Test Verification vs Validation in Website Testing

Verification and Validation, both are important testing activities that collectively define all the mandatory testing activities a tester along with the entire team needs to perform when you are developing a website for either your organization or for the client. For testers, especially those who are new in the industry, understanding the difference between test verification vs validation in website testing may seem to be a bit complex. Because both involve checking whether the website is being developed in the right manner. This is also why I have observed a lot of ambiguity among the teams working on a project.

This article is my attempt to help you clarify the difference between test verification vs validation in website testing. Now, let’s take a deep dive in the following article where we shall get a detailed understanding of what is verification and validation testing. I will be explaining the difference using a cross browser testing scenarios.

Before we get started I would want to highlight the key distinguishment between test verification vs validation. Verification testing involves checking whether the team is following the right approach, it could be related to design, SRS document etc., while Validation testing involves checking whether the finished product satisfies all the needs of the customer. So, like whether it supports all the required browsers and devices.

What Is Test Verification?

Before the commencement of any website or application development, the stakeholders or client sends a detailed document that consists of the specifications of the desired application. However, often we tend to ignore reviewing the documents and miss out some critical functionality during development. This may include specs like the website should support a specific browser or device.

Verification testing is the process of finding out whether the work products concluded during the development phase meets the requirements specified by the client. In short, it checks whether the work is going on the right track.

The steps required to start verification testing can be understood by taking a look at the following document.

Importance Of Test Verification

Verification testing is a must to perform process when it comes to testing a website for cross-browser compatibility.

• Suppose you are building a single page web application. Verification testing is all about checking whether the webpage has all the components or supports all the browsers mentioned in the SRS. If any anomaly is found in the web application during verification testing it will create a critical bug in the next phases of testing. Hence, test verification is carried out to ensure that the number of bugs is reduced in the later phases.
• Test verification is the only answer to the very basic question of “Are you developing the website correctly?”
• In each phase of the development life cycle, verification testing demonstrates completeness, correctness, and consistency of the web application.
• Verifying the product in the very beginning makes you understand it better. It even reduces the chance of bug occurrence during development as well as validation testing.
• Reduces the chance of failure and helps in creating a product as per the requirements of the customer.

What Is Test Validation?

During web application testing, the primary aim is to check for quality. Whenever any new bug is found, the developers fix the bug. After that, testing is executed once again to check if any bug persists. The aim of test validation is to find out whether the website performs all the functions which were intended and thereby meet the needs of the end users or stakeholders.

Validation testing takes place after the development as well as verification testing is completed. All the popular and mandatory testing procedures like unit testing, system testing, acceptance and integration testing, etc fall under the category of validation testing. The following diagram can be referred to in order to understand how it works.

Importance of Test Validation

A product can pass verification testing since it involves only a pen and paper and not the developed application. However, some points which passed verification testing may fail when it is implemented in the actual product. Validation testing is important because

• Defects which are missed during verification testing can be caught as bugs during validation testing. For example, supporting a minor CSS feature in multiple browsers. This can only be tested once validation testing is carried out.
• Validation testing is done in multiple phases like load testing, acceptance testing, unit testing, etc. Thus the web application goes through all the mandatory testing phase.
• Validation testing ensures that after development, the finished product satisfies all the requirements of the customer.
• Let’s suppose your website is supposed to run perfectly on a specific browser in a specific operating system. However, the concept got misunderstood during verification testing. When the feature is implemented and validation testing is carried out, the tester will be able to understand the functional difference between the actual and expected result.

Digging Deep Into Differences Between The Two

Now, that we have a good understanding of what the two terms i.e. test verification & test validation stand for! It is time we dig deeper into the differences among the two.

Test Verification vs Validation – What is the Aim?

One of the key points, when we compare verification and validation, is the aim. The aim of verification testing is to confirm whether the planned web application will meet the customer’s specification before the development begins. While validation testing is aimed at checking whether the finished product meets the requirement after development has been completed.

Here is an example of cross browser testing, suppose you are about to develop a cross browser compatible web application. The client wants it to run properly in 4-5 different operating system – browser combinations. Verification testing ensures that the site is developed in a way which makes it run properly in all the combinations. Validation testing is aimed at ensuring that the developed site actually runs properly in all the combinations.

Test Verification vs Validation – What it Involves?

Verification testing is mostly a pen and paper job. It involves assessing the SRS, workflow of the site design, program and documents. However, it involves multiple members from different teams and the process is quite lengthy.

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