UAT Timeline

Owned by Mike Deskis
Last updated: Jan 11, 2024
3 min read

Overview

This article provides timelines for the end of a project, specifically focusing on the preparation for User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and the UAT testing phase. The article clarifies that the provided diagrams do not determine the length of the UAT phase, as it should be defined in the project timeline based on the project scope.

They will help with the preparation for UAT by outlining the sequence of activities leading up to the testing phase. This can assist project teams in planning and organizing their tasks to ensure a smooth transition into UAT.

These timelines should help to clarify how preparation for UAT and UAT testing should look like. Note that the following diagrams are not saying anything about the length of the UAT phase, it should be defined in the project timeline based on the project scope.

 

 

This timeline that outlines various stages in a software development and testing process. The stages listed on the timeline, from left to right, are as follows:

  1. Polishing Sprint

  2. UAT (User Acceptance Testing) training and final UAT preparation

  3. System Integration Testing

  4. Bug reporting, fixing, and retesting

  5. E2E (End-to-End) functional testing

  6. Code Freeze, final regression testing

  7. Using Pfx software on Production, Stabilization phase

  8. Final acceptance, Go-Live

Below each stage, there are additional details or prerequisites:

  • "Development must be finished and UAT test cases must be created before moving to Pre-UAT phase"

  • "Everything must be prepared for UAT, all user stories must be accepted, System integration is working correctly"

  • And at the bottom, aligned with the "Code Freeze" phase, there is a note: "Final acceptance, Go-Live"

This timeline represents a plan for how a software project should progress through various phases of development, testing, and release. It should be noted that during the polishing sprint that development should be complete and test cases ready before the project moves into the pre-UAT phase.

System integration testing emphasizes that all preparations for UAT should be complete, with all user stories accepted and system integration functioning correctly. Also, after the code freeze and final regression testing, the product will go through a final acceptance phase before it is ready to go live.

Path to GoLive

The following diagram illustrates a path to GoLive via a sequence of steps in the Pricefx development lifecycle that is focused on the testing phase prior to the application release. It outlines a structured approach that begins with a feature sprint, which includes development and testing based on user stories that are within the scope of the sprint. It emphasizes the creation of UAT (User Acceptance Testing) test cases derived from business cases.

These are the key phases in the path to GoLive:

  • Following the feature sprint, there's a phase for UAT training and final preparations before the actual UAT begins. This is crucial to ensure that all stakeholders are familiar with the testing procedures and objectives.

  • The process then moves to software integration testing, which is a critical step to verify that different software modules or services work together as expected. Before UAT can start, all user stories must be accepted, which typically means that they have been reviewed and meet the predefined acceptance criteria.

  • E2E (End-to-End) functional testing is another key step where the complete flow of the system is tested to validate the integrated components against the overall system requirements.

  • Bug reporting, fixing, and retesting are iterative steps that help to ensure that any defects found are addressed and that the software quality is maintained throughout.

  • Before the final product release, there is a code freeze, which is a point where no new code is allowed to be added, followed by final regression testing to ensure that recent changes haven't adversely affected existing functionalities.

  • The final acceptance and go-live steps mark the official release of the software to production, where it becomes available for end-users. After go-live, there's a stabilization phase where the software on production is monitored closely, and any issues are addressed promptly to ensure smooth operation.

  • Finally, after GoLive the application is used in the production environment during this stabilization phase. Even after the product goes live, there is an ongoing effort to monitor and stabilize the software as it gets utilized in a real-world setting.