User Acceptance Test Plan in Salesforce

In the intricate process of software development, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) marks a crucial phase where the final product is evaluated against user requirements to ensure it meets the desired outcomes. Business Analysts play a pivotal role in orchestrating this phase, bridging the gap between the development team and the end-users. This blog sheds light on the invaluable contributions of Business Analysts to UAT, offering insights into:

• The identification and involvement of both active and passive end-users in the UAT process.
• Strategic planning of UAT tests, tailored to various user types to cover all business scenarios.
• Key steps for effective UAT test planning, ensuring comprehensive coverage and meaningful feedback.
• The conduct of UAT in different project methodologies, emphasizing agility and iterative feedback.

Let’s get started!

Role of a Business Analyst in UAT

UAT Testers

• The Business Analyst in the requirement elicitation and analysis activity identifies wide variety of end users: active and passive.

• The active end users interact with the system directly and have been a key source of both functional and non-functional requirements. Much of the system built i intended to meet these people’s needs. Therefore, some (or many) of them should be included as UAT testers.

• The passive end users don’t interact with the system directly but are impacted by the system changes. Thus, some of these users should be UAT testers as well.
• There should be a user who will check all the requirements identified and developed during the UAT to check the system for acceptability.

UAT Test Planning

The UAT focus should be on how the system will be used. Since the business analyst is involved in the requirement elicitation and analysis activity, they understand the functionality/feature to be tested during UAT. Therefore, they are majorly involved in planning the UAT tests.

UAT Test Planning Steps

• Create a test plan specific to each type of user participating in the UAT (Active and Passive users). Ensure that the test plan includes the business scenarios specific to the role which will use the system.
• All scenarios, be it a happy path or a wrong path, should be included in the test plan. The erroneous path can include the user making a mistake and the things that can go wrong with the system.
• The UAT testers should be given appropriate instructions for testing each business scenario. This ensures that the tester mindfully tests all the functionality/features to evaluate the system’s acceptability.
• If new functionality is to be tested, the instructions should include step-by-step guidance and prompt the tester to evaluate if that way of doing the function is good from a business standpoint.
• If an existing functionality is to be tested, the instructions should tell the tester what to do (the tester should be prompted to use their existing knowledge about the system and the business process).
• The choice of data should be left to the tester in all cases except in any test where the data is important to the test (for special or error scenarios). The instructions should be precise about the data the tester must use.
• The tester should be prompted to check these things in all cases:

1. The system is operating as required and handles data and computations correctly.
2. The way in which the system operates and presents information is in line with the user’s business process flow.
3. The security, usability, performance, and other non-functional attributes are specific to the business scenario.

• Ensure that all the requirements developed/implemented will be tested by the users they are designed for. Add the appropriate test plans to the individual user role to achieve complete UAT coverage of each requirement.

Conducting a UAT

• Identifying ways user feedback can be incorporated into the software without endangering the project timeline and cost is important. For this reason, the BA should work closely with the developers and testers to find ways of conducting UAT early and incrementally.
• In agile projects, the software is developed in a small time box called sprint, which lasts a few weeks. Mini-UATs are conducted after every sprint involving the appropriate users to evaluate system acceptance.
• In traditional waterfall projects that are broken into Phases of a few months, with certain functionality being built in each phase, each phase ends with UAT.
• If the project does not have phases or sprints, the “Function-at-a-Time” development approach allows the UAT of each function after its completion.
• If none of the above development approaches is followed, the users should still be allowed to review the features/functionality as they are developed

Use Case

The functionality developed during Sprint 6 of an agile project was made live after a successful UAT session with a key stakeholder. However, the functionality deployed was not in line with the needs and expectations of different business users. What could be the reason behind this gap, and how can the business analyst rectify it?

Solution: Include Active and Passive Users

Reason: All the active and passive users of the system whom the functionality will impact should be invited to the UAT session to receive their buy-in. In addition, a business analyst should ensure that business users from different groups using the functionality are aware and that their feedback is captured before a sign-off is received on the deployment.

Conclusion 

Understanding the critical role of Business Analysts in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) reveals how indispensable their skills are in bridging the gap between development teams and end-users. Their meticulous approach to identifying user needs, planning comprehensive tests, and incorporating feedback ensures that software solutions not only align with but exceed user expectations.  

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