Everything You Need to Know About User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

Ask anyone who's gone through a HubSpot CRM integration, and they'll tell you it's a detailed process consisting of many crucial steps. Perhaps one of the most necessary phases is the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) stage.

UAT is the process of verifying that your solution works for you and your company. Without performing UAT, you wouldn't be able to learn the ins and outs of your integration. More importantly, UAT will reveal whether or not your integration meets your expectations and aligns with your business processes. Here is a look at what UAT is, what it entails, and why it's necessary for your HubSpot integration.

What is UAT Exactly?

UAT is the step in the development of an integration in which the integration is tested by its intended audience – i.e., the team the integration is built for. It consists of a set of tests that verify if the requirements of your integration are working.

UAT can also be understood as a way to confirm that the outlined sync logic has been built out properly, and records are syncing as expected. Additionally, running these acceptance tests ensures that no further out of scope work is required. If that occurs, that additional work would have to be built out and go through its own UAT.

When is UAT Done?

The UAT phase takes place once the development and internal testing of your integration are completed by your agency or partner's team.

Why Should UAT Be Done?

Ultimately, UAT should be conducted to ensure everything about the integration satisfies you and other users at your company. Specifically, though, it's vital for:

• Confirming specified requirements are met and working
• Identifying any problems which may have been missed
• Verifying how "done" the project is
• Ensuring you can use the integration without issues
• Seeing if any more work needs to be completed

What Should a User Do During UAT?

Before beginning UAT, you should eliminate any assumptions you have. Your integration may work properly with no error, or you could run into a bug. Starting with a clear, focused mind will help you perform your testing. Other notes to consider:

• Test everything your agency/partner has laid out for you (i.e. sync logic sheet and field mappings)
• Remain in constant contact with your agency/partner
• Ask multiple people from your company to perform tasks to see if you get the same results
• Mark every task on your list as "pass" or "fail"
• Include descriptions or screenshots, and thorough details, of what might have gone wrong to help your agency/partner understand errors

What Are Some Examples of UAT Tasks?

At LyntonWeb, we've launched hundreds of integrations, which means we've helped clients go through UAT hundreds of times. Because of this, we've been able to create clearly defined checklists for every integration we provide. Here are some examples of UAT tasks you may perform should you start a HubSpot Dynamics integration project. Because it is a bi-directional sync, you'll have to conduct tests in your HubSpot and Microsoft Dynamics environments.

Example Task 1: Create New HubSpot Contact --> Create New Dynamics Lead

• Create a new HubSpot Contact to sync to Dynamics as a new Lead
• Ensure that this populates properly and within the agreed upon timeframe (typically 5-minutes)
• HubSpot Contacts must meet your HubSpot inclusion list criteria in order to sync to Dynamics

Example Task 2: Update Existing HubSpot Contact --> Update Existing Dynamics Lead/Contact

• Updated existing HubSpot Contact analytics fields to update Dynamics existing Lead/Contact HubSpot analytics fields
• HubSpot Contacts must meet your HubSpot inclusion list criteria to sync to Dynamics

Example Task 3: Assign HubSpot Owner --> Dynamics User

• Assign a HubSpot contact an owner to sync to the associated Dynamics' record owner

Example Task 4: Create New Dynamics Account --> Create New HubSpot Company

• Create a new Dynamics Account to sync to a newly created HubSpot Company

Example Task 5: Update Existing Dynamics Opportunity --> Update Existing HubSpot Deal

• Update an existing Dynamics Opportunity to update an existing HubSpot Deal

How Long Does UAT Take?

UAT may differ from company to company, but at LyntonWeb, we split UAT into two phases that both consist of five days. The first phase tests the functionality of your integration. The second phase of UAT consists of you checking on your custom field mappings (if you have any).

How Do I Get Started?

If you're excited and want to engage in the UAT process yourself, we got you covered. Contact us today to start your HubSpot integration project. Or, if you have additional questions regarding UAT, let us know.