How to reduce the number of negative user reviews with User Acceptance Testing
Okay, so let's imagine that you've finished a feature, your team and you have worked on for the last few sprints. All tests are done, and it seems like it is ready to be released, right?
But then, when this feature is deployed on production - it appears that it doesn't work how it was expected by users. Or even worse, it doesn't meet their requirements.
In this case scenario, all the work that has to be re-done and re-tested is not the most expensive consequence. But, a loss of reputation and credibility definitely is.
Why does it happen?
This is common problem for constantly evolving projects with high development velocity. Usually, it might have a place in cases where requirements were not clearly defined or effectively communicated to developers by the product team. By the way, it's one of the reasons why we recommend including at least one QA to the product team.
The main goal of User Acceptance Testing is to answer this important question“Have we produced what customers actually need?”
Who should perform it and when?
UAT should take a place when a new feature has successfully passed QA testing, whether automated, manual, or both.
The best person to do this job is your actual user. Very often product teams have a pool of potential end-users that could test it. If there is no such opportunity, then the next obvious choice will be your Customer Success Manager or any other non-technical position that works closely with your users.
The main thing here is that usually, regular users don't know about all the product features and that's why their practical understanding of how the product works - makes them perfect candidates for black-box testing! Such an approach can reveal hidden vulnerabilities and ensure that the final product meets users' requirements.
How can it be done?
- Organize the UAT document template, so the person who performing testing can report a problem and also, share their general thoughts about it. Here is a simple example, which you can use as a template, to begin with.
- Use a third-party service for gathering feedback. Usually, these solutions are pretty easy to install and they have flexible settings, so upon the installation it can be configured to your needs even by a person without any technical background. Here are a few examples of such software:
We hope you find this article useful! If you have anything to add or additional questions - please feel free to drop us a line.