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User Acceptance Testing

User Acceptance Testing

Brian Hambling | Pauline van Goethem

(2013)

Additional Information

Abstract

Every information system brought into service in every type of organisation requires user acceptance testing. It is by far the most common activity carried out by non-IT specialists. This book is designed to be a hands-on manual for non-testing specialists to plan and carry out an effective acceptance test of an information system. It provides a structured and step-by-step approach to effective acceptance testing and identifies ways of making the process as simple and cost-effective as possible.
As someone who started his career in testing by being told to leave the comfort of my data processing team to UAT a new system I know how hard it is to understand what is required of UA testers as to date there has been very little written or provided to help. This book comfortably fills the void that exists to help UA testers understand their role and the many tasks they have to undertake.
Geoff Thompson
A UAT guide for users: that is a novel thought! This fills a gap in my bookshelf, a volume I wish I had years ago. It would have helped me to help the business. But more than that: it would have helped business users to help themselves, and see that UAT is more than just a necessary evil, but has clear purpose, methods, goals and skills. This is a step-by-step guide that is clear and praiseworthy. You never know, it could be a recruiting arm for professional testers in the future, brought in from the business.
Peter Morgan
Every information system brought into service in every type of organisation requires user acceptance testing. It is by far the most common activity carried out by non-IT specialists. This book is designed to be a hands-on manual for non-testing specialists to plan and carry out an effective acceptance test of an information system. It provides a structured and step-by-step approach to effective acceptance testing and identifies ways of making the process as simple and cost-effective as possible.
Brian Hambling and Pauline van Goethem have nearly 60 years’ combined experience in the IT industry in a wide variety of development, testing and project management roles. Brian has been Chair of the Software Testing Examination Board at BCS and an examiner at the International Software Testing Qualification Board (ISTQB). Pauline is a member of the ISTQB Glossary review team.
...a really excellent book; well written, carefully structured and in a format that makes it easy to read and understand the topic. [...] an absolute must-read for anyone involved in systems development.
A P Sutcliffe

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Cover Cover
Copyright iv
CONTENTS v
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES viii
AUTHORS x
INTRODUCTION 1
WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT 2
THE ROLE OF UAT 5
THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF UAT 5
THE VALUE OF UAT – THE REASONS WE NEED TO DO IT 6
STAKEHOLDERS – WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR 10
HOW TO GET THE BEST FROM THIS BOOK 11
CHECKLISTS 12
CASE STUDIES 13
1 THE IMPORTANCE OF UAT 15
WHAT IS UAT? 15
WHY TEST ISs? 17
BUSINESS VULNERABILITY 19
THE UAT PROCESS 21
FROM UAT TO SERVICE DELIVERY 24
UAT AND CONTRACTS 26
STAKEHOLDERS IN UAT 29
2 BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS 34
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS 34
BUSINESS INTENT AND USER EXPECTATIONS 38
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA 39
THE REQUIREMENT TYPES 40
PRIORITISING BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS 42
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS AND UAT 43
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND UAT 45
SCOPE OF UAT 46
BUILDING A TEST BASIS FOR UAT 48
3 TESTING BASICS FOR UAT 56
WHAT IS TESTING? 56
TEST TYPES 58
TESTING PROCESSES 62
TEST-CASE DESIGN TECHNIQUES 68
TESTING APPROACHES FOR UAT 70
REVIEWS 72
4 THE UAT TEAM 75
STAKEHOLDERS AND THE UAT TEAM 75
KEY ROLES IN A UAT TEAM 77
CREATING A SUCCESSFUL TEAM 80
TRAINING THE TEAM 82
UAT TRAINING CONTENT 84
THE TEAM LIFE CYCLE 86
DEALING WITH TEAM CONFLICT 88
THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND WORKING PATTERNS 89
BASIC DISCIPLINES 90
5 UAT AS TRANSITION 93
THE IS LIFE CYCLE AS A SERIES OF TRANSITIONS 93
PLANNING FOR TRANSITIONS 95
UAT AS A TRANSITIONAL PHASE 96
UAT AS AN EVENT AND UAT AS A PROCESS 96
6 PREPARING FOR UAT – PLANNING 99
DECIDING WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE 100
ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA 101
UAT OBJECTIVES 103
ENTRY CRITERIA 103
DEFINING THE TESTING WE WILL NEED 105
CREATING A TEST BASIS FOR UAT 107
SETTING UP THE TEST MANAGEMENT CONTROLS 119
7 TEST DESIGN FOR UAT 122
THE HIERARCHY OF TEST DESIGN 122
IDENTIFYING TEST CONDITIONS 124
DESIGNING TEST CASES 128
DESIGNING TEST SCRIPTS 133
DATA CREATION 138
8 IMPLEMENTING THE TESTS 144
THE TESTING SCHEDULE 144
IMPLEMENTING THE TEST SCHEDULE 150
IDENTIFYING PROGRESS 155
THE STATUS REPORT 156
THE POST-TESTING SUMMARY 156
9 EVALUATING THE SYSTEM 159
HOW DO WE DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO ACCEPT A SYSTEM? 159
WHEN THE TESTING HAS TO STOP 161
THE RISK OF RELEASE 162
MEASURING THE RISK OF RELEASE 163
DEFINING AND EVALUATING EMERGENCY-RELEASE CRITERIA 163
DECISION PROCESS FOR EVALUATING UAT RESULTS 165
TEST SUMMARY REPORT CONCLUSIONS 168
THE FINAL RELEASE DECISION 169
10 LIFE AFTER UAT 171
POST-UAT REPORTING 171
END-USER TRAINING 175
PREPARING A ROLL-OUT STRATEGY 175
IMPLEMENTATION 176
POST-IMPLEMENTATION DEFECT CORRECTIONS 176
MEASURING BUSINESS BENEFITS 176
THE END OF UAT? 177
APPENDIX A UAT CHECKLISTS 178
INITIATING THE UAT PROJECT CHECKLIST (SPONSOR) 178
PLANNING THE UAT PROJECT CHECKLIST (UAT TEAM LEADER) 180
UAT TEST DESIGN CHECKLIST 182
UAT TEST EXECUTION CHECKLIST 183
UAT RELEASE DECISION CHECKLIST 184
POST-UAT ACTIONS CHECKLIST 184
APPENDIX B ANSWERS AND COMMENTS 186
CHAPTER 1 186
CHAPTER 2 188
CHAPTER 3 190
CHAPTER 4 191
CHAPTER 5 193
CHAPTER 6 194
CHAPTER 7 196
CHAPTER 8 198
CHAPTER 9 200
APPENDIX C UAT TRAINING 202
THE TRAINING PROCESS 202
THE TRAINING CONSULTANT ROLE 203
REFERENCES 210
INDEX 211
Back Cover 216