How to do UAT in agile

 

The agile environment is considered to be dynamic and flexible. By bringing in business users and taking their valuable inputs will prove to be productive for agile teams, as they will be able to develop the product in exact accordance with the user requirements. 

The business users can provide as to what they expect out of the product, which will, in turn, be updated in the product backlog. During the end of sprint sessions, business users can participate in the sprint demo and provide feedback. 

This activity will be a continuous process till the end product is developed precisely as per the user requirements. In this article, you will get to know how UAT can be performed in an agile environment.

 

What is User Acceptance Testing (UAT)?

In this type of testing, an end-user or customer will check the software application in terms of functionality and performance and then provide feedback.If the application is not accepted then necessary inputs should be taken from the end-users to modify or change specific aspects of the application.           

 

How to do UAT in agile?

The agile environment is considered to be a feasible solution for conducting user acceptance testing. Business stakeholders and product owners are invited to be a part of the agile team and provide the necessary feedback as and when required. Business stakeholders are given the responsibility to check whether the software application is developed as per the actual requirements.

Product owners also, play a key role as they provide valuable inputs on defining acceptance criteria, user story prioritization, feature approval for release and end-user related questions.When the business stakeholders test at an early stage itself, they will find that there are only a few defects before deployment.

To perform UAT in an agile environment, there are three core factors that need to be focused upon and those are before the sprint, during the sprint, and after the sprint.

1. Before the sprint: sprint planning sessions need to be attended by the product owner. Apart from that, the product owner must also participate in regular standup sprint sessions. As the meeting revolves around user acceptance testing, it is advisable to bring in business stakeholders, so that the testing activities can be carried out more effectively.

2. During the sprint: If the testers get involved at an early stage, then they will be able to understand user stories clearly. Business stakeholders must also share their valuable inputs for developing the final product. Throughout the sprint sessions, demonstrations can be conducted so that UAT testers can provide early feedback that will in turn prove to be useful for development and testing purposes.

3. After the sprint: Product owners and business stakeholders who are involved in the testing process must attend the sprint review meeting. The features are addressed and worked upon to improve the quality of the product.

Three important perspectives need to be added up and those are:

1. Understanding the business viewpoint: Analyzing and understanding the requirements of the customers

2. Understanding the developer’s viewpoint: The best ways to implement the user story

3. Understanding the tester’s viewpoint: User a story should be tested according to the customer’s expectations.

In an agile environment, a product owner must be accountable for maximising the value of a product and is also responsible for representing customers and users. The role of the product owner is pivotal for performing UAT in a rewarding manner.The owner must understand what exactly does the stakeholders need in terms of application requirements and then communicate the same to the scrum team.

The development team should clearly understand the product owner’s feedback about the product. While the sprint review meeting is being conducted, stakeholders feedback should be collected which acts as an input for the product backlog.This constant feedback loop will empower scrum teams to deliver as expected by the product owner and stakeholder. 

Conclusion: Performing user acceptance testing in agile needs a strong collaboration between teams, product owners, business stakeholders and users.Leverage user acceptance testing from a next-gen QA and software testing services provider to achieve quality software.

About the author: I am a technical content writer focused on writing technology-specific articles. I strive to provide well-researched information on the leading market-savvy technologies.