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What is Acceptance testing: Types and Best practices

-by
Akil Natchimuthu
,
Dec 21, 2022
What is Acceptance testing: Types and Best practices

What is Acceptance Testing?

Acceptance testing is a process of verifying that software meets the expectations of users. Acceptance tests are typically performed by end users, in an environment similar to production, to determine if the software is functioning as expected.


In simple words, after System Testing and before making the system accessible for real use, Acceptance Testing is the final phase of software testing.


Types of Acceptance testing

There are seven types of acceptance testing:

  1. User Acceptance Testing
  2. Business Acceptance Testing
  3. Regulations Acceptance Testing
  4. Contract Acceptance Testing
  5. Operational Acceptance Testing
  6. Alpha Testing
  7. Beta Testing


User Acceptance Testing

User Acceptance Testing is an essential stage in the testing cycle that ensures your product meets user expectations. User acceptance testing will help you to determine if your product has a positive impact on the end users and whether it is likely to have any negative effects. It's a good idea to test the usability of your application with real users before you ship it out.


For user acceptance testing, there are several different methods available such as usability studies, focus groups, card sort, paper prototyping and click-through walkthroughs.


The key factor in user acceptance testing is creating effective prototypes that emulate the experience of using your product as closely as possible so that you can gauge how well it works for potential customers. A prototype also allows for rapid iteration when working on new features or enhancements to improve usability for existing users.


Business Acceptance Testing

A business acceptance test is a software testing activity that checks whether the end-user can perform the required tasks in the system and do not find any bugs. It is important to carry out such tests before you launch your website or application for users to provide valuable feedback about their experience with it.


Another reason why you should consider carrying out business acceptance testing is because it will help improve user experience, reduce support costs and enhance product quality. In addition, after every major release of an application, you need to conduct business acceptance testing on its new features so that you can make sure that they work as expected.


In case if there are any problems during these tests then it will help fix them very quickly so that the company does not lose customers over time due to faulty features of their products. It also helps prevent customer support issues which could occur when a new feature fails unexpectedly.


Regulations Acceptance Testing

Regulations Acceptance Testing (RAT) is the process of verifying that a product or system meets all requirements set by regulators. The main purpose of RAT is to reduce risk for the organization and make sure that products are safe for human use.


For example, when a company wants to produce medical devices, they need to prove that their product will not cause harm or injury if it is used by humans. This can be done by testing the device in a lab environment with actual people who have suffered from injuries caused by other medical devices. If this does not occur during the RAT phase, then there could be some issues in production later on.


Contract Acceptance Testing

Contract Acceptance Testing is the process of testing the contract under test to check whether it satisfies its requirements or not.

For example, if you are writing a contract for a website, then acceptance testing will be done on your web page to ensure that all the necessary components are present and in place.


Also, there should be no errors because if there are any errors, then this can lead to some issues in future.

Another important aspect is finding out what each component does and how they interact with each other so that when the contract is used by the user then these things won't cause any problem at all.


Operational Acceptance Testing

Operational Acceptance Testing refers to the process that a company uses in order to make sure that all features work properly after an upgrade or patch has been installed and the system is running correctly before releasing it to users. This is different from unit testing which focuses on individual software components and code, such as unit tests and integration tests, respectively.


Operational acceptance testing involves more than just one part of the system being tested together; it must be able to check the entire end-to-end workflow of a customer's use case within a given environment.


In other words, if you want your application or service to function properly in all environments (in production, staging and QA), then you need an automated method for checking this out before making any changes in production/staging/QA environments that affect customer usage.


Alpha Testing

Alpha testing is a process where you provide feedback to your client on the features of the product before it is officially launched. This gives your client and opportunity to correct any problems before they are released in production.


If you have experience in software development, then this would be an easy process for you because all you need to do is to write down a list of requirements that should be met by the final product.


However, if you don't have experience in software development, then you will need to find someone who can help develop these features with your help. If possible I would suggest finding some designers or programmers so that they can assist with implementing these features into the program.


Beta Testing

Beta testing is the process of getting feedback from customers and the public before a product or service is launched. It is also known as pre-launch testing.


When you run a beta test, you collect data on how your product or service will be used by different people in different situations. This information helps to identify any potential problems with your product or service that might arise when it goes live for general use. By analyzing this data, you can determine what kind of adjustments need to be made so that your product or service meets the needs of all users, not just those who happen to test it out first.


After you have gathered all this valuable information, make any necessary changes to your project based on these findings and then launch it into the wild for real! Once your new project goes live, continue gathering feedback from anyone who has encountered problems with it so that you can make necessary changes before it goes live again!


Acceptance Testing Best Practices

Identify your audience:

Before you start accepting any new test submissions, it is important to first identify the type of users who will be using your product or service. This can be done by doing some research into your target market and then creating a questionnaire that will help you understand what types of users are currently using similar products or services. Once you have this information, it is easy to create acceptance test scenarios based on what kinds of user experiences you would like to see.


Design your acceptance tests:

Once you have Identified the target users and designed your acceptance test scenarios, it is time to start testing them! The best way to do this is by using a controlled environment where you can accurately measure how different groups of users interact with your product or service. This will help you identify any problems that may occur during normal use a n d provide you with the information needed to fix them.


Monitor your acceptance tests:

Once you have completed your acceptance tests, it is important to track and review the results in order to make any necessary changes. This will help ensure that all users are having a positive experience with your product or service, and that any problems are identified and corrected as soon as possible.

Use the right tool:

To achieve efficient results in acceptance testing, use the right set of tools which will ease in with your existing workflow and smoothen the process. Disbug is one such tool that'll help clients/users to send visual feedback and save a ton of time for the developers. These bug reports come with annotated screenshots, screen recordings and even technical logs automatically captured. This is best suited for software teams who want to ship quality products faster.


Conclusion

Acceptance testing is an important part of the software development process, and it is essential that you take the time to do it correctly. By following these best practices, you can ensure that your product or service meets your users' expectations and remains bug-free throughout its lifespan.