Re: UAT Test Scripts

Subject: Re: UAT Test Scripts
From: Beth Agnew <beth -dot- agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2006 19:06:50 -0500

Good User Acceptance Testing often means pushing the envelope as far as what the product can do. Techwriters find many of the flaws users might encounter because during documentation we are exploring rather than using it to complete tasks. As Tony mentioned, you want to find where the exceptions are hiding. What happens to the product if you enter invalid input? In a date field, for example, if you input the 76th of Orkuary, year 3, will it accept it? What if you do not follow an accepted workflow but do things differently? Users are individuals, after all. What things are users likely to do with the product that may not have been anticipated?

Years ago, we used to include a "gack test" in UAT, i.e., to find out if the program would crash if the user pressed multiple keys on the keyboard at the same time. "Gack" comes from the sound made when someone falls face first on a keyboard.
--Beth

Tony Markos wrote:

Requirements Specs: "The system shall do X."

Test Scripts: "Verify that the system does X."

End-User Documentation: "To do X, press the ......"


Actually, the above mentioned test script is just
sufficient for one-of-a-kind tests. Often in testing,
the need is to create scripts that will be used to run
many same-as-except tests. In such situations, I say
something like "For each X value in the below table,
verify that when the value is inputted, Y results".
--
Beth Agnew
Professor, Technical Communication
Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology
Toronto, ON 416.491.5050 x3133
http://www.tinyurl.com/83u5u

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References:
Re: UAT Test Scripts: From: Tony Markos

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