UAT Planning

UAT Planning Skill

Purpose

Plan and coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to ensure the solution meets business requirements and is ready for production deployment.

When to Use

• Before production deployment
• After development and QA testing complete
• When business validation is required
• For regulatory compliance

UAT Overview

What is UAT?

User Acceptance Testing is the final phase of testing where actual business users verify that the system meets their requirements and is fit for purpose.

UAT vs Other Testing

UAT Planning Process

1. UAT Strategy

Define:

• Scope: What features/modules to test
• Approach: Script-based, exploratory, or hybrid
• Environment: UAT environment requirements
• Data: Test data requirements
• Timeline: Start/end dates, milestones
• Resources: Testers, support

UAT Scope Example:

## In Scope
- New checkout flow (guest and registered)
- Payment processing (credit card, PayPal)
- Order confirmation and emails
- Order history viewing

## Out of Scope
- Admin functions (tested by IT)
- Existing functionality not changed
- Performance testing (separate test)

2. Entry Criteria

Before UAT begins:

• All development complete
• Unit and integration tests passing
• System testing complete with no critical bugs
• UAT environment set up and stable
• Test data prepared
• User credentials created
• UAT scripts reviewed and approved
• Training completed (if needed)

3. Exit Criteria

UAT is complete when:

• All critical and high-priority test cases passed
• No open critical or high-severity defects
• Medium/low defects documented with workarounds
• Sign-off from business stakeholders
• Go-live readiness confirmed

UAT Test Case Template

# Test Case: TC-UAT-001

**Feature**: Guest Checkout
**Priority**: High
**Prerequisite**: Products in cart, valid test credit card

## Test Steps

| Step | Action | Expected Result | Actual Result | Pass/Fail |
|------|--------|-----------------|---------------|-----------|
| 1 | Click "Checkout" with items in cart | Checkout page displays | | |
| 2 | Select "Checkout as Guest" | Email field displayed | | |
| 3 | Enter email "test@example.com" | Email accepted | | |
| 4 | Enter shipping address | Address validated | | |
| 5 | Select shipping method "Standard" | Shipping cost $5.99 shown | | |
| 6 | Enter card 4242-4242-4242-4242 | Card accepted | | |
| 7 | Click "Place Order" | Order confirmation displayed | | |
| 8 | Check email inbox | Confirmation email received | | |

## Test Data Required
- Product: "Test Product" - $29.99
- Credit Card: 4242424242424242, 12/25, 123
- Shipping Address: 123 Test St, San Francisco, CA 94102

## Notes
_Record any observations, issues, or deviations here_

**Tested By**: _____________ **Date**: _____________
**Result**: ☐ Pass ☐ Fail ☐ Blocked

UAT Execution Tracking

Daily Status Template

# UAT Daily Status - [Date]

## Summary
- Tests Planned: 50
- Tests Executed: 35
- Tests Passed: 30
- Tests Failed: 3
- Tests Blocked: 2

## Progress: 70% Complete

## Defects Raised Today
| ID | Severity | Summary | Status |
|----|----------|---------|--------|
| DEF-101 | High | Payment fails for Amex | Open |
| DEF-102 | Medium | Wrong shipping address format | Open |

## Blockers
1. UAT environment was down 2 hours (resolved)
2. Waiting for test credit card for PayPal

## Plan for Tomorrow
- Complete payment testing
- Start order management testing

Defect Severity

UAT Sign-off

Sign-off Template

# UAT Sign-off Document

**Project**: E-commerce Checkout Redesign
**UAT Period**: January 15-22, 2026
**Sign-off Date**: January 22, 2026

## Executive Summary
UAT for the checkout redesign has been completed. All critical functionality has been tested and approved.

## Test Summary
| Category | Total | Passed | Failed | Blocked |
|----------|-------|--------|--------|---------|
| Checkout Flow | 25 | 24 | 1 | 0 |
| Payment | 15 | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| Order Management | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| **Total** | **50** | **48** | **1** | **1** |

## Open Defects
| ID | Severity | Summary | Decision |
|----|----------|---------|----------|
| DEF-101 | Medium | Minor display issue on mobile | Go-live, fix in next sprint |

## Go/No-Go Recommendation
**☑ GO** - Recommended for production deployment

## Stakeholder Sign-off
| Name | Role | Signature | Date |
|------|------|-----------|------|
| John Smith | Business Owner | ___________ | |
| Mary Johnson | Product Manager | ___________ | |
| Sarah Lee | UAT Lead | ___________ | |

## Conditions/Notes
- DEF-101 to be fixed within 1 week post-launch
- Monitoring plan in place for first 48 hours
- Rollback plan documented and tested

Best Practices

Planning

✅ Do:

• Involve business users early in planning
• Create realistic test data
• Allow buffer time for defect fixes
• Train testers on new features
• Document expected results clearly

❌ Don't:

• Wait until last minute to start UAT
• Use production data with sensitive info
• Skip test case review
• Underestimate time needed
• Forget about regression testing

Execution

✅ Do:

• Track progress daily
• Triage defects quickly
• Re-test after fixes
• Document everything
• Communicate blockers immediately

❌ Don't:

• Let testers create ad-hoc tests only
• Ignore "minor" issues
• Skip re-testing after fixes
• Delay communication of issues
• Rush sign-off

Domain-Specific UAT

E-commerce

• End-to-end purchase flow
• Payment methods (all supported)
• Shipping calculations
• Promotional codes
• Mobile checkout

ERP

• Business process flows
• Approval workflows
• Report accuracy
• Integration with other modules
• Role-based access

CRM

• Lead/opportunity workflows
• Sales process stages
• Email integrations
• Report accuracy
• Mobile access

Tools

• Lark/Notion: Test case documentation
• Jira/Azure DevOps: Defect tracking
• TestRail/Zephyr: Test management
• Lark Base: UAT tracking database

Next Steps

After UAT:

1. Final sign-off meeting
2. Go-live preparation
3. Production deployment
4. Post-go-live monitoring
5. Hypercare support

References

• ISTQB Testing Standards
• Agile Testing Quadrants
• UAT Best Practices