UAT Measures to Take for Error-Free Software Release
August 6, 2021
Leena Sanap
Author
There are several stages in the complete software development lifecycle. One of the most crucial and indispensable ones is the Testingphase. Time and again software developers have come up with ideas and formulated methodologies to deliver an end-product that is bug-free and delivers high performance.It is highly subjective to decide that user acceptance testing is done in which stage. But, in this blog, we have curated the perfect user acceptance testing checklist that will surely improve your chances of carrying out development that is free from errors and ensures smooth deployment.We will be walking you through a number of real-world scenarios that our testers have experienced and are avoidable. So, Let’s begin!
Why is the UAT Checklist Important?
Before we dive in to explore the problems and their viable solutions, it is necessary to know the difference that a well-structured approach while carrying out UAT can create.There is definitely an immense difference between the test environment conditions and real environmental conditions. For example, we cannot believe the efficiency of an instrument, bike, car, or other equipment tested only in laboratories (test environments). When these are delivered/exposed to the outside world or deployed in real-world scenarios, there are 30-35% more chances of failure than usual.The efforts to repair this ultimate damage or loss are a lot compared to those required to repair if the same issue were found in the earlier testing ground.You might come across the same cases in software development. Even after testing the software in all possible ways, there are chances that some bugs break out at UAT-User Acceptance Testing.In order to get out of this seemingly unavoidable situation, we have curated this list.Here, we have listed down a few cases that might introduce bugs in the User Acceptance Testing phase and the best ways on how to tackle them.
Case-wise Troubleshooting Bugs During UAT
Case 1: Acceptance criteria have been failed to grasp.
Acceptance criteria should be understood from the customer’s perspective and requirements. For this, the software testers (QAs) should be a part of the Sprint 0 activities that are the foundation of the Agile process.
Case 2: Negative test cases suite is missing
The test cases suite should cover the negative test cases as well. All the test cases are designed for validating the software behavior against intolerable, abnormal, or unexpected conditions given data input.Therefore, along with the positive test cases that have acceptable values that are conforming to the input standards of the software, there must be some negative test cases that give a clear idea of how the system would react when put under unfamiliar inputs.
Case 3: Participation of and Interaction between QAs and other team members
There is no equal distribution of work in the team or communication in the team and they end up working either completely or partially on their own. This hampers the possibility of best testing that could occur with the support and participation of multiple QAs.To avoid this situation, the QAs should always clearly discuss the testing scenarios, testing tactics with other team members and also share their ideas that can be helpful and in the best interest of the project.
Case 4: Take a part in all project meetings
QAs should be given an active role to play in all project meetings. Not only does it gives them clarity of what they are working with, but it can also generate ideas and better methods to formulate the test case and subject the system under critical cases.Additionally, this allows them to gain in-depth knowledge of the project from an end-user aspect and also develop a collegial network with other stakeholders on the project.
Case 5: Checklists for all common scenarios are missing
It often occurs that QA software testers miss out on the most obvious test cases. This mistake is easily avoidable. Always keep test cases or checklist notes for common case scenarios that a user might come across during the testing.
Case 6: Test data is not adequate
Often the test data built up by QAs is not enough. So QA can try to test by restoring production databases with real-time data. This is considered the best practice. It makes up for the insufficiency of test cases and investigates the software completely.
Case 7: Poor site performance
Your mobile application or website should be subjected to a large number of users. Failing to do so might create a crisis-like situation when there is a sudden spike in the number of users at a time. For this, the testers can attempt to increase the load on the system by fixing up performance tests and by sending multiple requests.
Case 8: UAT and QA environment setup differ
QAs and customers (user/client) sometimes fail to use the same environment and device to deploy the software. This should be pre-defined and approved as a part of the development and testing plan in STLC (Software Testing LifeCycle).
Case 9: Regression testing is not given much importance
Ample amount of regression testing before UAT is extremely important. Also, a regression test case suite should be present. This will allow the tester to quickly identify the loopholes and pass them for fixing.
Wrapping Up:
UAT is carried out when the software has already undergone unit, integration, and system testing. Therefore, any bugs that go unidentified at this stage will reflect when the client receives them. This is not favorable and will result in the incompleteness of the software deliverables.By ensuring this UAT checklist fulfillment, you can rest assured that there will not be any major issue encountered and that your software product is error and bug-free, with the highest quality.
