User Acceptance Testing [UAT]

ACCEPTANCE TESTING is a level of software testing where a system is tested for acceptability. The purpose of this test is to evaluate the system’s compliance with the business requirements and assess whether it is acceptable for delivery.

Acceptance testing

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria are defined on the basis of the following attributes

• Functional Correctness and Completeness
• Data Integrity
• Data Conversion
• Usability
• Performance
• Timeliness
• Confidentiality and Availability
• Installability and Upgradability
• Scalability
• Documentation

Acceptance Test Plan

• Introduction
• Acceptance Test Category
• operation Environment
• Test case ID
• Test Title
• Test Objective
• Test Procedure
• Test Schedule
• Resources

When is it performed…!

Acceptance Testing is the fourth and last level of software testing performed after System Testing and before making the system available for actual use.

Types of User Acceptance Testing

Now that we’ve clearly separated functional testing from User Acceptance Testing, we can look at the various types of User Acceptance Testing. The following User Acceptance Testing Types exist:

• Alpha & Beta Testing
• Contract Acceptance Testing
• Regulation Acceptance Testing
• Operational Acceptance Testing
• Black Box Testing

Who performs it…!

1. Internal Acceptance Testing (Also known as Alpha Testing) is performed by members of the organization that developed the software but who are not directly involved in the project (Development or Testing). Usually, it is the members of Product Management, Sales and/or Customer Support.

2. External Acceptance Testing is performed by people who are not employees of the organization that developed the software.

• Customer Acceptance Testing is performed by the customers of the organization that developed the software. They are the ones who asked the organization to develop the software. [This is in the case of the software not being owned by the organization that developed it.]
• User Acceptance Testing (Also known as Beta Testing) is performed by the end users of the software. They can be the customers themselves or the customers’ customers.

Acceptance Test Report

The Acceptance test Report has the following attributes:

• Report Identifier
• Summary of Results
• Variations
• Recommendations
• Summary of To-DO List
• Approval Decision