Can you share practical examples that show the difference between verification and validation? Instead of theory, I’m looking for real actions—like “when I do this, it’s verification,” and “when I do that, it’s validation.”
Over the years, I’ve spent a good amount of time reviewing requirement docs and ensuring our test cases align with the specs. That’s verification, it’s about confirming we’re building the product right. But validating in software testing? That’s when I’m sitting with end users during UAT, watching how they actually use what we’ve built. It’s about confirming if we’ve built the right product for them. One checks compliance, the other checks purpose.
Yeah, I’ve had similar experiences. For me, validating in software testing really hits home when I see real users try a feature.
So, when I’m saying, ‘Does this login button match the spec and design mockups?’ — that’s verification.
But when I’m asking, ‘Can users log in easily and reach what they came for?’ — that’s validation.
Basically, verification is internal-focused. Validation? It’s all about the user’s perspective. And sometimes, validation uncovers issues specs never mentioned.
Exactly, and to take it a step further, I once worked on a complex form. We first verified everything—field lengths, validation rules, data formats. All perfectly aligned with the spec. But validating in software testing truly came alive when we had users fill in real-world data.
They stumbled, hesitated, and gave feedback like, ‘Why is this field here?’ That’s when we realized the flow wasn’t intuitive. Same feature, but two lenses: verification ensured it was built per spec, validation ensured it actually made sense to real users. That difference is everything.