A beta test, or the pre-launch testing of your app, is an essential step of software development. It gives a portion of your audience early access to your app and allows you to identify bugs and glitches before you head to the open market. It is important to choose the right method to conduct your beta testing. Successfully choosing your beta testing model involves carefully considering a number of components.
Determine Your Platform Range
During the development phase, you and your team determine which devices and operating systems you will target for beta testing. Devices may include different variations of iPhone or Samsung smartphones, for example. Operation system iterations could include Android, Apple, and Windows. You can target beta testers by narrowing down your audience based on your device and operating system preferences.
Target Appropriate Testers
Image via Flickr by CAFNR
When selecting a target market for beta testing your app, it’s best to identify users that are both experienced and inexperienced in your field. Having some inexperienced users try out your app may lead to more valuable feedback regarding what works and what doesn’t. A good variety of experience will increase your likelihood of identifying issues.
That said, you also don’t want to include a field of users who have no interest in using your software. Your testers will become both your quality assurance and your app advocates. Make sure to target people who use the same operating system as your app.
Find Your Testers
If you already have a pool of people from which to choose, you can directly send invites for people to test your app. Otherwise, there are a number of services that can help you find appropriate beta-testers.
You will also want to decide whether to have a closed or an open beta test. With closed tests, you hand-pick the users who fall into your test pool (such as employees or executives). With open tests, you open the app to members of the general public through a distribution platform.
Identify Your App Distributing Platform
There are a number of different platforms available for the testing of demo apps. Some of these platforms help you test one or two specific aspects of your app, while others provide a more comprehensive testing platform. A great place to start is with the Agora Quick Start Guide.
Motivate Testers for Quality Input
During the testing phase, you’ll be collecting both implicit and explicit feedback from users. You should encourage users to provide explicit feedback through messaging or forum capabilities. This might include reporting bugs or errors in functionality. Implicit feedback can come through the testing platform, which normally includes crash reports and analytics.
Beta testing is a very important step in app development, and there are a number of elements to consider. Testing can save you money in development, help you identify issues, and provide customer validation. To make the most of beta testing, be sure to pay attention to the recommendations above, and carefully consider any feedback you receive
