For project and product managers, the importance of UAT before a launch should not be overlooked. Whether a big launch or a bug fix is planned, creating a test plan before it goes live is essential and should not be dismissed.
It is easy to think that whatever a developer does should be good enough to launch, but trust me, testing every new (and previously new) feature is essential.
Mitigating risks by detecting issues early
The first step in UAT is to create a test plan. Depending on your role, this plan could be in-depth or just a simple smoke test plan. Either way, it will need to test the features set to launch.
The test plan will need to consider the business and project requirements, the test scenarios – including user personas and journeys and the expected outcomes.
There have been occasions when I have tested a new feature and the desired outcome is correct, however, I found there were new issues that occurred – or even old issues that reoccurred.
When you find issues, you will need to log them (a spreadsheet and Kanban board are ideal locations) and then alert the development team. I recommend taking screenshots and recording a video to demonstrate the issue and how it can be replicated.
Finding new issues will of course impact the time for testing and could also have an impact on the release date, however, it will reduce risks and improve the product quality.
Real-world validation
Based on the test scripts and scenarios, you can validate the user experience. A good test script should be similar to:
As a ‘user’ I want to be able to ‘purchase an X’ by ‘searching for it in the search bar’.
It is vital to create real-world scenarios so that you can effectively replicate how a user would interact with the product/feature.
Improving product and client satisfaction
While UAT is not a key role of a project or product manager, it is still a vital skill to use because you are effectively an owner of the feature or product, and thus need to ensure the quality before users can use it.
Rolling out features that are effective and bug-free can increase client satisfaction. If you used something that was bug-ridden and contains spelling errors would you want to continue using it?
