What are the Best Practices for User Acceptance Testing?

Now that we have a UAT environment setup, what are the best approaches to begin testing? What are the best practices to use when performing User Acceptance Testing? 

These are common questions when it is time to start User Acceptance Testing. The best approach is always to have a plan, which I will cover more in this blog. Another thing to remember is how many test user accounts are needed for testing.

Prepare for User-Acceptance Testing

Define the acceptance criteria upfront

The first step in any UAT process is to define the acceptance criteria. This should be a collaborative effort between the development team, the business stakeholders, and the end users. The acceptance criteria should be clear, concise, and measurable. It should also be achievable – meaning that it is realistic for the system to meet these criteria.

For instance, an acceptance criterion for a new shopping cart feature on an eCommerce site might be “The user should be able to add items to their cart and see the total price before checkout.” This is clear, concise, and measurable. It is also achievable – if the development team has built the feature correctly, it should work as intended.

Involve the users early and often

UAT is all about the users, so it’s important to involve them early and often in the process. This means involving them in the development process, not just the testing phase. They should define the acceptance criteria and write the test cases. And they should be given ample opportunity to test the system and give feedback.

The more involved users are in the process, the more buy-in they will have for the final product. And that’s important because happy users are more likely to use the system and recommend it to others.

Write clear and concise test cases

Test cases should be clear and concise. They should be well-organized and easy to follow. And they should be written in a way that makes them easy to read and understand.

It’s also important to write realistic test cases. That means using real-world data and scenarios. This will help ensure that the test cases are effective at finding bugs and issues.

Use realistic data for your UAT

As mentioned above, it’s important to use realistic data when performing UAT. This means using data that is representative of what the end users will actually be using.

For instance, if you’re testing a new feature on an eCommerce site, you should use real product data. That way, you can test how the feature works with actual products. And if you’re testing a new login system, you should use real user data. That way, you can test how the system works with actual users.

Have a stable user-acceptance testing environment

When it comes to User Acceptance Testing, one key factor to consider is how stable is the UAT environment. Can the environment handle a large number of users at a single given time? This is an important question when setting up the UAT environment. The best way to answer this question is by setting up performance testing targeting the UAT environment. 

In my experience, one of the common issues I encountered was having an unstable UAT environment. It is always tricky to know how stable the environment is until executing a set number of performance tests. This will give the team an idea of how much the UAT environment can handle stress

When to test directly on production?

When it comes to performance testing, this is explicitly done in the production environment. Testing in production is vital, of course, but having a similar performance test setup in UAT is just as important. This will show how the features and functionalities behave under different stress-testing scenarios. 

If the UAT environment is smaller than the production environment, then the number of users targeted for performance testing will need to be smaller. Despite the environment size differences, the performance tests' results will still indicate how the new features, updates, and overall functionality will behave.

Customer and Client Testing

It is essential to have accounts set up for customers and clients. The best approach is to have a simplified account that the client and customers can use that is separate from their own. Some businesses tend to offer incentives such as reward discounts for customers who participate in testing in the UAT environment. Another method is to set up a bug bounty reward system for customers who find issues during their testing and evaluation. This will always draw a greater interest and attention to detail from customers. 

User acceptance testing is essential to business owners and stakeholders, so it is important to include them in the testing process. Having test users for the owners and stakeholders to experience the new features and updates will allow the team’s hard work to shine. It is always a proud moment for any development team to see their features and functionalities in action by an important user.

Perform beta testing with a representative group of users

Once the system is ready for UAT, it’s important to perform beta testing with a representative group of users. Because your testers will be actual users, it’s important to select a group that is representative of the broader user base.

This means selecting users from different demographics and with different levels of experience. It also means selecting users who are likely to use the system differently. For instance, if you’re testing a new eCommerce site, you should select users who are likely to shop on the site. And if you’re testing a new login system, you should select users who are likely to use the system to log in to different applications.

Train users on the new system before go-live

Once the system is ready to go live, it’s important to train the users on how to use it. This training should be conducted before the system goes live. That way, users will be familiar with the system and how to use it when it goes live.

Training can be conducted in-person, online, or through a combination of both. And it should be tailored to the needs of the users. For instance, if you’re training users on a new eCommerce site, you should focus on how to use the site to shop. And if you’re training users on a new login system, you should focus on how to use the system to log in to different applications.

Here is a rundown of things to consider when testing in UAT:

• Have dedicated users separate from the other environments for testing: This will give the team a better understanding of which users encountered specific issues. 

• Issues found during testing: Any resolved will also require the QA team to perform regression testing. This would give the team further insight if the fix caused any unexpected issues.

• Load Testing: It is crucial to run dedicated performance testing before manually testing the UAT environment.

• Automation Testing: After and before user acceptance testing, it is vital to have the automation scripts run to catch any issues. 

Set “Real World” Expectations

Finally, for testing in UAT, it is always essential to set real-world expectations. Knowing the users who will use the product, website, or functionality will give the team a better understanding of how to build and test. This will also give the team a better opportunity to train and show users how to properly use the new features and functionalities in UAT. 

The details can be detailed in a test plan, so the team will have their goals defined along with what needs to be tested. In addition, it is essential to test early and often. After the initial testing is completed, evaluate the customer and user feedback. What was positive, and what was negative? What did the users feel needed more work or time in the oven? These are essential questions to ask. 

It is never too late to rework or rebuild some of the features or functionalities due to a negative experience from customers or stakeholders. Sometimes it is necessary to redevelop ideas and work since unexpectedness can arise from user feedback. 

Get feedback and incorporate it into the final product

Once the beta testing is complete, it’s important to get feedback from the testers and incorporate it into the final product. This feedback should be used to improve the system before it goes live.

You can get feedback by conducting surveys, interviews, and focus groups. You can also get feedback by monitoring how users interact with the system. And you can find issues by looking at system usage data.

No matter how you collect it, this feedback is essential to ensuring that the final product is successful.

Go live with a plan for post-launch support

Once the system goes live, it’s important to have a plan for post-launch support. This plan should include how you will handle issues and how you will provide training and support to users.

It’s also important to monitor the system after it goes live. This monitoring can be done manually or through automated tools, like UIlicious. And it should be done regularly.

Conclusion

As mentioned having an automation tool set up in UAT is critical for finding issues. UIlicious is one tool that can provide the team with the necessary testing results. The best part is that UIlicious offers automated test run scheduling, which means the tool can run as often as needed. For more information, check out UIlicious and receive a 10% discount!