The terms verification and validation are often used interchangeably in software testing, even by experienced professionals. However, they represent distinct processes that play unique roles in ensuring your product meets both technical requirements and user expectations. So, what do these terms really mean, and why do they matter?

In this article, we’ll demystify verification and validation by exploring their key differences, common misconceptions, and practical applications. Whether you’re a seasoned tester or new to the field, understanding these concepts can help you improve your testing strategy and avoid costly mistakes. By the end, you’ll know how to use verification and validation to deliver high-quality software that satisfies your stakeholders.

Let’s dive in.

What is verification?

Verification is the process of ensuring that the software product is being built according to its design specifications and requirements. It focuses on answering the question: Are we building the product correctly?

Verification includes activities like code reviews, inspections, walkthroughs, and static analysis. These steps make sure the software sticks to the technical specs and follows best practices, but they don’t dive into whether the software works as it should in real-world use.

In short, verification is all about ensuring the product is being built according to plan, catching any issues early on in development before they snowball into bigger problems later.

Examples of verification testing

Here are some solid examples of verification testing:

• Unit testing: Developers test individual components or functions early in the development process to ensure they work as expected.
• Integration testing: After the individual modules are built, this checks how they interact and communicate to make sure they work seamlessly together.
• Static code analysis: An automated process that scans the code for errors, security risks, or performance issues without actually running the software.
• Code reviews: Developers manually review each other’s code to catch bugs, ensure coding standards are followed, and flag any potential issues.
• Walkthroughs: The development team presents designs or code to stakeholders to ensure everything aligns with the project’s requirements.
• Inspections: A formal review by experts who evaluate documents, design plans, or code to verify they meet the required standards and specifications.

When to use the verification process

The verification process in software testing is like your quality checkpoint. It’s there to make sure everything is working as it should before you move on. 

Here’s when to use verification in software testing:

• When you’re hunting bugs: You need to know your tests are testing the right stuff, not just running for the sake of it. Verification keeps things legit.
• To keep data in check: Your inputs and outputs should play nicely together. Verification makes sure the software isn’t taking nonsense and giving you nonsense back.
• For compliance stuff: If your software needs to meet certain standards, verification ensures you’re not accidentally cutting corners (or breaking rules).
• After fixing a bug: Just because you fixed it doesn’t mean it won’t come back. Verification double-checks that it’s gone for good.
• Right before launch: Don’t hit "Go" until you’ve verified everything is solid. Nobody wants a launch-day meltdown.

What is validation?

In the development process, validation is a critical step in software testing that ensures the final software system meets the needs and expectations of the users. 

Unlike verification, validation focuses on whether the right product has been built. It asks the question: Does the software system perform its intended function in real-world conditions?

To make it clear, here are the core differences between the two processes:

Examples of validation testing

Here are a few key examples of validation testing:

• User acceptance testing (UAT): End users or stakeholders test the software to make sure it meets their needs and functions as required. It’s one of the final checks before the product is approved for release.
• System testing: This tests the entire software system to ensure all components work together as expected and meet the requirements.
• End-to-end testing: This tests the full workflow of the software, from start to finish, to confirm that all integrated parts work together as expected in real-world scenarios.

When to use the validation process

Validation in software testing is all about making sure your product actually does what it’s supposed to do. It’s like asking, “Does this software deliver what the user really needs?” 

Here’s when to use the validation process in software testing:

• During feature testing: When you roll out a new feature, validation checks if it solves the problem it was designed for: not just technically, but from the user’s perspective too.
• Before release: Validation is your last line of defense to confirm the software aligns with business goals and user expectations. If it doesn’t, back to the drawing board.
• When priorities change: If the project scope shifts mid-development, validation ensures the software is still hitting the mark.
• For user feedback: Validation helps connect the dots between what the user wants and what the software delivers. If there’s a gap, you’ll know.
• In real-world scenarios: Testing in a controlled environment is one thing, but validation makes sure the software performs as expected in actual use cases.

Validation vs. verification: Do I need both?

Absolutely—you need both validation and verification in software testing. Here's why.

Verification makes sure your software is sticking to the original plan, catching issues early so you don’t deal with bigger headaches later. Skip it, and you might end up with a system that works, but not the way it was meant to.

Validation, though, is the real-world test—does your software actually solve the user's problem? It checks whether the final product performs as expected. Miss validation, and you risk delivering a perfectly built product that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to.

In short, skipping either one is risky. Verification ensures you're building things right; validation ensures you're building the right thing.

Best practices when using validation and verification in the development process

Successfully weaving verification and validation into your development process is crucial to hitting both technical and user targets. To get the most out of these practices, you need to implement them at the right stages and use the right tools and techniques. This ensures your software not only works as planned but also delivers exactly what users need.

Here are some best practices:

• Focus on thorough documentation from the start
• Make verification a continuous process
• Use validation to test real-world scenarios
• Automate your end-to-end testing across applications and devices with a technology-agnostic tool
• Ensure both functional and non-functional validation
• Apply verification and validation across the medical device manufacturing process
• Adjust verification and validation as the system matures

1. Focus on thorough documentation from the start

Proper documentation is the foundation for effective validation and verification. Without a clear, detailed outline of system requirements and specifications, both processes can fall apart, leading to costly errors or regulatory non-compliance. Here’s how to get it right:

• Involve all stakeholders early to review and agree on specifications
• Ensure all regulatory requirements are documented
• Maintain up-to-date documentation throughout the project to reflect any changes in requirements

For example, in regulated industries such as medical devices or pharmaceuticals, a system used for clinical trial management must have documentation that outlines regulatory requirements for patient privacy and data handling. This allows both verification (is the system being built correctly?) and validation (does it work as intended in real-world use?) to be properly structured.

2. Make verification a continuous process

For enterprise companies, integrating verification into every stage of the development cycle is essential. This ensures the product is being built correctly at each step, reducing the risk of errors and ensuring compliance with both internal standards and external regulations.

Enterprise workflows typically involve thorough code reviews, design inspections, and requirements analysis. These activities help confirm compliance with frameworks like PCI DSS in banking or ISO 26262 in automotive, ensuring high-quality outcomes even in complex environments.

Take banking as an example: when developing a loan approval system, continuous verification is essential. Regular code reviews ensure that the system meets strict security and compliance standards, like PCI DSS, helping to prevent costly security breaches or system failures down the road.

3. Use validation to test real-world scenarios

Validation is a dynamic process that steps beyond technical specs to ensure the software works in real-world conditions. It’s about running the software in practical scenarios to confirm it behaves as expected when used by actual customers or in real environments.

Take MedTech, for example. When validating software for medical devices, it's not enough to verify that the code is correct. You need to test the system in clinical settings to ensure it functions safely and reliably under the high-pressure demands of a hospital. 

4. Automate your end-to-end testing across applications and devices with a technology-agnostic tool

Modern software systems are made up of interconnected applications, technologies, and devices. Ensuring that entire user flows work seamlessly across this web of complexity is critical and that’s where technology-agnostic, automated end-to-end testing tools come into play.

These tools don’t just test isolated components, they verify that every step in a user flow, across various platforms and devices, works as intended. And they do it autonomously, so you can scale your testing efforts without relying on constant manual input.

For example, in banking, a technology-agnostic testing tool can validate an entire user flow: from a customer logging into their account on a smartphone, transfering money via a web application, to receiving confirmation on a desktop email client. It ensures your system performs reliably under real-world conditions, regardless of the technologies or devices involved.

Here’s why automated, cross-platform testing matters:

• Complete user flow validation: These tools test end-to-end processes across multiple applications, technologies, and devices, ensuring a seamless experience for users.
• Real-world scenarios: They replicate real-life conditions, like simultaneous transactions across platforms or varying device interactions, that can be challenging to recreate manually.
• Time-saving automation: Fully autonomous testing eliminates the need for constant manual oversight, reducing human error and speeding up the process.

If you’re managing complex systems and need to test user flows across different technologies and devices, tools like TestResults help take the load off. They let you focus on refining the user experience, knowing the critical connections in your system are thoroughly tested.

Here’s what TestResults brings to the table:

• Autonomous and versatile: TestResults handles complex testing scenarios autonomously, enabling you to validate entire user flows across different applications, technologies, and devices—no micromanagement required.
• Cross-platform flexibility: Whether you’re working with web, mobile, or desktop systems, TestResults ensures your user flows function smoothly across all platforms and technologies.
• Compliance support: While TestResults doesn’t ensure compliance directly, it helps you stay compliant by automating rigorous testing processes and reducing the risk of errors that could lead to compliance issues.

With TestResults, companies can leave behind the challenges of traditional testing methods and benefit from a more streamlined, integrated approach to end-to-end testing.

5. Ensure both functional and non-functional validation

When validating a system, it’s crucial to check both functional aspects (does the system do what it’s supposed to do?) and non-functional aspects (can the system handle stress, perform well under load, and remain secure?). 

In banking, systems need to handle heavy loads during peak times, like month-end closures or Black Friday. Ensuring that a payment gateway system can handle thousands of transactions per minute is just as critical as verifying that it processes transactions correctly.

Load testing in this context ensures the system can scale efficiently under high demand. Without these checks, the system might function well under normal conditions but fail when real-world traffic spikes.

6. Apply verification and validation across the medical device manufacturing process

In regulated industries like pharmaceuticals and MedTech, ensuring the accuracy and compliance of software in the manufacturing process is critical. Here, the focus isn’t just on the software itself but on its role in controlling and supporting the production of physical medical devices.

Verification activities, such as design reviews and software testing, confirm that the software used in a drug manufacturing line or a medical device production process adheres to strict regulatory guidelines, such as those from the FDA or EMA.

Validation, on the other hand, ensures the software performs effectively when integrated into the manufacturing environment. For example, in MedTech, software that manages the manufacturing of a medical device must not only function as intended but also be validated to meet safety and compliance standards before deployment. This includes assessing its ability to handle real-world production scenarios and maintain accuracy throughout the process.

7. Adjust verification and validation as the system matures

Both validation and verification need to evolve as the project moves forward. Early on, verification is all about making sure the design is on point. But as you near the finish line, the spotlight shifts to validation—confirming the system can handle real-world demands.

Take banking, for example. Early verification ensures security protocols for online transactions are locked in place. Later, validation steps in to test if the software can handle heavy transaction volumes, keep customers happy, and meet global banking regulations. It's a swift shift from "Are we building it right?" to "Did we build the right thing?".

Frequently asked questions

1. Is UAT verification or validation?

In software engineering, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is considered a form of validation, not verification. UAT happens at the tail end of development when real users or stakeholders put the software through its paces to see if it truly meets their needs and works as expected in the wild.

While verification is about making sure you’re building the product right—checking if the code and design match specs during development—validation, including UAT, asks the bigger question: did we build the right product? UAT is the final stamp of approval, ensuring the software hits the mark and solves users’ problems like a pro.

2. Is validation an example of quality assurance or quality control?

Validation is part of quality control. In software development, quality control focuses on checking the final product to make sure it works as expected. Since validation happens after the software is built and ensures it meets user needs, it falls under this category.

Quality assurance, on the other hand, is more about making sure the right processes are in place during development to avoid mistakes. Validation is about testing the end product, so it’s considered quality control.

3. What comes first, verification or validation?

In the software development world, verification is your first checkpoint. It happens during development to make sure the product is being built correctly, following the design and requirements. Think of it as quality control through code reviews, unit tests, and static analysis—essentially, are we on the right track?

Validation, on the other hand, comes later. It’s the real-world test to confirm the software does what the users need it to do. This is where end-to-end testing kicks in, making sure the product isn’t just built right, but that it’s the right solution altogether.

Ready to introduce both verification and validation in your system testing?

In software development, verification and validation are must-haves. Verification makes sure the system is being built right, while validation ensures it works for the end user. Skipping one of these steps can result in a product that either doesn’t meet technical standards or doesn’t solve the user’s problem.

Using both processes means you catch issues early, stay on track with your design, and avoid costly problems down the road. It’s the smart way to ensure your software is reliable and meets both technical and real-world requirements.

If you’re looking to streamline this entire process, TestResults.io is the way to go. Our autonomous testing tools handle both verification and validation, giving you confidence that your software will perform when it matters. 

Give TestResults a try and take your testing to the next level!