The project phase in every UAT is crucial and should be handled with all the attention it requires. To better understand what this means, check what UAT testing means on the project. Most of the reasoning and steps involved are similar across situations.

The main goal here is to clarify UAT phase, to show to customer typical issues during UAT and give them tips how UAT can be handled

. At Pricefx we have many presentations outlining the process, but this section will take you through the common features across the board. Learn all the kinks here.

In the coming lines we will share a sample we used with a client. This should serve you well as an illustration of what UAT testing entails on the project.

UAT overview

It is paramount to define and clarify before even beginning to test, what are the goals of testing While these may vary to a certain extent from customer to customer, in general, they rely on 3 major pillars:

• Test E2E process in real environment - Pricefx software together with CRM, ERP and other software you use for pricing

• Check that Pricefx software does what it should to support your business

• Move the project to live, start using it and let it help to your business

Be advised that although it may be tempting to think so, UAT testing is in fact not a repetition of the tests from the Feature Sprints. This is also not the time to get familiarized and learn the application nor it is an opportunity to submit any change requests.

Also kepp in mind that before and during UAT there are certain responsibilities you must take on and dedicate time to. As such you should create UAT test cases and test accordingly on your QA partition. Any bugs you may (and very likely that you will) find must be reported in JIRA. Finally you should accept the solution so the we can formally conclude the development phase.

The time you should allocate on average for UAT is between 2 and 3 weeks depending on the size of the project and the user story library. Note that while 2-3 weeks are typically enough for testing, testers must be prepared and test every day for a while (at least 2 or 3 hours).

Moreover, if you have a limited timeframe for testing you should be even more organized and have a structured approach ready.

Keep in mind that there is a set of expected documentation you should have completed before and during the UAT. It includes;

• Test cases for UAT to help to testers to be clear about what must be tested during UAT and give them the possibility to set up the time for testing and discuss ambiguities before UAT

• Reporting of test results

• Bugs in JIRA

Tips for a smooth run:

• Managers should have an overview of where testers are in the process of testing, what must still be tested

• Testers know what they already tested so they can organize their testing

• Correct bug reporting will speed-up fixing process

Typical issues during UAT

Like with any project, UAT makes no exception from encountering issues throughout. However, there are steps that you can take to avoid these for as much as possible. We have already covered some of them in the previous sections and we will surely tackle others as we move along. Before that though, let’s take a quick look at what are the most commonly encountered issues during UAT.

• No plan for UAT testing

• Testers are doing exploratory testing

• UAT testing is not under control

• Time expected for UAT testing is usually insifficient

• It‘s not possible to monitor the progress

• Problems with accepting the solution – UAT testers always want to test more

• No priorities of test cases

• Critical issues are reported at the end of UAT

• No training for UAT testers

• Reported bugs are not bugs but questions, change requests or misunderstandings

• UAT testers are learning how to work with Pfx application instead of testing

• UAT testers don‘t have time for testing because they are doing other work - there should be time dedicated for UAT

Tips for a smoother UAT

Acceptance

Acceptance after UAT testing means we can continue to Go-Live and using the solution in production. You may think that at this stage the solution should run flawlessly sand unless it does so you may be tempted to reject the test. Please note that there is no reason for not accepting because of medium and low bugs, as they can be fixed after Go-Live during Stabilization phase.
There is a time frame for UAT phase on the project and a clear decision should be made at the end of it.

Bug prioritization in JIRA

Test Manangement X-Ray Overview

For the past 3 years, Pricefx together with our customers have successfully used X-ray as one of our main testing tools. X-Ray presents many benefits and tow of the main ones are that it is free of charge for the project and it is a test management tool plug-in in JIRA.

Moreover, the test documentation and results of testing are visible for our project team and for the customer in the Testing Board.

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Test cases are in separate issue types, not in Comments section and are linked to user stories, so it is clear why they were created and what they test.

X-Ray can be used for Feature Sprint and UAT testing and it is intuitive for everybody who is familiar with JIRA. As such it provides JIRA functionalities like exports, imports, workflows, and others.