User Acceptance Testing and User Exception Testing
Recently, I joined a conference call about User Acceptance Testing (UAT). However, at the beginning of the meeting, it was mistakenly called User Exception Testing. It was corrected by the participant in the meeting and not noticed by the testers. However, it had a profound effect on me. Through the many UATs that I have done with clients, feedback and criticism felt more like they were looking for exceptions and not something that works.UATs, as you might know, are part of Waterfall’s project management approach. They allow the solution to be rigorously evaluated based on specific instructions, or scripts by a subset end users. This is an important part of any IT implementation or software development project. Tools and solutions are specifically designed for this task. Although testing can be tedious, monotonous and time-consuming, it is a good indicator of how the solution will work with existing processes and technologies. The testers should be able to look at the solution objectively with an eye for details that could be more serious.
Meeting or exceeding the high expectations of testers
However, I do not believe that end users approach UAT in the same way they were intended. End users want to be impressed and the solution to improve their lives immediately. These people have high expectations, and often leave negative feedback if the solution fails to meet those expectations.
What should you do? This phase can be approached as “User Exceptional Testing”, which may work better than trying to force a more mechanical process. This is your opportunity to present the solution your team has worked tirelessly on, and for your testers to enjoy your enthusiasm. Spend some time explaining to the user how the solution will benefit them and the changes that you made that could affect their lives (positively, or negatively) at the beginning of your UAT. After you give them the right perspective, they will be able to provide feedback and help improve your solution.