UAT without theatre

UAT theatre looks like this: a late invite, a long checklist nobody owns, and a pass/fail that is really a political mood. Real UAT starts earlier — when acceptance criteria are still negotiable.

I facilitate UAT as a decision, not a ceremony. Before we schedule people, we agree what “acceptable” means in user language, which journeys are in scope, and what evidence will be shown (builds, data, known risks).

During sessions I keep a tight loop: observed behaviour, expected behaviour, severity, owner. Screenshots and short notes beat novels. If something is unclear, we raise it as a product question — not a silent QA assumption.

Afterward, the output is a readable pack: what passed, what is deferred with risk, what blocks release. Product and Engineering should be able to open it without a translator.

When UAT is theatre, quality becomes blame. When UAT is evidence, quality becomes a shared release call.