Verification vs. Validation

Published Date: March 10, 2018
Audience: Everyone
Products and Versions Covered:

Jama Connect®

Summary

In system engineering, clearly distinguishing between verification and validation is essential. These two processes help ensure that the system is built correctly and fulfills user requirements. When implemented effectively, they minimize errors, support compliance with industry standards, and improve overall product quality.

Resolution

What is Verification?

Verification is the process, by way of objective evidence, of confirming that the system is being developed in accordance with specified requirements and design specifications. It involves conducting tests, reviews, and inspections throughout the development lifecycle to ensure that each stage aligns with the intended design.

The primary goal of verification is to answer the question:

"Are we building the product right?"
(i.e. did we implement the product in accordance to its defined specifications)

There are 4 main types of verifications: test, analysis, inspection, demonstration.

Verifying Requirements in Jama Connect®

Jama Connect® simplifies and strengthens the verification process through several key features:

Traceability:
Maintain end-to-end traceability by linking requirements to corresponding test cases, design elements, and business objectives. This ensures comprehensive coverage and alignment with user needs.
Review Center:
Use Jama Connect’s Review Center to conduct formal, collaborative reviews. Stakeholders can provide feedback and approvals on requirements, designs, and test cases in a centralized environment.
Test Management:
Create and manage test plans and test cases directly within Jama Connect. Link them to requirements to verify successful implementation and trace test results.
Real-Time Collaboration:
Collaborate with team members and stakeholders in real-time to keep everyone aligned on verification activities and quickly resolve any issues.
Reports and Dashboards:
Leverage reporting and dashboards to monitor verification progress, identify gaps, and ensure accountability.

By utilizing these capabilities, teams can rigorously verify requirements—reducing risk, enhancing quality, and improving stakeholder confidence.

What is Validation?

Validation ensures that the final product meets the needs and expectations of end users. It answers the question:

"Are we building the right product?"
(i.e. did we deliver the product that satisfies the needs it is intended for)

Validation confirms, by way of objective evidence, that the system aligns with business objectives and delivers tangible value to stakeholders in the real world. It typically involves activities such as user acceptance testing (UAT), scenario testing, and feedback collection.

Verification vs. Validation: What's the Difference?

Although they are often mentioned together, verification and validation serve distinct purposes. Following the V-Model for Systems Engineering:

Test cases creation:
- Validation comes first — developed alongside the definition of the needs the product needs to address.
- Verification comes after — developed alongside their requirements throughout all levels of the Product Breakdown Structure (PBS). This includes testing the integrations of system parts.
Test case execution:
- Verification comes first — to confirm the system, its parts, and how these fit together to form that system, are being implemented correctly, according to their specifications.
- Validation comes after — to confirm the system satisfies user needs and performs as expected.
  
  Please note
  Although Validation test cases are created at the start of a project, their execution is done at the end of that project.

Understanding the order and intent of these processes helps teams reduce development costs, avoid rework, and deliver better outcomes.

Example to Illustrate this Difference

Consider the example of a product team making a flashlight. One of the very high-level user needs/stakeholder requirements may be that the suer needs to shine light into a room so that they can see. At the end of the development of the flashlight, the users/stakeholders will evaluate the flashlight to determine if their needs were met - "does the flashlight shine light into a room so that we can see"? or, in other words - "was the right thing built?".

From the high-level user need - the flashlight needs to give the user the ability to shine light into a room to see- the development team will then create many downstream requirements (system, mechanical, electrical, etc) that will allow that need to be satisfied. Each of these requirements will be verified to ensure the flashlight is being built correctly. For example, if a design requirement specifies that a switch should be placed two inches from the top of the flashlight to turn the flashlight on, the flashlight will be inspected to confirm that the flashlight is 2 inches from the top of the flashlight. In another example, if a system requirement is that the flashlight will turn on when a switch is pressed with at least 1 pound of force, the flashlight will be tested to ensure that it turns on when 1 pound of force is applied to the switch.

Best Practice

Incorporating both verification and validation into your system engineering lifecycle is essential to building high-quality products efficiently. With the right tools—like Jama Connect—and processes in place, teams can stay aligned, reduce risk, and accelerate time to market while ensuring customer satisfaction.

Jama Connect® ships with pre-configured Validation and Verification item types.
To use these item types, feel free to customize them by adding additional fields or removing those that may not apply to you. Once you've configured both items to meet your needs, consider adding them to a relationship rule and testing them out in your project.
This is a good time to work with your consultant to determine what unique configuration will help your team achieve your goals and objectives.

Additional Resources

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