User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is the final, business-critical checkpoint before software goes liveâwhere real users validate that a solution meets their needs and performs in the real world. Done right, UAT can prevent costly post-launch issues, align teams around business goals, and ensure user confidence. This best practice guide walks you through everything you need to know to plan, run, and optimise effective UATâwhether youâre launching a major product or delivering incremental updates.
Table of contents
Everything you need to know for successful User Acceptance Testing, from Scoping and Strategy through Execution to Triage and Retrospection â all in easy-to-read bite-size chunks. Work your way through them all, and you will have the ultimate guide!
At Original Software weâve helped thousands of testing professionals and business users get software testing better and faster than they could do alone. Without a doubt, the greatest impact weâve had is on user acceptance testing, or UAT.
The point is, we know quite a bit about UAT.
If youâre new to the software testing game (or youâre a business user whoâs never taken part in UAT before), this guide will explain what UAT testing is. Weâll also cover the problems with the way lots of organizations are handling their UAT and how they can do it better â and crucially, we outline the steps to take for each part of the UAT process.
A definition of UAT
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is the process of verifying whether software meets the needs of its end usersâboth functionally and in terms of usability. At its core, UAT asks two key questions:
- Does the software actually enable users to do their jobs?
- Is the software designed well enough that users can do their jobs well?
The first bucket is mission-critical, obviously. If something has changed and users now canât do their jobs, the software canât be launched. That second bucket, though, is still important. For instance, if a button has changed position, size and color in a program, then the user might still be able to do their job â but it takes them longer because they take ages finding the button. Fixing those sorts of issues (which, letâs face it, arenât usually top of mind for a developer) can protect or even boost productivity and reduce the errors people make when working.
We have created a more detailed overview to UAT so do check it out.
Why is UAT important?
Other software testing phases are focused on functional testing: does the software behave as it should, does it break any other pieces of software, and so on? UAT is the only phase that focuses specifically on whether the software will actually do what the business needs it to do. Itâs a subtle but important shift of focus. A piece of software might function perfectly well but behave in a way that means work takes twice as long as it used to â or even that work canât get done at all.
When does UAT happen?
UAT is normally the very last testing phase. The major reason for this is that itâs one of the most expensive testing phases, as it will involve a number of business users. With that in mind, it makes sense to do as much as possible to minimize the time UAT takes. Leaving it until the end gives an organization the best chance of weeding out as many bugs and issues as possible.
How long does UAT take?
Unfortunately, thatâs a bit like asking how long a piece of string is. The length of time UAT will take depends on a few factors:
- How many tests need doing. If the software change in question touches multiple systems and processes, more tests will be needed to ensure that everything still works as it should. Given that, on average, 29% of applications used by an organization are integrated, itâs likely that the volume of tests that need doing in each test cycle will increase.
- The quality of your test design. Thereâs a lot of overlap between UAT and regression testing. Regression testing can be automated easily, and good test design takes that into account. The better you design your tests, the less time your business users spend testing.
- The availability of business users. At the risk of sounding obvious, business users have jobs to do outside of testing software. Getting them to sit down and do the testing around their other responsibilities can often be a challenge â especially if the testing process is long and painful.
- The speed and quality of feedback. If issues are discovered during testing, they need to be documented, passed to developers, fixed and retested. That process is often laced with opportunities for errors. Feedback can sometimes be so vague that developers canât make sense of it, and they have to ask the business user to replicate the issue. Sometimes, developers may fix an issue, but the retest gets lost in the schedule, dragging out the UAT process. And on it goes.
- The ease of taking tests. If your testing software is difficult to use, slow, or your users havenât been trained on it, then tests will take longer (and leave everyone more grumpy). This is possibly one of the most important factors to get right in UAT â your business users can make or break the whole operation, so it pays to make things as easy for them as possible.
- The ease of management. Most organizations have historically run UAT through emails, spreadsheets, screenshots, and hope. If the managers in charge of UAT canât easily work out what needs to happen and when everything will slow down.
What I can tell you is that our customers have been able to speed up test cycle times by as much as 50% – so no matter how long your UAT is currently taking you or how long you might worry itâs going to take, we can help you get it done faster.
Why is UAT difficult?
There are two main factors that are complicating UAT right now:
- Updates are coming thicker and faster than ever before. Partially due to the rise in cloud applications and partly due to the increasing levels of integration between applications, the testing burden on IT teams has never been higher.
- The processes that most organizations use to run UAT are not equipped to deal with this increased volume. Test managers are making do with laborious and manual processes; as a result, cycles are taking longer, and the risk of errors getting through the process grows.
Those challenges lead to one of two outcomes. Either the organization delays releasing software updates to users, which eventually starts to hold the business back as users donât have access to the latest features and functionality to do their jobs. Or, the software is released, but the risk of it containing bugs that cause serious harm to the business grows.
Donât worry; it all gets more cheerful from here.
What are the stages of UAT to do it well?
We also recommend that you use a software testing tool to manage your software testing. Rather than managing the process through emails and spreadsheets, and gathering feedback through screenshots, you use an application that:
- Shows you all the tests you need to do â both manual and automated.
- Monitors their progress.
- Enables business users to take tests quickly and easily, with tools that ensure consistent and meaningful feedback.
- Makes it easy to create and update automated test scripts for those elements of UAT that are just regression testing in disguise.
- Collates feedback from tests and makes it available to test managers for triage (or passes it directly to developers).
We have mapped out each step of UAT to help guide you.
Each step is carefully designed to guide you through the key stages of effective User Acceptance Testing (UAT). From early planning and stakeholder alignment to writing test scenarios, executing tests, and capturing feedback, each phase builds on the last to ensure a smooth, structured process. This step-by-step approach helps teams stay focused, reduce risk, and deliver high-quality software that meets real user needs. Letâs walk through each step in detail below.
Define the overall approach, objectives, and scope for user acceptance testing, aligning it with business goals and project timelines.
Identify stakeholders, allocate resources, and set clear timelines to ensure testing runs smoothly and efficiently.
Set up the test environment, prepare test data, and ensure all participants are briefed and ready to begin testing.
Document the scope, scenarios, entry/exit criteria, roles, and responsibilities to guide execution and measure success.
Run test scenarios in the real-world context to validate functionality, usability, and readiness for release.
Capture, prioritise, and assign any defects or usability issues that arise during testing for timely resolution.
Monitor progress, address blockers, and keep stakeholders informed to ensure the test phase stays on track.
Re-test resolved issues or run additional scenarios to confirm that fixes are effective and no new issues have emerged.
Reflect on what worked well and what could be improved, capturing lessons learned to enhance future UAT cycles.
What does UAT cost?
Many Quality Assurance theorists and academics will be unhappy that cost is even mentioned in the context of testing. They will consider it irrelevant compared to the projectâs goals and will argue this by making the comparison to the cost of not testingâa fair point. However, the cost is a real factor and a real constraint for many projects, and given that UAT is the most costly type of testing that can be performed, it is worth considering how the cost can be controlled and reduced. Thankfully, a cost reduction is a by-product of other more inspiring objectives and is achieved by efficiency, reuse, improving communication, and better testing approaches that drive out more issues in less time, with less effort.
In the end, delivering an issue-free system, which the users know how to use and gain benefit from, will be the most valuable factor in the projectâs success.
The business case for investment
This guide highlights the key considerations for improving User Acceptance Testing, with technology playing a central role in driving efficiency and reliability. While UAT is often overlooked once software reaches business users, poor execution can increase costs, delay projects, and lead to avoidable failures. Investing in a structured, tech-enabled UAT process not only saves time and reduces production issuesâit also helps protect your organisation from becoming the next software failure headline. If youâre looking to take your UAT programme to the next level, weâre here to help. Get in touch to explore how we can support your testing goalsâor take a look around our site for more expert insights, tips, and resources on all things UAT.
Conclusion
Are you ready to strengthen your UAT Process?
The nature of User Acceptance Testing is bound to vary according to the projectâs needs, the business, the users, and the overall risk. In some cases, it is the only form of testing an organization will experience, but even if it is not, UAT is the most expensive type of testing that can be performed.
FAQ
It really depends on quite a few variables: how many tests need doing? How available are your business users or subject matter experts (SME)? How well designed and how easy to carry out are your tests? How easy can you manage your tests and testers? Without the answer to those, it’s a tricky one to answer. But the good news is that we typically speed up UAT test cycle times by 50%
The UAT environment (User Acceptance Testing environment) is a separate, controlled instance of the software system where real users perform acceptance testing before the product goes live. It is normally a replica of the production environment used only for testing, allowing business users to verify that the system meets their requirements and is isolated from development and staging environments so as not to impact ongoing work.
UAT test scenarios are typically written by business stakeholders, product owners, or end-users, often with help from business analysts or QA testers. It is these users because UAT is about validating business value, not just technical correctness. Those who understand how the system is meant to be used are best positioned to define what âacceptableâ means.
A UAT checklist is a structured list of items and activities to ensure User Acceptance Testing is properly planned, executed, and completed. It helps teams stay organized, verify readiness, and ensure the software meets business requirements before going live.
They can helpâbut they shouldnât be the only people doing it. UAT is meant to answer the question: âCan we run our business on this?â That answer has to come from the people who actually run the business, not the people who wrote the test plan. In a nutshell, QA engineers enable and support; business users accept and approve. So yes, testers can and should be involved in UAT, but mainly as facilitators and advisors. The final âthumbsâupâ (or âthumbsâdownâ) needs to come from the people who will actually rely on the software when it hits production.
QA comes before UAT. QA testing validates the software works. UAT confirms the right thing was built. Typically, the order of testing phases is 1. Unit Testing (by developers) 2. Integration testing (by devs/testers) 3. System Testing (by QA team) 4. Quality Assurance (QA) testing (by QA testers) and 5. User Acceptance Testing (by business users or clients). QA comes first as it allows teams to catch defects early, saves time in UAT and allows UAT to focus on business value as technical issues have already been addressed.
Scenario:Â A company is developing an online expense reporting system for its employees.
Objective: Verify that employees can submit expense reports and managers can approve them.
Test Case:
Title:Â Employee submits an expense report.
Preconditions:
Employee has access to the expense system.
Employee has scanned receipts.
Steps:
Login as an employee.
Click âCreate New Expense Report.â
Enter details: date, category, amount, and attach receipt.
Click âSubmit.â
Expected Result:
The expense report is submitted.
A confirmation message appears.
The report is visible under âSubmitted Reports.â
Manager receives a notification.
đ©âđŒ Who Performs It?
Real end-users: employees, managers, or clients
Not developers or testers
đ§Ÿ Goal of UAT:
Ensure the system behaves as expected for the end-user
Validate workflows, not just functionality
