What is User Acceptance Testing (UAT)? How to collect user information

Launching software without testing is like shooting an arrow in the dark.

To get useful insights into how your software will be perceived, you need to perform proper user testing. A software development cycle is incomplete without the voice of users.

Business users test the software to analyze its performance in real-world situations and validate changes to meet business needs. Subjecting your modified application to real-world testing ensures that all modifications support the business and its purpose. UAT tests identify issues that would go unnoticed in other unit tests.

What is User Acceptance Testing (UAT)?

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is the final phase of any software development cycle or change request before going live.

Organizations test all possible scenarios to ensure that the changes correspond to the expected results and meet the needs of the business. Software can appear fully functional from a technical perspective and fail due to unclear requirements or communication.

User acceptance testing protects against unfinished, ineffective, or faulty software products before deployment. End users test a product and collaborate with stakeholders such as business owners, business analysts, and development and testing teams to provide insightful feedback. UAT testing puts user needs at the center of software development and release.

Although UAT is widely accepted as a necessary step to introduce change, it can be time-consuming and difficult to realize its full potential. This is primarily due to the overreliance on manual work, spreadsheets, and other methods that hinder collaboration and provide little or no transparency.

Choosing the right testing solution can reduce testing stress and help your organization stay ahead of the game.

Why is User Acceptance Testing important?

User acceptance testing is one of the most effective ways to conclude a software development life cycle and has notable benefits.

He confirms that the changes implemented will not affect current operations. Business users are essential to the success of the testing process and prove that the business has what it needs to operate after the change. User acceptance testing verifies that each new code in each virtual deployment model appears effective in a real environment and for inefficient or faulty software products. When done correctly, it accurately reflects user needs, identifying issues that would go unnoticed during integration or unit testing. UAT provides a macro-level view of a system. Who performs user acceptance testing?

Professional users perform UAT because they know exactly what the software modification or final application should look like in daily practice. Key business users add value through their business expertise in all phases of the UAT cycle, including planning, execution, and evaluation.

In addition, application experts such as business analysts and software testing professionals run the UAT before go-live and report their progress and results for evaluation. They oversee the technical side of software development and play an important role in designing UAT cycles and interpreting results.

However, involving multiple users in testing can complicate the process. With the right test management solution, project and test managers can easily assign different stages of the same business process to multiple functional experts or key users, who can then run the tests in an automated workflow.

Coordination is also crucial to ensure smooth workflows and transfer of testing tasks between important users. Testers spread around the world do not always know or are absent when it is their "turn".

This often leads to delays and inefficiencies, and impacts the testing experience. Test management tools even help here. They discover errors with test recordings for effortless reproduction. This improves communication and saves time.

Built-in collaboration tools can eliminate downtime, reduce workload bottlenecks, and simplify workflows by effortlessly passing test steps to the user.

While engaging key users is crucial, test managers struggle to involve them in the process. UAT is rarely at the top of their priority list. Business users have other responsibilities and deliverables besides testing. More so, they were not hired or trained to test.