Role of Business Analysts in UAT

 

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is a stage in the software development life cycle where the intended users of a system take part in validating that the solution meets their demands. There are varying perspectives to the definition of UAT. Though some see the UAT as a"evaluation of requirements", others argue that the same deficiencies missed in the framing of prerequisites will be missed during testing if this doctrine is adopted.

Randall Rice supplies a comprehensive objective of UAT:

User Acceptance Testing is conducted to assess if the system can support day-to-day business and user scenarios and to guarantee the system is adequate and appropriate for business use.

Why Should Business Analysts Be Involved in UAT?

Here are 6 reasons why:

1. BAs know the performance that the system is supposed to provide and therefore, have the knowledge required to validate the machine (affirm whether the solution meets business needs or maybe not ). The fact that a system has been built to specification does not make it automatically acceptable. UAT helps stakeholders to ascertain whether the system could be put to use in real-life business scenarios or not.

2.The UAT session is an opportunity for users to see the solution in action and affirm that it matches their needs. Users need to check their own systems to ensure that it functions the way they expect it to prevent extreme changes after the system has gone and to increase the odds of project success.

Getting involved in UAT presents a chance for the BA to validate the correctness of previously elicited requirements and improve future endeavors.

3. Even though it's advised that users view prototypes of the proposed platform and are kept informed throughout the software development lifecycle, change requests come up through UAT sessions.

Being part of the UAT session can assist the company Analyst understand the rationale for any proposed change, indicate the most suitable approach to fit the business need and help in selling the idea to the Change Control Board.

4. Though the aim of UAT is not to train customers, they'd need to know the way the system functions to test it effectively. When BAs who have a firsthand understanding of program functionalities are involved in UAT, they are able to support training efforts before UAT and answer consumers' questions during test sessions.

5.Included in alternative identification, the BA could be brought in to aid the team in assessing the severity of defects, their impact on the company, which flaws must be solved before go-live and what may be done to mitigate the risks of the defects that cannot be resolved.

6. Business Analysts are involved in finding out the set of requirements the solution has to meet to be considered acceptable. In an ideal world, users are expected to write their own test scripts but in reality, BAs usually have to support this task or compose the exam scripts themselves.

Depending on the type of company, BAs are included in UAT sessions to varying degrees.

In most of my jobs, I arrange and manage test sessions, write test cases, execute system evaluations and prepare the defect reports (I wear the hat of a Tester). Once I am done with the machine tests that are usually more exhaustive and technical than consumer acceptance tests, I invite the users for UAT sessions.

While BAs connected to organizational units might be less involved in organizing and managing evaluation sessions, they might be nominated to participate in UAT along with to signify an individual group. Such BAs are also anticipated to become analytical, independent thinkers and knowledgeable enough about the business to support system users and examine the machine instead of stakeholders who are inaccessible to do so themselves.