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- Bug Reports - Google Spreadsheet for bug tracking (above)
- Specific Testing Tasks - create a set of testing matrixes for usability and break testing
- Forum Conversations (Open and Hosted) - Hip Chat room specifically for testing
- Surveys and Polls (Technical and Subjective) - Set up Google Survey for post testing
- Do we have a way to run regression testing between builds? - we seem to keep making changes and then breaking things that worked previously
- Collect Feature Suggestions and Testimonials - this is important for newsletters going forward
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- Give Your Testers Time to Submit Final Issues
- Cut-off Tester Access to Submit Issues
- can the link to a Google Spreadsheet be changed? If I change the name will it change the shared link?
- Close all Open Issues - don't leave a bug behind
- Offer Testers a Simple Means to Return Product
- This is an interesting thought! - do we have a way once people are finished testing Brown Dog that it can be cleaned from their machine? an "Uninstall Script"
Incentives!
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- should we do this?
- Ensure Incentives Match Participation Requirements
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- Include Multiple Levels of Incentives
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- Award All Who Meet Those Levels
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- Distribute Incentives Quickly
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- If Possible, Thank Testers Individually
Beta Closure Report
Developing a Closure Report•Develop
- Develop an Executive Summary of the Project
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- - done ... would it need changed for just the focus of the beta?
- Document Issues Found (by Severity and Repetition)
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•Document Requested Features
•Document Survey Results
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- - do we want a column in the bug sheet to track # times bug found/hit?
- Document Requested Features - oh yes - these would be documented in JIRA as features not bugs ... do we need to make a column for that in the tracking sheet?
- Document Survey Results - Google Survey should do this ...
- Document Top Testers & Incentives Rewarded
•Ensure All Departments Obtain Report
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- Ensure Entire Team Gets a copy of the Report
Common Beta Testing Mistakes
Developing a Closure Report
•Develop an Executive Summary of the Project
•Document Issues Found (by Severity and Repetition)
•Document Requested Features
•Document Survey Results
•Document Top Testers & Incentives Rewarded
•Ensure All Departments Obtain Report
- Lack of a Serious Program or Program Support
- Using the Beta Program For Sales
- Beta Test Period is Too Short or Too Long
- Release of Unviable Product to Beta Test
- Too Few or Too Many Beta Testers
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- Poorly Motivated Testers
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- Ineffective Communication or Bad Beta Testing Tools
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- Poorly Managed Beta Testers and Test Data
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- Badly Managed Incentives
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Beta Testing Success
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- Good Communication –Bidirectional communication with testers regarding timelines, requirements, and progress
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- Responsiveness–Make testers feel involved on a constant basis. Treat them as an integral part of
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- team
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- Effective Tools –Use the right tools to increase the efficiency of everyone involved (
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- team
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- and participants)
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- Organization–Beta tests produce an enormous amount of varied data
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- Effective Site Selection –The wrong testers can produce useless results
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- Proper Incentives?
Adapted from www.centercode.com - https://www.centercode.com/docs/Centercode%20-%20Sucessful%20Beta%20Testing.pdf
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