Prioritizing business processes for UAT coverage
Key Takeaway
When time limits UAT, give test scripts first to the business processes that are both high value (critical to the business) and high usage (used by most or all users). Rank processes by how much the business depends on them, not by how much custom code was built.
User acceptance testing (UAT) gives end users the chance to accept or reject a delivered feature before it goes live. UAT is the last check that what the business asked for is what is being delivered. You don't always need to test every process. Instead, you focus functional and UAT testing on the business processes that are high value, high usage, or both.
What UAT is
UAT is end-user testing in a sandbox or test environment. UAT verifies two things: the project or enhancement works as intended, and what was originally requested is actually being delivered.
UAT is the last stage before go-live. The technology team usually tests the work through quality assurance before UAT starts. The pass or fail result of UAT works as a go or no-go decision for the release.
Functional tests and UAT answer different questions. Functional tests check that features work as defined in the technical requirements. UAT lets end users accept or reject the final delivery. In small projects, the two can be merged.