A small trick can avoid unnecessary delays in User Acceptance Testing
User Acceptance Testing is one of the crucial and important steps in Software Implementation Project. Business users can’t decide to go for “Go-Live” unless and until they are satisfied with functionality of software.
User Acceptance Testing is the prior activity before Go-Live so it is very important for the Test Manager to manage it efficiently and complete the UAT in time.
Coming directly to the point that there is one trick which I always want follow during the UAT i.e. Project Manager, Developers, Functional Consultant, Test Manager, Business Users and the Business Testers must be sit together at the same place & in same room. In short need to build a “TEST CENTER”.
How can be this trick helps to Business Users / Testers:-
1 Business Tester can take an immediate help of Functional Consultant if they stuck during the testing.
2 A proper, quick and face-to-face communication is maintained between Business Users – Functional Consultant – Developers for resolving test defect/error.
3 No need to take any separate “Testing Progress” Meeting with Business Testers.
4 Developers can easily understand the requirements on any issues/defects from the Business Users and it avoids communication gap.
5 Any approval need for Transport Request or Development then developers can get it immediately from Project Manager.
6 Test Impact / Test Effort in case of Regression Testing can also be discussed with all the team members and it helps to avoid communication gap.
7 Business Tester can take immediate help from Test Manager / Test Lead if they stuck or need any assistance for handling Testing Tool.
8 It avoids the work timing difference e.g. Business Tester is from U.S.A and raised a test defect to the Developer who is sitting in India and following Indian Standard Timing. This may cause to delay in reply on error rectification, Stop Testing and Communication gap.
9 If Business Tester are speaking only one specific language e.g. Japanese and if they need any assistance from the functional consultant (who speaks only English) at this time they can take the immediate help from the any other team member from the Project who speaks both i.e. English and Japanese and carry on their testing activity without delay.
10 Most importantly Business Users / Testers are more confident and focused on the testing and this can build a relief and trust between all team members and it’s a sign for the successful UAT.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Rohan Shirude
Nice theoretical idea - but becomes immediately obsolete when it hits the reality and is usually not possible through budget constraints and even with enough money it is still not possible to clone me or my colleagues.
I have currently 3 projects which Go-Live on October 1st. And a 4th project which follows on January 1st.
While the 3 projects did integration test, the 4th was in the functional test phase.
These are about 70 plants from East Asia, Europe, USA and South America. And even it were just 7 locations where the test was done it is still impossible to be everywhere on site within a test period
A business user must not necessarily meet with a functional consultant and not at all with a developer, Business users contact should be the key user, and the key user is contacting the functional consultant, and the functional consultant the developer.
Just imagine the costs if each company who outsourced the development to India would need to get those developers fly in for an acceptance test, not to talk about the own IT resources and project members. Modern communication is Skype or similar tools.
The times that users can just wish and the developers make them happy are long over, at least in bigger companies, which have usually a global design, and talks about the wishes happen in the project work, and developments are often tested and approved by project members before they even get into the test environment.
A project manager would in our environment not be able to give an okay for a development and then decide what new development and changes can be transported. There would not be any major difference to any other development and approval process.
Regression test is done by other users, as they have to test that their functions still work and have not been effected by one of the project developments and change requests.