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While function and regression tests validate functional specifications, User Acceptance Testing validates both the quality of the interface and the suitability of the application for its intended purpose.

There was a time when software function was all that mattered. Management was only concerned with one question, “Does the software do what we want it to do?” This idea came from the “old days” when data processing was an actual department and it took a computer that would fill an airplane hanger to do far less than what can now be done on a laptop.

The increase in computing capacity has now spread digital technology throughout the average organization to a point where it has leaked beyond the walls and resides in the cloud. This means that computer literacy is pretty much a requirement for any reasonably complex job and that is where User Acceptance Testing comes in and why UAT is so important in improving modern business function. Unlike other forms of testing, UAT is directly related to user requirements. User Acceptance Testing enables applications to be tested in real world scenarios - the hands of the customer. This means that business function is no longer simply serviced by software, but that software itself has become a part of business function.

The need to integrate software at every level of business has made it necessary to ensure that those working with various applications understand and can use those applications on a daily basis. The days of shoveling data into a specialized department are long gone. And so the ubiquity of applications means that businesses can suffer considerable losses caused by post release interface problems. UAT can prevent those problems by bringing defects to light in a timely manner that enables them to be fixed pre-release.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to make certain that those who will be using the applications directly participate in the testing process. After all, it is the end user that UAT is intended to serve.

When properly done, User Acceptance Testing can greatly reduce and even eliminate change requests altogether, as well as greatly reducing project cost by ensuring that applications can be fully integrated into the business environment prior to release.   

While it is traditional for UAT to occur at the end of the testing cycle, modern protocols have demonstrated that modular real world UAT can and should occur as the application is developed. The earlier a problem can be detected, the less it will cost to fix.

User Acceptance Testing is there to make sure that the new system can operate successfully in the real world and support day to day operations. UAT continues to increase in importance as software continues to spread across the business environment.

The purpose of iAwards is to acknowledge and support those who are advancing information and communications technology in a way that positively impacts business, the community and improves Australia's global presence in the digital sphere.

The Australian Information Industry Association facilitates the iAwards in all of Australia's territories and states in cooperation with Western Australia’s Incite Awards and in Tasmania with the support and assistance of TasICT.

The Australian Information Industry Association has been the primary advocacy group for those in the IT industry since 1978. AIIA exists to promote digital growth in a supportive business environment and to work for the improvement of the Australian economy. They accomplish this with an active support structure that creates cooperation through education and events that support networking and collaboration.

This year, Bugwolf has been nominated in three categories.  

These are:

Business Services

Where awards are given for providing innovative business to business solutions that drive higher productivity and improve competitiveness. The awards reflect the need for digital solutions that can enhance market sectors such as Administrative Services, Legal, Banking, Accounting and Professional Services across different regulatory systems and national borders.

Startup of the Year

This is an award given to a company still in the startup phase that has demonstrated digital innovation which has significantly contributed to the IT industry.

Infrastructure & Platform Innovation of the Year

This award is given for providing solutions that promote the creation of management or hardware infrastructure or platforms that are vital to providing a sound and economical ecosystem in which business can operate, including the successful integration of legacy systems with emerging technology, thereby creating operational platforms that are functional and applicable to existing changes without unnecessary disruption.

Bugwolf is honored to be nominated for these prestigious awards bestowed by an organization dedicated to enhancing the digital ecosystem.  We will continue to be dedicated to providing our clients with a fresh set of eyes that can operate independently during the digital delivery cycle to ensure a detailed and unbiased evaluation of applications prior to release.

The rapid advance of technology has created a challenging environment where improvements in digital technology changes markets, but also modifies how business is done on fundamental levels. These changes require new technology, and so the cycle moves outward in an ever expanding spiral.

The consistent need for new technology to operate with legacy tech poses a considerable problem for software development companies. It is a problem that can only be solved by strong quality assurance protocols, especially during usability testing. Fortunately, the availability of innovative technology is there to solve the problem.

These days, those involved in product development understand the importance of quality assurance. They realise that it is more than just resolving code issues, although that too is important. It also delineates and helps define product deliverables with regard to usability as well

Ash Conway, Founder and CEO of Bugwolf has placed his twenty years of experience in product design, development and testing, as well as a strong understanding of business operations, at the disposal of software development companies through the use of innovative methods of crowdsourcing and usability testing.

Bugwolf has met the challenges of crowd testing and maintaining top quality by detailed vetting of testers and careful review of bug reports to provide the best possible insights to clients. The Bugwolf model moves every project through numerous quality assurance gates to ensure accurate reporting that goes beyond previously established norms. This attention to detail has made Bugwolf the “go to” service for companies like National Australian Bank, Treasury Wines Estates as well as Australia Post. It has enabled Bugwolf to expand internationally in a very short period of time with customers in the UK and USA as well as Australia.

Also, gamifying the testing process has proven very productive. As Ash points out. “The platform allows clients to manage their own testing cycles and increase their productivity of their testing workforce. Clients can utilise the platform to design challenges, assemble teams, drive and measure performance and manage results.”

Bugwolf  provides finely controlled testing and evaluation cycles utilising a number of qualified testers who compete to provide quality usability testing within an accelerated time frame and Bugwolf's proven testing platform and protocols have enabled the company to rapidly establish itself within the industry.

Bugwolf, with it's unique and innovative testing platform and stable of highly qualified elite testers, is set to grow in terms of service and size in the years ahead.

For more information see the following links;

Outsourcing Gazette July issue

Outsourcing Gazette July issue - Bugwolf feature

Always Stay Wolf 

Stay curious and hungry. Hunting for new ways of doing things is how we stay ahead of the pack.

Straight Shooter

Build trust through transparency. Trust gives us the freedom to innovate and invest in success.

Own What You Do 

Inspire through action. Good leaders earn respect by passing the credit and taking the blame.

Embrace Constant Change 

Adaptation is crucial. Being open to new ideas and change enables us to set trends.

Lightning Speed

Have a sense of urgency. Rapid response and delivery to clients is the foundation for our success and theirs.

Prioritizing is one of these fundamentals.  Every defect that has been discovered must be prioritized, it is put on a schedule to be fixed.  While priority can be a bit subjective, it is generally best to fix based on the difficulty and/or the severity of the problem.  Bugs that can cause catastrophic effects or will take a long time to resolve get top priority.

Documentation is also a fundamental element.  It's important to know when bugs appeared and in what environment as well as how they were fixed.  Good documentation enables thorough bug fixing since there are occasions when the same bug does not appear regularly in different environments. This is why detailed documentation is a vital element in determining whether a particular bug will ever appear again or has even really been fixed.

Teamwork is essential for successful bug tracking.  Developers and testers must work together using similar methodology and the same tools.  All the stakeholders are part of the same team.  It doesn't matter whether these individuals are project managers, part of quality assurance, developers or end users, all stakeholders must follow the same procedures in order for reproducibility to be possible.  There is no way to ensure that a bug has been fixed if the circumstances surrounding its discovery cannot be reproduced as needed.

It is also important to establish bug reporting guidelines that give all information necessary.  Good information makes tracking defects clear and concise.  In fact, bug tracking cannot be considered effective if all vital information concerning the problem is not carefully documented.  This requires clear and open lines of communication between those reporting bugs and those designated to fix those problems.

Ultimately, bug tracking is a form of quality assurance that cannot be underestimated.  It doesn't necessarily stop with the deployment of the application.  It would be nice if it did, but that is just a little bit too optimistic.  And so, keeping best bug tracking practices in operation during development and after deployment is the foremost way to be certain that the highest quality application possible reaches the market.

The test case suite should be made up of those test cases which have the highest priority. These are any scenarios which, if failed, would eliminate all or a major part of functionality, as well as those tests directly related to the browser updates in question. These latter tests tend to be developed shortly before the test cycle begins.

Testing against update is a form of compatibility testing, its purpose is to ensure that the webpage or browser dependent application has not been driven out of compatibility by changes to the browser. In this respect, it is no different than any other form of compatibility testing. It should be remembered that development doesn't end with a shipped product or when a website goes live, as changes in the digital environment require ongoing adaptation.

The increasing number of browsers has raised the importance of cross browser testing and regression testing of applications and sites against browser updates. Fortunately, only about five browsers account for the majority of traffic. While this cuts things down a bit, there are still numerous variations of each browser, with more being issued as updates of current versions are ongoing.

Testing against update is more than just a test for compatibility. It is a form of functional testing as well. One of its major purposes is to establish that updates do not “break” the site or the program and that at least an acceptable level of function is maintained after the transition.

Modern business requires a website and an increasing number of businesses are using apps as part of their business model. Testing against update enables businesses to be certain that their digital presence is not erased or damaged by the normal improvements common to the digital ecosystem. It's a kind of directed evolution where the digital environment changes and websites and applications change in response. Which makes testing against browser updates an important part of that evolution.

People are changing their shopping habits and intelligent retailers are taking advantage of this by helping customers connect online shopping to offline purchases.

Literal foot traffic is no longer as important as it once was. Customers are now shopping online and buying offline. They are no longer driving from store to store to find what they want. Instead, they are shopping online first and then physically visiting the retailer to make the purchase. This means that sales are often closed before customers enter the store. They aren't shopping around, they already know what they want. And so, sales increase while foot traffic is reduced which raises the value of each customer visit.

This new behavior means that retailers must make a seamless connection between online and offline. Products listed on websites must be available at the physical location and competitive pricing becomes more important as customers can now cross check prices across a number of retailers in only a few minutes. Detailed product information must also be available because customers continue to research online even while they are visiting the store.

All this means that online and offline can no longer be treated as separate silos. Instead, retailers must build a holistic approach where digital and brick-and-mortar assist and reinforce each other.  

Bugwolf CEO and founder Ash Conway pitched to the panel and a room full of innovators from companies like Hyundai and organisations like Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

For those who don't know, Shark Tank refers to a reality TV show that features contestant entrepreneurs pitching before a panel of potential investors referred to as sharks, but rather than pitching to investors, we pitched to some of Australia’s biggest enterprise clients. It was the Shark Tank television show that inspired this event by SE- Corp and the CIO Strategy Summit, which was sponsored by Asia-Pacific Accelerator Venturetec and the panel included representatives from Commonwealth Bank, ABC and Australian Post. Bugwolf was the only Melbourne based startup in the competition.

Conway told StartupSmart that, “It was a great opportunity to get in front of a lot of our potential customers and get some direct feedback.”

This first annual event is another indication that corporations are ever more willing to support the startup sector. The increasing spread and complexity of digital technology has increased the need to outsource to specialists who can provide cutting edge technology. Bugwolf, with its cloud based user-testing platform and unique gamification approach offers the type of solutions that enable clients to deliver better quality digital products faster to their customer, and enabling them to ship software with confidence.

Bugwolf's dedication to putting the customer first is our greatest asset, and supplying solutions that work in a rapidly changing digital environment has enabled us to interface with forward looking companies and organisations who are willing to internalise and benefit from disruption.

We are proud to be part of helping to create a new landscape based on cooperation, of which the SE-Corp CIO Shark Tank style pitch is an important part.

Level 3 sponsored the pitch night to give startups a unique way to connect with corporations. Where startups usually pitch to investors, the Level 3 pitch night brought startups together with potential customers. The event took place in the dedicated meeting space sponsored by Versent.

The event brought together the founders of Foresight, Timelio, Upload Once, Jesla Labs and Covercard to pitch, along with Bugwolf, before a panel consisting of Rampersand co-founder Paul Naphtali, Culture Amp CEO Didier Elzinga and Transurban General Manager of Tech Partnerships and Innovation David Hanus. All startups received five-thousand US dollars in Amazon web services and the winner also claimed five thousand dollars in service from app developers Hyperapps, two-thousand dollars in cash and a two hour coaching session from Unlockd co-founder Chris Kerrisk.

The event showed how startups could present their services in an engaging and educational way. Dave Slutzkin, general manager at Level 3 said, “This is a unique opportunity. While many pitch nights provide investment to winners on the night, we are hoping our outcome is one step beyond investment in that we are providing real customers for the startups.”

The purpose of this event was to help startups solidify their business model by pitching directly to potential customers. It opens up the communication lines between startups and the larger corporations that could benefit from their services.

Didier Elzinga complemented Ash Conway and runner up Foresight. He told StartupSmart that, “They understood the beginning, middle and the end, they kind of took everybody on a journey and they were very confident in the way they presented that and that’s hard.”

Events like this help build a new level of coordination across the IT industry and this won’t be the last B2B pitching night sponsored by Level 3.

The basic difference between those who prefer automation and those who prefer manual testing lies in what people believe is important.  Those who prefer manual testing are thinkers who consider that thinking human beings are the key to bug finding, while those who prefer automated testing believe that bug finding is best done by getting rapid feedback on written code.

The reality is that both manual and automated testing have their benefits and drawbacks.  Manual testing tends to require more time and resources; manually performing the same tests again and again can become tedious.  It's also less accurate.  Automated testing isn't perfect either.  It demands a higher skill level, plus more development time, and adds complexity to analyzing failed tests.

There are advantages to automation.  Automated testing speeds up delivery time, it is less tedious in that testing tools can perform the same tests over and over again and compare results much more quickly than a single human being or even a team.  And so, automated testing can save time and money.  It can run many different test cases and still provide coverage that would be difficult or impossible with manual testing alone.  Automated testing also allows everyone to see the results quickly.

Manual testing also has advantages.  It requires less upfront costs and so can be more cost effective than employing expensive automation tools.  Since human beings are doing the testing, they are more likely to discover real world user issues that could cause problems in the field.  Manual testing is also more flexible, in that it takes into account those eureka moments of insight that are the products of the human mind.

Ultimately, it's a matter of finding the correct balance. The blending of manual and automated testing is not a paint by numbers activity.  It will depend on the application under development, user requirements, the funding available and development deadlines.  As with anything else worthwhile, software development requires wisdom in making choices.  So step back and take a look right at the start of the development cycle, to determine what testing should and should not be automated.