User Acceptance Testing(UAT) in Agile Practices
User acceptance testing (UAT) is the final stage of the software testing process and has always been considered an extremely critical stage. Throughout UAT, real software users test the software to make sure it can handle required tasks in real-world situations, as stated.
UAT is an important process in a software project and has to be performed before the program is rolled out to the market. It is also referred to as beta testing, program testing, or end-user testing.
UAT directly entails the users of the software. The measures in conducting UAT comprise:
Planning
A strategy outlining all details of this UAT is drawn up.
Designing test cases
Test cases are designed so that they cover all the operational scenarios of this application in real-world usage. They are defined clearly for the convenience of the testers.
Executing test cases and documenting
The testing team implements the test instances, and possibly some extra evaluations. Bugs and comments are logged.
Bug fixing
The software development group resolves the reported bugs.
Sign-off
When the bugs are fixed, the testing staff suggests acceptance of this software program, which suggests that the application meets user needs and is ready to be rolled out in the industry.
How can this strategy to UAT affected after the organization follows Agile practices? There is a means to achieve desired results by implementing UAT within the Agile frame. UAT now has to be done in Scrum surroundings, in which an increment of working applications is delivered every month or even more often.
From the Agile surroundings, a Product Backlog is composed of user stories. User stories explain the user, the characteristic he/she Would like to utilize and eventually
This provides a valuable principle for the UAT. The feature was defined, and what kind of user the attribute would be for and how she or he will benefit. In this session, they collaborate on the details of user stories, including acceptance criteria. Additional user acceptance testing criteria might also be defined, for certain features — operational or non-functional.
An increment is only considered to be done when it’s working — meaningfully tested — a piece of application fulfils the client’s need, has the feature that the client wanted, and meets all the acceptance criteria.
In Agile teams, the Product Owner has the duty of optimizing the value of this product and represents all stakeholders, including users and customers. The Product Owner is the other authorized entity mentioned in the definition of User Acceptance Testing. The Product Owner must work in close cooperation with stakeholders to understand their expectations and assist the scrum team to understand.
Throughout the Sprint Review, feedback should also be collected from most stakeholders as an input signal for the Product Backlog. This constant feedback loop enables the Scrum team to provide what the Product Owner and stakeholders want.
There can be challenges when a team functions only on a small portion of the larger chain and doesn’t integrate with the other software components in the chain until the end, for analysing as a whole.
But this late integration problem can be overcome by reorganizing the teams to become attribute teams that are responsible for the whole chain that attribute comprises. Scrum teams working in precisely the same chain can be drawn together, with an agreement to integrate often, as well as Continuous Integration.
With this approach, all checks defined in the formal definition of the User Acceptance Test can be performed within a sprint. A Scrum Master must ensure frequent integration. In this manner, there’s no demand for a formal tollgate, which improves throughput and decreases the time of the feedback loop. This saving of time makes the product of higher value to the client, so the aim of UAT is achieved.
