Should I Pay My Beta Testers?
Centercode
AUGUST 16, 2023
As a beta manager you want to get as much relevant feedback from each tester as you can. Incentivizing and rewarding testers for their participation is a key part of getting that feedback.
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Centercode
AUGUST 16, 2023
As a beta manager you want to get as much relevant feedback from each tester as you can. Incentivizing and rewarding testers for their participation is a key part of getting that feedback.
Centercode
AUGUST 16, 2023
And sometimes we see companies that only want to select tech-savvy beta testers. A tester team needs to reflect the product’s target market, which usually means recruiting testers with all levels of expertise — even low levels. When you rely solely on expert beta testers, your results can be incomplete if not misleading.
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Centercode
JULY 7, 2023
As a follow-up to our product readiness checklist, we put together a list to help prepare your testers for beta. You put a lot of time into planning your beta test and recruiting great testers. Here’s a list of a tasks that need to be completed to prepare your testers for success.
Centercode
NOVEMBER 23, 2020
” Using Testers to Combat Big Challenges. Using beta testers to validate machine learning algorithms before release is essential to understanding how your tech performs in the real world. Here’s where your beta testers can step up to the plate again. So what can you do about this? How Centercode Helps. We got you.
Centercode
DECEMBER 28, 2022
At Adobe, we’re always trying to introduce new testers into our prerelease program (that’s what we call beta). There are many benefits to getting new testers into each prerelease cycle. The challenge for many beta managers, though, is where do these new testers come from?
Centercode
JULY 6, 2023
Perhaps the most important aspect of any beta test is recruiting the right testers to use your beta product. After all, these testers will be tasked with volunteering their […] Not to worry — you can still download a recording of the webinar to watch later or share with your colleagues!
Centercode
DECEMBER 8, 2020
Is more testers always the best solution when you’re experiencing a dip in feedback? In this Ask the Expert series, Centercode’s Chris Rader weighs in on large tester teams: when they work, when they don’t, and how to manage when your stakeholders want to keep adding testers. What should I do? Chris Rader.
Centercode
MARCH 4, 2020
Low tester participation is a source of frustration for many Customer Validation professionals. But somehow, only a fraction of your testers are submitting feedback. Sometimes, it’s not you — it’s your testers. These two traits work together because target market testers have an organic reason for using your product.
Centercode
JANUARY 26, 2023
This final post is dedicated to showing appreciation for your hardworking testers. Here are some tips to help you say thank you to your amazing testers. Giving out a reward after your test is great way to increase participation during your current beta, as well as lay the foundation for future successful tests.
Centercode
DECEMBER 28, 2022
Once your beta test is rolling, you’ll need to focus on getting your testers interacting with your product. Here are some tips to help you build momentum and get your testers pointed in the right direction.
Centercode
JULY 6, 2023
The practice is also gaining traction in beta testing, so we thought now would be a good time to discuss some best practices and caveats for scheduling meetings with beta testers. Done correctly, these meetings can have a great effect on participation and open doors to insights that are hard to obtain through other methods.
Centercode
MARCH 31, 2023
Recruiting beta testers for a test can be like planting seeds in the desert. Just as seeds need water and fertile soil to grow and thrive, beta testers need the right conditions to be able to fully engage with the product and provide valuable feedback.
Centercode
JANUARY 26, 2023
The success, or failure, of every beta test relies heavily upon its team of beta testers. The right group of testers can provide a fire-hose of quality feedback with minimal time investment. On the other hand, the wrong testers will provide virtually nothing of value — despite endless begging and pleading on your end.
Centercode
DECEMBER 28, 2022
A common mistake new beta managers make is to assume that testers instinctually know what they’re supposed to do during a beta test. In truth, most testers (even the ‘naturals’) need guidance. It’s up to you to provide that guidance so your testers can hit the ground running when your test starts. Be transparent with […]
Centercode
DECEMBER 20, 2022
Great beta testers share many of the same commonalities, making them a very valuable part of the product development process. Here is an infographic explaining some of the desirable traits to look for in your beta testers.
Centercode
MARCH 31, 2023
Have a question about beta testers? This guide will answer the most frequently asked questions about beta testers and about being a tester, while also providing tips and best practices from decades of beta testing experience along the way.
Centercode
JANUARY 21, 2020
What makes an ideal tester ? It isn’t just the right demographic or technographic qualifications — though target market testers are essential to netting accurate and actionable insights. Matters for Your Tester Team. Chris Rader explained that tester enthusiasm — or a lack thereof — is a central part of that challenge.
Centercode
DECEMBER 28, 2022
Finding the right beta testers isn’t so hard if you know where to look. This post focuses on 5 simple sources that you can use to build a great collection of qualified candidates for your beta test.
Centercode
DECEMBER 12, 2022
Most companies recognize the value that beta testers bring to an organization before product launch, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The mass that lies beneath the water line expands far beyond what you see on the surface.
Centercode
DECEMBER 22, 2022
Once you’ve figured out who your ideal tester is (which should represent a diverse range of your target market), you’re going to have to start thinking about how you plan to onboard them into […] Getting users into your beta test is often one of the first big challenges of preparing to run your beta test.
Centercode
JANUARY 26, 2023
We recently released a Beta Test Incentives Kit that helps you build a comprehensive strategy for motivating and rewarding your beta testers throughout your beta test.
Centercode
MARCH 16, 2023
Finding and selecting the right group of testers to beta test your product is something that you’ll likely spend a lot of time and energy doing. For this reason, once your testers are selected and they’ve signed all the legal forms, it’s crucial […] It’s one of the most important steps for a successful beta test.
Centercode
DECEMBER 28, 2022
Since Centercode’s early days we’ve had a community of amazing beta testers. Our community has grown organically through word of mouth to nearly 90,000 beta testers. As we’ve grown, our testers have clamored for more products to test, […]
Centercode
FEBRUARY 27, 2020
Maintaining tester engagement is one of the most persistent challenges facing today’s Customer Validation (CV) professionals. In connection to this, half also reported challenges when it comes to tester communication. Tester Communication Breakdown: Warning Signs. Testers are unresponsive.
Centercode
JULY 21, 2023
Beta testers not only improve products but also act as advocates, making them valuable even after launch.
Centercode
DECEMBER 28, 2022
One of the most effective ways to obtain feedback from beta testers is to ask them for it in the form of tasks. A task is a specific activity you can assign to your beta testers that they can perform and report back to you on. You can request testers do everything from installing the […]
Centercode
APRIL 29, 2020
We’ve already dug into diagnosing potential challenges — communication breakdown , recruiting the wrong testers , friction caused by tools , and a product that isn’t ready for customer-testers — and how to start addressing them. What are your testers doing? Define your test objectives and tester selection criteria.
Centercode
JULY 6, 2023
You also need targeted beta testers to try out your product and provide feedback. At Centercode, we have a growing community of over 100,000 profiled beta testers called Betabound. Having the right tools and expertise to run a beta test is only a piece of the puzzle. We use this community to find the perfect […]
Centercode
FEBRUARY 8, 2023
There’s a wide variety of activities your beta testers are more than willing to do to help improve your product. The activities that make the most sense for your test will vary based on your product and objectives, but here are ten of the most common ones (spoiler alert: bug reports are just the tip of the iceberg!).
Centercode
DECEMBER 28, 2022
It doesn’t take much for inactive testers to affect your data, especially when it comes to analyzing forms of directed feedback (like surveys or tasks). Even if a small percentage of your testers opt out of responding to a mandatory activity, it can affect your data in a big way. For example, maybe testers who […]
Centercode
JULY 6, 2023
Recruiting the right beta testers is crucial to the success of any beta test, but it can be especially challenging when running tests for B2B (business to business) products. B2B products need customer validation just as much (if not more) as B2C products, but it can be incredibly challenging to get good feedback from people […]
Centercode
JUNE 4, 2021
How you communicate with your testers has a huge impact on the success of your beta. If you don’t communicate clearly or often enough you risk alienating or confusing your testers. On the other hand, if you communicate too much you could frustrate testers with your constant micromanaging.
Centercode
DECEMBER 28, 2022
Directed feedback plays a crucial role in beta testing because it allows you to get specific data from your testers to meet your objectives. Rather than just hoping that information comes up as testers use your product, directed feedback allows you to assign certain activities that are designed to collect the exact kinds of feedback […]
Centercode
JUNE 4, 2021
For our third installment of the Beta Tips series we’re covering tester selection. You know that your testers can make or break your beta, so how do you make sure the testers you select are top notch? At this point you’ve planned your beta test and you’ve recruited a large pool of people interested in testing your product.
Centercode
JANUARY 10, 2023
If you’re stuck or just want some best practices, dive into these tips and examples to help you write the best weekly announcement emails your beta testers have ever read. Effective communication is crucial for the success of any beta test.
Centercode
NOVEMBER 24, 2021
And yes, those are both common and viable ways to reward testers for their participation. When you think of "incentives" in user testing, the first thing that comes to mind might be a free product or a gift card.
Centercode
JULY 20, 2022
Determining how many beta testers you need for a given project is one of the most common headscratchers when planning […] The short answer is that it depends – but it’s probably not the number your stakeholders threw out on a whim. If this question is giving you a headache, you’re not alone.
Centercode
NOVEMBER 27, 2019
With Thanksgiving coming, we’re feeling especially grateful to work with you guys — the best customers, collaborators, contributors, and testers in the world! One of our testers got a heart rate alert from the device, took it to a doctor, and found out they had a heart problem that needed treatment right away.
Centercode
JUNE 4, 2021
However, one question we’ve seen come up in the industry in recent years as automated testing becomes much more powerful is if human testers are needed for this type of testing anymore. Testing your product before launch and collecting pre-release user feedback is a crucial part of the product development lifecycle. If you’re trying to […]
Centercode
DECEMBER 22, 2022
Great beta testers have a combination of personal characteristics and skills that make them effective at testing and providing valuable feedback on a product.
Centercode
JUNE 8, 2021
Testers want to know what they get for participating in betas, and companies want to know what’s appropriate to offer them. There are several key things that companies need to be aware of when it comes to rewarding their testers. In fact, “incentives” is one of our most common Google search keywords.
Centercode
DECEMBER 30, 2022
This blog will give you a better understanding of why recruiting more applicants than needed is important, and how to ensure that you have a diverse and qualified group of testers for your beta test.
Centercode
DECEMBER 16, 2022
We'll explore the different types of beta testers, and how each type can provide valuable insights and feedback to help you make improvements and iterate on your products over time.
Centercode
JUNE 8, 2021
There’s a common misconception that beta testers are motivated to participate solely to receive a free product in the process. Understanding these can help you pick better testers, and ultimately increase your participation substantially.
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