In the previous section the main focus is on having feedback on principles, ideas and look-and-feel. You need this. But it's only the start of it all. While engineers are building the system (or merely configuring it), extensive testing has to be done. Does it work, and does it work properly? You might perhaps consider this as not being part of the feedback loop to the stakeholders, but consider the requirements "it has to work" and "I don't want to reboot my system three time a day". If these requirements are explicitly stated, you are lucky, mostly people assume that it speaks for itself (pity the poor fools!).

Technical software testing

As a project manager you have to be aware that testing happens. Not just checking if by pressing the button the wheel spins, but also looking if the roof is not collapsing because there happens to be some relation between the wheel and the roof (yeah, a far fetched example). Look if the parts are tested, and the whole of the parts. Don't trust developers if they say they don't need testing ("software is like bananas; they ripen at the customer"); it's a complex task and the discipline is just a few decades old. By the way, it is a discipline, that starts at the level of the individual developer.

Functional software testing

This technical stuff is all fine, but what happens if the system (or parts of it) comes available from the developers? You now have to test of it is functional. Does it perform what is supposed to, and in a way it is supposed to? It is the big final feedback to the stakeholders.

To do this properly you have to prepare in advance. Think of the real life situation of the system in the future, and come up with some scenarios that can be considered as an archetype situation. Try to write scenarios (including human aspects and handling) that cover all the major aspects.

When testing an editorial system for newspapers (the big word processors on steroids) role-play is used to construct all archetype pages, including someone writing, someone correcting etc. This is the big acceptance test. You need therefor to construct the scenarios with all stakeholders concerned. If the system passes the test, they just have to sign for final acceptance.