectives. The key to acceptance testing is to trust the results of all the software tests you’ve already performed, focus on testing the bare minimum, and leave the thought that this is the last line of defense.
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