UAT: Design and deploy new pricing strategies using drag-and-drop "no code"configuration

Key Roles

Pricing Managers 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.

Scenario

In Pricefx ➡️ Price Setting Pricing Managers 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. As a bonus, they can configure new strategies without the need for a technical person or a coder as they can assemble these from preset blocks through a drag and drop wizard.

In this use case, as a Pricing Manager, you want to design and deploy new pricing strategies using drag-and-drop "no code"configuration.

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

☑️ New Pricing Strategy is correctly created

☑️ New Pricing Strategy was correctly deployed without any warnings or errors

☑️ New Pricing Strategy is visible in the list of Strategies

☑️ New Pricing Strategy was correctly used in the LPG

☑️ All approved items were correctly exported to ERP system and new Pricing Strategy is visible as well

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 ➡️ Strategy designer. 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 in this scenario wants to design and deploy new pricing strategies using drag-and-drop "no code"configuration.

The expected result here is that the new strategy is seamlessly applied and visible in the Live Price Grid without errors or warnings.

User Acceptance Test Script: Design and deploy new pricing strategies using drag-and-drop "no code"configuration

Dependency

1. Access to the partition

Pre - condition:

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

Test steps

1. Login to Pricefx as a Pricing Manager

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

2. Open LPG screen (Price Setting - Live Price Grids) and select the LPG

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

3. Open Price Setting Wizard from the LPG and check which Pricing Strategies are currently available

Action: Click on strategies in the wizard to see what is available. Make adjustments through drag and drop to create a new strategy. Please note that you need to have the Price Setting accelerator installed for the wizard to work.

4. Open Strategy Designer from main menu

Action: Navigate to Price Setting Wizard. Select strategy designer.

5. Create a new Strategy in the designer

Action: You can create it from scratch or update a copy of existing strategy and then rename and adjust it

6. Deploy the new strategy so it can be used in LPGs

Action: Click on deploy strategy.

7. Open LPG screen (Price Setting - Live Price Grids)

Action: Navigate to Pricefx home> Price Setting> Live Price Grid and browse item(s) you are interested in and select the same LPG like in step 2

8. O Open Price Setting Wizard from the LPG and check again

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

9. Verify the Pricing Strategy created in this test is available

Action: Search and open the strategy you created. Remember the name you saved it under for easier search.

10. Assign the new Pricing Strategy to several items in LPG and recalculate the whole LPG

Action: Select items in LPG and click Recalculate

11. Make sure new Pricing Strategy was correctly used for correct items

12. Submit and Approve all changes in LPG in this test

Action: Select Mass Actions, then click submit.

13. Check that all approved items were correctly exported to ERP and that a new Pricing Strategy is visible there

 Expected Results

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

Step 5 - Expected Result: New Pricing Strategy is correctly created after step 5

Step 6 - Expected Result: New Pricing Strategy was correctly deployed after step 6 without any warnings or errors

Step 9 - Expected Result: New Pricing Strategy is visible in the list of Strategies after step 9

Step 11 - Expected Result: New Pricing Strategy was correctly used in the LPG after step 11

Step 13 - Expected Result: All approved items were correctly exported to ERP system after step 13 and new Pricing Strategy is visible there

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.