In the process of developing a software product, software testing is very important. It makes sure and upholds the overall quality of the product. Several phases in the testing process are integration testing, acceptance testing, unit testing, system testing, and lastly the user acceptance testing which has a very significant role.
What is UAT?
User Acceptance Testing is the last stage in the process of software testing. This process plays a crucial role because it validates whether the business requirements have been fulfilled or not before releasing the developed product. Moreover, the UAT testing meaning can be defined also as the methodology of the user where the software developed is tested by the business users in order to validate whether the software is working as per the specifications that are defined or not. This is also known as beta testing or application testing or also commonly called end-user testing.
This process is taken up before releasing the new software product in the market. This step is done to make sure if the product is complete according to all the functional specifications or not that is defined by the owner. If the owner won’t take up this process, their business will suffer from many significant losses due to the post-release issues.
Why is it essential?
UAT is a significant step that must be taken by the client, stakeholder, business owner, product owner, or the intended user. This has to be done in order to have a good understanding of the product or the software developed. The business user firstly verifies and validates the developed system before sending it to the production environment. The various stakeholders in this process are the QA lead, Test manager, business analyst, product owner, and requirement specialist.
User Acceptance Testing makes sure if the developed software can be effectively used to support all the daily operations and works of the business as per the user. Primarily, the owner of the product verifies if his solution works without any defects. Then, he confirms whether it meets the required needs or not. If it identifies any bugs, then the QA team fixes them up and tests them again. Therefore, it is an important step for the development of software products as businesses tend to have significant losses if any post-production issue occurs.
Benefits
Until now, we have come across about what is user acceptance testing and why is it so essential for all businesses. In the coming sections, we will talk about the benefits that it gives and what are its types. The benefits of user acceptance testing for businesses are as follows:
- It validates whether all the requirements are met or not as defined.
- UTA reduces the risks of finding several defects post-production.
- This helps in identifying all the bugs that were left during the integration testing.
- It identifies the behavior of the application that is developed as visualized by the end-user or the product owner who has to use the software.
- This testing ensures that the application works well and meets all the conditions and requirements.
Types
The types in User Acceptance Testing are as follows:
Alpha and Beta Testing:
Both alpha and beta testing approaches in UAT are done before releasing the final software for the customers. Alpha testing is the one that is practiced in the very early phase of development with the help of teams. Before finally releasing the software, the user groups conduct the testing in a development environment. Feedback received help the teams to fix bugs and improve the product quality.
On the other hand, beta testing is done in the customer environment that involves customers for testing. The feedback from it enhances the quality of the software.
Regulation Acceptance Testing:
It is also known as compliance acceptance testing. RAT is a method to validate whether a development application complies with all the rules and regulations that are set by the government. It is one of the most important testing practices. The software is tested for its compliance with the guidelines given by the prevailing authority.
Contract Acceptance Testing:
This is a type of UAT testing approach in which the developed software is tested against all the critical criteria and specifications which have been already defined while the contract is made.
Business Acceptance Testing:
This is a UAT testing type that helps the businesses validate if their software satisfies specifications or requirements that are set by the business or not.
Operational Acceptance Testing:
Operational Acceptance Testing is also known as Production Acceptance Testing. It helps in assuring whether there is a popular workflow for the developed software that is its stability, reliability, compatibility, etc.
Black Box Testing:
In this, the teams analyze a few functionalities of the application without actually knowing its internal code structure. It is categorized under functional testing and it uses the same principles that the end-user is unaware of the codebase. It ensures that the developed software meets the business requirements.
Conclusion
Every business is now in a need of high-quality software as well as faster releases to beat their competition. Software testing is very important for software product development. And, essentially the user acceptance testing should be taken up by the product or the business owner. Leverage the very next generation and independent software testing service providers those who really make sure that quality software is delivered with the most careful UAT test plans. Thus, it guides all the businesses through. With this testing approach, every business can be assured of their products that meet their every requirement. Then they are finally ready to be moved to the production process.