Throughout the course of a project's lifecycle, but especially towards the middle and end of development, you will need to have your client perform User Acceptance Testing (UAT). This allows the client to provide feedback on the project as it is being developed.
This process should take place as often as new sets of features have been cleared through the ==in-house Quality Assurance (QA)== process and approved to be pushed to the client's staging environment for their review.
UAT ensures that the client is able to see the progress and the direction of the project early on and allows the client to provide feedback that can help steer both teams to the ideal end product.
In this way UAT allows us to both manage the client's expectations AND make sure the project is being built to meet their wants and needs.
- Technology: Azure Dev Ops, Your Web Browser of Choice, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel
- Sphere: Project Coordination
- SDLC: Development
- Cadence: Regularly Throughout Project Lifecycle
In order to begin the process of UAT, you first need to confirm that there are new features of the project that have passed the ==in-house QA process.==
This can be done by reviewing the project's backlog in Azure Dev Ops and identifying any new user stories/tasks that have been marked as "Passed QA"
The next step is to navigate to the project's staging environment and ensure that the features you identified in step 1 appear on the staging environment and that they reflect the feature as it was described in the project's Business Requirements Document (BRD) and the User Story with its associated tasks in Azure Dev Ops (including acceptance criteria).
- ==This (??? the staging environment?) is usually found at ====http://PROJECTABBREVIATION-stg.clarityclient.com==== and should be saved in the project's Vault Warden (LOOK TO SEE IF THERE IS AN ARTICLE TO EXPLAIN VAULT WARDEN)==
Once you have confirmed that the features identified in step 1 are ready for the client to review, you should share that list of features (along with the link to the staging environment) with the client and invite them to review those features.
- If your client is more on the non-technical side, you should strongly consider providing them with specific ==Test Cases== to walk them through the process of performing UAT on the features that are ready for review.
- If you are super comfortable with the workflow and acceptance criteria of the feature(s) up for review, you can prepare these Test Cases yourself. But you can also request these ==Test Cases from the QA team== if the features in question are more complex or if you feel that the client needs an extra firm hand to walk them through the UAT process.
- An example of a UAT Test Case Document can be ==found ====here====.==
- For the more technical aspects of the project - such as integrations - planning for a UAT meeting with yourself, a developer, and the client to walk through the UAT process (and potentially preprepared Test Cases) together can be a good idea, especially with a non-technically inclined client.
- UAT is informed by the BRD and should follow the acceptance criteria in that document.
Once the client has provided feedback through the UAT process, translate that feedback into tickets or tasks in Azure Dev Ops (under either the respective feature's User Story itself or under an overarching =="Bug Ticket" feature in the backlog).==
These tickets should then move through the normal development lifecycle - development, push to QA environment, QA, push to STG environment, UAT.
- The end goal of this process is to have a feature approved by the client in UAT and then have the reviewed feature pushed to the final production environment.
- IMPORTANT TIP: The development of additional features can cause regressions in previously reviewed and approved features, so it is always a good idea to walk through the full staging environment whenever new features are pushed to STG.
Best Practice:
Send your client a message similar to the one below informing them about what to expect during UAT and how to conduct UAT:
"Hello,
As we approach the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) phase, I wanted to outline the steps and expectations for this process to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Review Features Ready for UAT:
First, please review the features that have passed our internal QA process. You can find them marked as 90% complete in the timeline and outlined in the Test Cases Tab of that document.Access the Staging Environment:
Once you've identified the features, please check the staging environment to ensure the features appear as described in the Business Requirements Document. You can access the staging environment at: [http://PROJECTABBREVIATION-stg.clarityclient.com].Share Feedback:
After reviewing the features, please provide feedback. If needed, we can also arrange a UAT session with the development team to walk through more complex features.Next Steps:
After your feedback is received, we’ll translate it into tasks and estimates to be approved by your team. Please note that the development of additional features can cause regressions in previously reviewed and approved features.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like to discuss the process further.
Best regards,
PM Name"
