Acceptance Testing Details

The primary purpose of acceptance testing is to check whether the designed system complies with the business requirements. The acceptance testing process commences before the delivery of the product to end-users. Acceptance testing involves the usage of real-life sample data in a production environment. It is a kind of black-box testing where the testers are not entirely aware of the system's functionality.

Acceptance testing comes into the picture after the system has undergone unit, integration, and system testing. Developers build a system or software based on the requirement document, which the clients share during the design and requirement gathering phase of the software development life cycle. The product requirement may undergo further changes during development.

One of the most important steps in acceptance testing is to identify and develop test scenarios. Process Flow Diagrams, Business Requirements Documents (BRD), and System Requirements Specification (SRS) can't act as sources for retrieving test scenarios. Testers develop a proper acceptance test plan to ensure effective acceptance testing. This test plan outlines the strategy used to verify and ensure whether an application meets its business requirements.

Real-World Example of Acceptance Testing

Acceptance testing is the last phase in the development life cycle. A thorough acceptance test indicates that the software has met all the system requirements and is ready for distribution. External teams independent of the core product development team can help ensure the effectiveness of test plans. Such a Quality Assurance (QA) company can conduct unbiased test scenarios for the project.

One of the biggest and most well-known QA-oriented companies globally is QA Mentor, an ISO-approved software testing company headquartered in New York that serves over three hundred clients, from Fortune 500 companies to newly funded startups. QA Mentor operates on a vast scale, with clients from over twenty-eight countries.

QA Mentor specializes in acceptance testing services, where they thoroughly analyze business and functional requirements to create test cases. A detailed log report with relevant comments and suggestions helps document the successful completion of the test cases. Bug triaging and closure starts after thorough discussions with the product development team. This organization's detailed testing plan ensures a positive customer experience and reduces the overall cost and effort spent on development and maintenance.

Significance of Acceptance Testing

Developers usually code the software based on their understanding of the requirements document. Any changes made during the product development cycle not effectively communicated to the developers can cause gaps in understanding between the developers and the client's requirements.

Products must meet particular prerequisites before entering the acceptance testing phase. The complete business requirement document must be available before going into the acceptance testing phase. The requirement document cannot be changed or altered during the acceptance testing phase, and the application code must be fully developed.

Types of Acceptance Testing

  • Alpha & Beta Testing: Alpha testing typically occurs in the development environment and is usually carried out by the developers before releasing the product to external testers or customers. Improvements to the product are made based on the feedback received from alpha testing. Beta testing occurs in the customer's environment, done by a group of testers who use the product in their environment.
  • Contract Acceptance Testing: This type of testing ensures that the developed software meets specific criteria and specifications predefined in the contract agreement.
  • Regulation Acceptance Testing: This type of testing is also called compliance acceptance testing. Regulation or compliance acceptance testing ensures that the developed product complies with governmental and legal regulations.