UAT: Price List updates are correctly processed and exported to the ERP system

Key Roles

Pricing Managers or Pricing Analysts are the ones usually targeted by this use case. To better understand why these personas are targeted by this use case, you need to know roughly what their responsibilities are.

A pricing manager is a higher-level position with broader responsibilities and decision-making authority. Their primary role is to develop and implement pricing strategies and policies for products or services, to set the right prices that align with the company's overall goals and objectives. They are responsible for analyzing market trends, competitor pricing, and customer behavior to make informed pricing decisions and often oversee a team of pricing analysts. They support the pricing manager by conducting detailed analysis and research related to pricing. They focus on gathering and processing data, creating pricing models, and providing insights to aid pricing decision-making.

Scenario

In Pricefx, Price Setting ➡️ Pricing Managers or Pricing Analysts can calculate, update and verify in real time and at significant speed the prices for products to make sure that they are in line with the company goals and strategy. Moreover, they can automate cost updates and streamline workflows.

In this use case, as a Pricing Manager, you want to automate the execution price list updates with necessary approval workflow, and that the items have been correctly processed and exported to ERP.

To make sure that your user story is viable and can be correctly implemented, you need to clearly define the acceptance criteria used for testing the use case. In this situation, the acceptance criteria is:

☑️ LPG with correct data is displayed

☑️ Override Prices column was correctly filled

☑️ Pricing Strategy was correctly updated

☑️ All changes in this test are visible in the LPG

☑️ All approved items were correctly exported to ERP

Once you are familiar with what UAT entails, you can proceed and test your scenario. Keep in mind that this is a sample UAT script and that in most cases, acceptance test are highly tailored to the customer and their needs. This is why it is paramount that in the Preparation Sprints you take the time to clearly design your user stories, you make sure that all the data uploaded is of good quality and that the person assigned to test is familiar with the user story and Pricefx.

Sample UAT

Below, is a sample UAT for Price Setting ➡️ LPG. You will notice that this is an end to end test, meaning a reliable way to guarantee that the application performs as expected and seamlessly handles data flow and mimics real-life scenarios error free. It also means that it encompasses several user stories that make up the use cases utilized to design the testing scenario in question.

Scenario details

The scenario we are looking at here is:

The Pricing Manager/ Analyst, wants to automate the execution of price list updates with necessary approval workflow. Upon approval we are looking at the possibility to have all items exported to ERP.

The expected result here is that the LPG accurately reflects the changes, is easily approved, and it is seamlessly exported to ERP.

User Acceptance Test Script: Price Setting - Price List updates are correctly processed and exported to the ERP system

Dependency

1. Access to the partition

Pre - condition:

Ensure access to the Pricefx application as a Pricing Manager or Pricing Analyst by checking that you have the right permissions.

Test steps

1. Login to Pricefx as a Pricing Analyst

Action: Enter valid credentials and click on the Login button. 

2. Open LPG screen (Price Setting - Live Price Grids) and select the LPG in which you need to make changes

Action: Navigate to Pricefx home> Price Setting> Live Price Grid and browse item(s) you are interested in

3. Override Prices for several items in the LPG

Action: Click on selected items and edit the prices as needed. Make sure to remember the items you have updated

4. Use Price Setting Wizard to change Pricing strategy for a Product Category - use Mass Price Option in the wizard

Action: Navigate to Price Setting Wizard. Select the desired product category to apply the changes exclusively to it.

Utilize the "Mass Price Option" feature to make bulk changes simultaneously for all products within the selected category.

Define the new pricing strategy

Click on Best View - Summary - All Products

5. Verify all changes from previous two steps are correctly visible in the LPG

Action: Navigate to the home button :options: > Price Setting> Live Price Grids

Check that changes are displayed correctly in LPG

6. Submit changes in LPG from previous steps

Action: Click on the corresponding paper plane icon to submit all selected items.

7. Login to Pricefx as a Pricing Manager

Action: Enter valid credentials and click on the Login button. 

8. Open LPG screen and select the same LPG as in step 2 of this test

Action: Click on Price Setting > Live Price Grid > selected test LPG set prior

9. Approve all changes in LPG submitted in this test

Action: Approve selected test items by clicking the check icon

10. Check that all approved items were correctly exported to ERP

 Expected Results

Step 2 - Expected Result: LPG with correct data is displayed after step 2. 

Step 3 - Expected Result: Override Prices column was correctly filled after step 3.

Step 4 - Expected Result:Pricing Strategy was correctly updated after step 4.

 Step 5 - Expected Result: All changes in this test are visible in the LPG after step 5.

Step 9 - Expected Result: All items in the LPG are approved.

Step 10 - Expected Result: All approved items were correctly exported to ERP system after step 10

Validation

If the test was performed correctly and the application behaved as expected, the UAT is considered successful and validated as PASS.

If during testing there were errors, mistakes in data, or the application did not meet the expected results and criteria, then the test is considered as FAIL.

In latter situation, a comprehensive list of bugs and errors should be submitted for fixes and re-testing. Depending on the reported issues, the time until re-testing is possible may vary.

Bugs and errors

Any deviations or failures in the expected results should be reported as defects for further investigation and resolution.

Considerations

Some acceptance tests will take a few days, so make sure that you allocate the right amount of time as recommended. In this situation, the recommended man days is 5.

Remember that a designated person who is familiar with the user story and the acceptance criteria and is capable to identify errors should test.

Challenges and how to avoid them

UAT testing is a bit different from other QA activities because it involves not only tech specialists but also actual end users. It is important to involve QA professionals, business analysts, the project manager, and the development team to ensure a smooth process.

During UAT activities, just like any other stage of the development cycle, you might encounter some challenges. But do not worry, here are some ideas to help you stay prepared:

• If poor planning is the issue, make sure to allocate enough time for UAT to avoid incomplete results.

• Get the right testing environment otherwise a wrong environment can cause an array of issues. The UAT environment should be different from the one used for functional testing.

• Inappropriate tester selection is another hurdle. Choose testers from the specific group that represents the main target audience of the feature/ scenario you are testing.

• Ensure that testers receive proper training before conducting UAT to maximize its effectiveness as lack of training can hinder effective testing.

• Inefficient communication can be detrimental to the acceptance test. Establish a seamless communication process between teams to prevent gaps, misunderstandings, and delays. 

By keeping these challenges and our guidelines in mind, you'll be able to carry out efficient and productive user acceptance testing.