User Acceptance Testing: A Checklist Before Launch
Test the app like your client's users will, before your client sees a single bug.
Test the jobs, not the screens
Acceptance testing checks that each must-have job works end to end for each kind of user. Write test cases straight from the scope: a customer places an order and pays, staff see it, the owner sees it in the report. Run them on the phones and browsers your client's users actually have. Record each result with a screenshot.
- One test case per job per user type
- Real devices and browsers
- Payments and messages in test mode
- Screenshots for every result
Check what clients notice first
Clients notice spelling, slow pages, broken links, unclear error messages and emails that show the wrong name. Check that every email, page title and document carries your brand, not the build partner's. Check sign in, password reset and what happens with no internet. These small things shape the client's first impression more than any feature.
Fix, retest, then show the client
Send issues to your partner in one list with steps to reproduce. Retest every fix. Only then run a guided session with the client, where they complete the core jobs themselves. Ask them to sign off the jobs that pass, and agree a date for anything left.
Worked example: catching a brand leak
During testing of a white-label booking app, the agency found that password reset emails showed the build partner's name in the sender line. It also found a payment error message written for developers, not customers. Both went into the issue list with screenshots and steps to reproduce.
After fixes, the agency retested, then ran a guided session where the client booked, paid and cancelled an appointment on their own phone. The client signed off the core jobs that day.
Common testing mistakes
Clients judge an app in its first five minutes. Thorough testing before that moment is part of the product.
- Testing only on the developer's laptop
- Skipping password reset and offline cases
- Letting the client find the first bugs
- Not retesting fixes
- Write test cases from the scope, per job and user type.
- Test on real devices with payments in test mode.
- Check brand, emails and error messages carefully.
- Show the client only after fixes are retested.
Create a test sheet for your sample app with at least ten cases covering every user type. Add brand and email checks. Run it on two phones and one desktop browser.
Check your understanding
1. Where should acceptance test cases come from?
2. Which check protects white-label?
3. When should the client run the guided session?
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Templates from our playbooks
Copy ready templates with when to use each one and why it works.