User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for Business Analysts

All too often the software products delivered to the business do not meet their expectations, especially with regard to the quality of the product. An effective User Acceptance Testing (UAT) process addresses this issue by confirming the functionality and performance of the product prior to its release.

This two-day instructor-led workshop looks at the business issues which drive the need for a fully functional UAT process and describes the components of such a process. It is designed to help the Business Analyst (BA) to develop an understanding of their role, the process, and the deliverables associated with UAT.

User Acceptance Testing for BAs

The objectives of this course are to:

• Develop an understanding of basic concepts associated with User Acceptance Testing
• See how UAT applies to the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
• Recognize the benefits of improved quality of deployed software using User Acceptance Testing
• Identify the key roles, activities, and deliverables which make up User Acceptance Testing
• Use a Business Use Case to define scenarios for testing
• Create a UAT test plan and write UAT test cases with associated test data
• Understand the process for testing functional and non-functional requirements
• Identify the challenges of testing vendor-supplied applications

In software development, user acceptance testing is when the software is tested in the “real world” by the intended audience. This step is critical to capture user requirements and identify any problems that could make the project incomplete. Acceptance Testing is specifically designed to ensure client needs have been met.

• What is software testing and why is it important?
• Typical problems that we encounter with software
• The Cost of Quality (CoQ) and the cost of finding defects too late
• The “V” Testing Model
• The four stages of software testing (Unit, Integration, System, User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• Testing best practices
• Exercise: “How would you test it?” – A new technology is presented to the participants and they are asked to brainstorm what should be tested to ensure it is working correctly. (15 minutes)

• What is UAT and what is the role of the Business Analyst?
• Characteristics of a good UAT tester
• The tasks of UAT testing
• The UAT documents
• Common terms & definitions
• i) The six testing types for UAT (i.e., smoke, functional, intersystem, usability, regression, stress/load testing)
• ii) The three testing techniques for UAT (i.e., control flow, parallel, and positive testing)
• iii) Testing visibility (White Box, Gray Box, and Black Box testing)
• Exercise: UAT Jeopardy – A fun and fast-paced game of Jeopardy – used as a review of terms, concepts, and roles learned in this lesson. (15 minutes)

• The importance of UAT planning
• What is a UAT Test Plan?
• The six steps for creating a UAT Test Plan
• General testing tips (see Testing Guidelines and Techniques document)
• Exercise: “Create a UAT Test Plan” – The participants will identify UAT test scenarios from a Business Use Case and identify test objectives and high-level test data for each scenario

• What is UAT test coverage?
• Using a Requirements Traceability Matrix
• Set the testing scope – what to test and what not to test
• The UAT Test Coverage Matrix
• Verifying Non-functional requirements (i.e., performance, security, usability, availability, etc.)

Third Session

• What are the goals of UAT testing?
• What is a UAT Test Case?
• How do UAT Test Plans and Test Cases relate?
• The four steps for creating a UAT Test Case
• Exercise: “Write a UAT Test Case” – The participants will be asked to write a high-level Test Case from their Business Use Case and define test data for a portion of the steps
• Preparing, running, and documenting the UAT Tests
• General testing tips and techniques

Verifying the Test Results

• Documenting UAT test results
• What is a defect?
• How to log a defect?
• The “bug” lifecycle
• Writing a good problem description
• Taking screen snapshots
• 10 tips to avoid writing bad defect reports
• Exercise: “Log a defect” – The participants will write a concise and complete statement to explain a defect
• Signing-off on UAT

• Challenges of testing vendor-supplied applications
• Challenges to the business
• Eight steps for testing vendor-supplied applications
• Handout: An Insurance industry case study for testing vendor product

Knowledge of requirements process and requirements elicitation techniques.

This course is designed for the Business Analyst professional who is involved with testing the functionality of technology projects.