Why We Wrote This Guide

Accepting software is one of the most important decisions for software to take
flight and to start delivering value. Yet, there exists little guidance about
what this decision should be based on and how to make it effectively. Over many
years in industry and applied research, it was our observation that people often
misunderstood the challenges of accepting software, or worse, did not even have
a clear notion of who is in charge of acceptance. Many appear not to be aware of
the arsenal of practices and tools available to them to address those
challenges. This led to disappointments, failed opportunities, broken business
relationships, and litigations. There exists a rich body of knowledge on
software testing (with notable works by 8oris Bezier, Bertrand Meyer, Gerald
Weinberg, Cem Kaner, James 8ach, Brett Pettichord, Lee Copeland, Mark Fewster,
Dorothy Graham, Rex Black, Brian Marick, James Whittaker to name a few), but
software acceptance in general, and acceptance testing, in particular, as a
process, received no serious, well-reasoned or comprehensive treatment. We set
out to fill this gap with two key objectives: devise mental models for thinking
about software acceptance and offer actionable guidance on achieving software
acceptance.