Beta Testing
Beta testing or Beta testing program
is aimed at probing the product on real tasks that customers may have
and in real environment customers do have. It helps to answer whether
the product solves its target problem and meets expectation of existing
and potential customer. It also provides feedback on the readiness of
the product for shipment.
In order to be successful with your Beta testing program you need to carefully plan it up-front
long before execution. Knowing the goals of the program and aimed
functionality helps to focus your development plans on delivering the
most critical functionality at the proper time. Additional internal
testing may be required to make sure the quality of Beta is acceptable
and it will not be the cause of the program failure.
Also in advance, put together the list of participants.
Do not expect people to freely agree for participation. You may need
some additional motivation to involve more customers into this project.
Prizes, additional software options or free maintenance for some period
of time may help to build up interest.
While running the program, continuously control its execution.
Do not just leave it to flow down the stream for 4 weeks expecting a
good feedback at the end. Having some critical update, issues reporting
plans is vital for a healthy program.
Another problem is participants unawareness of new functionality.
They may need additional input information from you to not miss
important things as well as to use system effectively. So give beta testers some guidence (not too detailed otherwise you'll miss important usability feedback) into new functionality.
And the last but not the least, do not plan Beta to the very end of development cycle. You will simple have no time to fix issues.
When the porgram is finished let participants know how their contribution is appriciated and how their feedback allowed to make the product better.
Enjoy manking your product better! I hope you and your customers will be happy with a well organized Beta program.
|