Testing, Testing

  ProjectsAtWork  

A step-by-step guide to managing a beta test.

Beta Test is often viewed as a "user test." While this is the spirit of the definition, there is a wealth of additional information that can be gained from effective beta testing. Encompassing usability, functionality, compatibility and reliability testing, beta test provides a company with much more than an ordinary user perspective.

Beta testing is the managed distribution of a product to its target market; the gathering of feedback from that market; the evaluation of the feedback into manageable data forms; and the integration of the data into the organizations it affects.

Beta test adds value to a product because it allows the "real" customer an opportunity to provide input into the design, functionality, and usability of a company's products. This input is not only critical to the product being tested but is also an investment into future products when the gathered data is used effectively.

Beta test is not a lab environment. Often, beta testing will discover issues that cannot be found or even duplicated in a test lab. The eclectic and diverse nature of the beta test participants exploits limitations in products and tests the entire product development process.

Beta test forces a company outside of its "frame of reference." It keeps it in touch with the customer's needs and provides guidance in the design of a …

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.