Let’s Repeal Acceptance Tests

Acceptance testing is the term used in the software industry to conduct software testing for its acceptance, business compliance, and to make sure if the software is ready for delivery. Agile software testing methodology has been prominently used in the industries which have improved their overall testing process. Agile as well as Semi-agile methodologies help to increase the understanding of the testing process by conducting early tests. It also involves the acceptance test managers as well as a testing team earlier in the process that help to minimize the delivery risks as well as speeds up the overall testing process.

But still, many acceptance test managers receive the following questions.

1. Is there a need to document acceptance tests?
2. Do the testing team require an acceptance test period?
3. Is there a plan required prior to the acceptance tests?
4. Lastly, is there a need to appoint exact test persons who have a joint testing responsibility for the acceptance tests?

These all questions are very well addressed in the waterfall model and in the agile model if all of these questions are still raised then it’s not an agile model but something else. It is observed in the software industries that the above questions are well addressed and still they stick to agile methodology. But in the true sense, when we discuss documentation and structure then it is no longer agile, but waterfall model.

In an agile model, the documentation is dealt with in a very different manner. The actual question arises is that “Is there really a need for documentation?”, if yes then at what so level? It should not be like that we are documenting things which are not at all needed. This is where the gist of agile is lost and we end up spending more time in the testing process which could have been saved and the testing could have expedited.

The same doubt is applicable to other questions as well. For example, if we discuss acceptance tests from the purpose and perspective of receiving organization and delivery organization then the concept is totally different and therefore, the testing procedure also differs for both of the organizations. It is the responsibility of the acceptance test manager to evaluate the situation as well as the organization type and design the tests accordingly. It should evaluate the conditions such as the organization should be using their standard system for testing or there is a need for adaptation in order to support a more complex system than before? Test acceptance manager should look out of the box and make a decision based on the current situation. They should also look into the system if it is developed in-house or by the vendor and decide on the extent to involve the receiving party or organization in the testing process. This is what is required from the agile methodology perspective and they are the prerequisites encouraging the development of acceptance tests.

In the software development for any organization, depending on the need the acceptance tests can be used in an early stage in order to continuously test individual releases. But such practice is not the same that could assure the quality of the work process or the entire flows. Therefore, the acceptance test managers should study the need of the situation and move forward to make a call on the actual acceptance test period required on the top of the ongoing tests. Based on the current deliverables such acceptance test period could be small or big depending on the acceptance testing scope. In the case of a delivery organization, the acceptance tests are mostly based on the testing of the application features and flows but same could differ in the case of a receiving organization.

The bottom line is that the acceptance tests should cover end to end integration tests, tests that ensure the application work processes, the special organization needs to ensure business compliance and the product is ready to be delivery from a delivery organization or ready to be received by a receiving organization. This should be noted that a delivery organization acceptance tests should satisfy an acceptance tests requirement for a receiving organization in terms of delivery vs order.

Based on the need what we just discussed, the acceptance test manager review and decide if the documentation is required or not. If documentation is required that up to what extent it is required? Agile does not discourage documentation but it encourages optimized documentation where the complex flows can be specified with the defined testing approaches and scenarios. It does not mean that the testing team is going to document all the test cases. It all depends on the actual requirements of the acceptance testing and how things could be well communicated and understood from the testing perspective.

In the agile model, there is a very common phrase which is often misunderstood. The phrase is “testing is everyone’s responsibility”. It results in a situation where nobody is ready to take the responsibility and the ownership of the testing. But in actual sense, it is the responsibility of the acceptance test manager to keep the track who is testing what in the project and what is the perspective. We cannot attain the best quality by simply adding a large number of acceptance testers in the project but the test manager should frame the test team and assign the testers to the acceptance testing module depending on the test purpose or assurance and this is where it is the joint responsibility of the tester as well as the acceptance test manager. The acceptance test manager should assign the acceptance tester based on the application functionality under test, the application flow, the work process, etc.

Conclusion

We cannot straightly say that documentation, planning, and structure for the project results into non-agile or waterfall model but we can still work in the agile model if we are able to evaluate the actual need of the acceptance test and the organization end goal. If we mix and match everything and thinking of agile methodology simultaneously then we cannot reap the benefits of the agile model but we may risk falling back into working ad hoc. Therefore, the acceptance testing approach should be chosen wisely in the agile model depending on the testing need of the organization.

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