Beta testing is an excellent approach for businesses to detect usability issues and enhance their products so that they meet the needs of their customers. While every development agency has specialized quality assurance experts, they frequently look at things from the company's perspective rather than the user's.
Companies can gain access to the most valuable POV of their product - the final customer – by establishing beta testing programs. This allows them to eliminate any problems before the product is published, ensuring its commercial success.
It is commonly known in the business that the failure rate of IT startups can be as high as a shocking 90%. Ensuring that your services are of the highest quality is critical to your success, and beta testing your products is one of the greatest methods to do it.
In this post, we will discuss the advantages of beta testing for both businesses and testers.
What Exactly Is Beta Testing?
Before a product is given to the public, it goes through a lengthy development and testing process. The early tests, often known as alpha testing, are carried out in-house in a controlled testing environment by quality assurance professionals and team members.
However, one of the drawbacks of this sort of testing is that it is done in predictable conditions by a small group of people who are already familiar with the product. As a result, while alpha testing is vital and required, it is also biased and not totally trustworthy.
As a result, businesses engage in "beta testing."
The beta phase begins once the product development, design, and marketing plan are complete. Instead of releasing the product to a large public, the corporation asks a small group of users to use, evaluate, and provide feedback on it.
In a nutshell, beta testing is similar to alpha testing, except that it is carried out by people from the product's intended audience, in an uncontrolled setting, and on their own devices. The purpose is to identify issues that the development team may have overlooked while also providing insight into user experience and usability.
The Beta Testing Process
The beta phase is typically implemented over a short period of time and consists of the following steps:
Creating user profiles.
Making plans for a feedback survey.
We are looking for participants.
Examining applications and deciding on a sample group
Making contact with participants and offering directions
Conducting beta testing and collecting feedback
Analyzing the outcomes
Implementation of changes
Companies should arrange each phase correctly to ensure that testing is efficient and delivers the desired data without delaying product delivery. Furthermore, they must ensure that they select dependable applicants who can complete the assignment with dedication and provide relevant feedback on time.
Selecting Beta Testers
Depending on the product, testers may or may not be required to suit specific profiles and demographics. If the corporation wants to reach a specific demographic, they can distribute their beta products on numerous beta testing platforms rather than depending just on customers that visit their websites.
Most firms reward beta testers for their work, although certain programs may require the user to pay a fee to participate in the study. This form of arrangement, however, is rarely used by startups because their products lack the essential appeal, particularly in the early phases of development.
When they are ready, the testers must complete a feedback form and offer thorough information about their product experiences:
If there were any concerns with usability?
Are there any flaws?
Suggestions/improvements?
How did you find the user experience?
Do you have any marketing ideas?
Favorite and least favorite things?
Other pertinent questions, such as competition comparisons,
Whatever form of feedback is required, the survey normally includes both open-ended and closed-ended questions to ensure that the team gathers adequate qualitative and quantitative data.
Companies can improve their product, improve their marketing strategy, and uncover new profitable selling points based on client feedback.
Why Is Product Beta Testing Necessary?
To survive and prosper, tech businesses rely on a number of critical success elements. These include developing a brilliant business idea, gathering a capable and dependable team, creating a rock-solid business strategy, conducting market research, and so on.
However, without a high-quality product that works effectively, all of these efforts may be for nought.
Furthermore, beta testing gives the following benefits to businesses:
It enables testing in a real-world setting.
The most significant benefit of beta testing is that it allows you to examine how your product operates in a real-world setting, in the hands of your actual customers, and at scale. This allows for a wide range of faults to be identified and resolved before the product is released to the public.
The difference between this happening now and when your product is already on the market is that beta testers are aware that problems may arise, so they keep an eye out for them and provide feedback. Instead of dissatisfied customers who leave because of a bad experience, you have a group of people who are dedicated to looking for flaws and making suggestions on how to fix them.
Assists in Demand Creation
Demand generation is one of the most usually overlooked variables for startup growth. There will be no success until the public requires or desires your product(s), regardless of how clever your company approach is.
Beta testing is an excellent approach to ensure that a product meets and exceeds the expectations of the client. It allows firms to uncover usability issues and receive user input on design, functionality, and performance.
The devil, as they say, is in the details, and if your product fails to impress and delight the customer, winning their allegiance will be difficult. Furthermore, if consumers continuously face faults and glitches, they are likely to feel dissatisfied and leave or stop using your product entirely.
Furthermore, if beta testers enjoy using your product, they may become brand evangelists and assist you in increasing demand once it is out.
Marketing and sales are kept in the loop.
The open-ended questions in feedback surveys provide significant information about how beta testers feel about the product, what they like and dislike about it, and what draws them in.
Companies can utilize this data to better understand how people perceive and experience things, and then incorporate those findings into their plans.
Marketing and sales can be difficult for businesses, especially if they lack precise and well-defined buyer profiles. Frequently, businesses confuse the appearance of the product with the value the customer receives. While both should have touchpoints, they are not the same thing.
Businesses can alter their tactics through beta testing by identifying the best product-market matches and improving their marketing messaging based on them.
Gives you a competitive advantage
Testing is critical for success in a competitive market and enhances the likelihood of a product passing another critical trial – standing the test of time. People are more inclined to pick your brand over competitors' if your solution is superior to theirs and provides a seamless user experience.
In your feedback form, you can suggest that the beta testers share any insight they have on how your product compares to other similar solutions/products, as well as how well it holds its own. This allows you to determine which features to add, eliminate, or improve, as well as what else you can do to acquire a competitive advantage.
The Advantages of Being a Beta Tester
Okay, so beta testing is beneficial to businesses, but what about the users?
As previously said, beta testers typically receive prizes from the developer in exchange for their participation, such as:
Early product and feature access
Free use of the products
Discounts
Vouchers
Gifts
Money, etc.
People frequently desire to experiment with new technology because it is fascinating and thrilling. Checking out your product before others is enough of a reward if they find it interesting.
Furthermore, when a product is popular or brings cutting-edge innovation, some consumers are willing to pay a fee to participate in the test in order to get a first look at it.
Looking for bugs is also like catching Pokémons for certain techies. It's a fascinating virtual search that gives them the satisfaction of discovering and correcting details that others have overlooked.
In conclusion
Beta testing gives useful information on how people perceive new items. It helps businesses to quickly address usability difficulties and design defects, as well as obtain first-hand feedback on their product's performance and value to users.
By providing early access to your target audience, beta testers can examine your product with fresh eyes in a way that no one else in your company can. They may assist you in eliminating bugs and other issues, allowing you to present to customers your best application once it is released. The rest is up to astute company planning and savvy entrepreneurship.
If you’re interested in participating in a beta test, then sign-up with one of the startups that I’m currently working on - CreatorPilot.
This Beta Program gives brands, marketers and agencies the opportunity to experience what's coming for the CreatorPilot Influencer Campaign Management Platform before anyone else.