We all know that eating your vegetables is one of the keys to a healthy lifestyle. Most of us have been lectured by family or with the daily reminders we see in our newsfeeds that most people don’t eat enough fruits or vegetables. Just like eating our vegetables, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is a critical part of software deployment. Also, like eating your vegetables, most people don’t like to perform UAT.
ANB’s approach to UAT strives to make the process rigorous but less strenuous on the testers. It begins with preparing test criteria that the users will experience in real life. This includes setting up the test environment and creating realistic data. For instance, are the users in an office location, or are they in a remote location? They create test data using examples of real transactions as a source for test data. To ensure the testers will be successful in validating the software, they should be business users who are most familiar with the business problems the new platform is solving. This may well be the most challenging part of UAT. Typically, these persons have significant roles in the organization and have limited time to spend on UAT. During UAT, it may be necessary to temporarily reassign duties in order for them to devote their time and effort.
ANB will be heavily involved with UAT as well. After handing the system off to the testers, they will be actively tracking user feedback. Any found issues will be logged as minor or showstoppers. These issues are categorized and scheduled to be resolved. ANB will be monitoring the other Quality Assurance items, such as how well the platform is performing under these test conditions. This team approach with both users and ANB working together will make the entire UAT process more appetizing. For the record, I like steamed broccoli with a little bit of sea salt.
Written by – Michael Stockard
Michael Stockard is an independent consultant at Stockard Energy Advising and is a member of the Advisory Panel at ANB Systems. Michael has over 40 years of experience in the design and implementation of demand-side management programs.
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