UPDATE: siteMighty Beta Testing
- December 7th, 2006 /
Beta testing is moving right along, and we sent out our first ‘Mighty Newsletter’ this week to our beta testers. I wanted to keep the beta group small in the beginning, and I have been very pleased with the feedback I’ve gotten from our group so far.
I would highly recommend beta testing because we have learned a great deal about how users interact with the system, and the varying ways they interact with it. After only a week, we have a list of issues to address. They are small things that will make all the difference when we launch to the public. Hopefully next week we will bring on another round of beta testers to make that final testing push before the end of the year.
I’m realizing that this process is not only a test of siteMighty, but of our team as well. I really like the way we are each defining our roles while at the same time keeping siteMighty moving forward.
Lessons learned so far:
- Keep engaging your beta testers. We want them to give us feedback, so make that easy for them. Remind them with a newsletter, or a friendly e-mail checking in on their experience.
- Jump on support right away. As soon as we see a support ticket come in, we immediately assess who can answer it the best and the quickest. We never want to leave the user out in the cold.
- Be honest, it’s beta. There are going to be some things that don’t work exactly how you want them to. I think your beta testers know this going into it, but don’t be afraid for things to look messy. Polishing is what beta is all about.
- Have some fun. This is an opportunity for us to get to know our users personally. I doubt when we have hundreds of users we’ll be able to speak to them all on the phone. So, for now, I am valuing the time and feedback our users are giving us.
- categories: All, SiteMighty /
