Blog Posts Tagged Beta Manager

Jedi vs Sith: Mastering Beta Testing with Star Wars Wisdom

On May the Fourth, discover the do's and don'ts of effective beta test management by embracing the wisdom of the Jedi philosophy while avoiding the pitfalls of the Sith mentality in this specially themed post for Star Wars Day.

Fuel Your Product Management Goals with These 3 Testing Tactics

Test Planning

When it comes to making decisions about your product, data is your best ammunition. Between analytics, surveys, support tickets, and customer testing, there are plenty of opportunities for your product management team to collect information about your customers’ experiences. While data is both accessible and abundant, knowing how to use it to drive continuous product […]

Humanizing the Role of Beta Managers Through Communication

Leader Insights

If you’ve attended a QA or testing conference recently, it seems as though manual testing is a dying discipline. Due in part to the speed of development, test automation, and artificial intelligence, a greater proportion of test management is now influenced or even controlled by developers. In our interview with Jennifer Bonine, CEO of PinkLion.ai […]

User Group at Centercode HQ

Events

Last week, we welcomed our software customers to a Centercode User Group at our newly remodeled headquarters in Laguna Hills, CA. Our user groups bring together customer validation professionals from multiple industries to get hands-on training, learn best practices, hear how other companies utilize the Centercode platform, and see what’s next for Centercode. The event […]

5 Hats You’ll Wear as a Beta Manager

Test Management

Running a successful beta test is no small feat. You’re often wrangling testers, building surveys, analyzing data, dealing with stakeholders who needed to have results yesterday, and more, all at the same time. As a beta manager, you wear many different “hats”. One minute, you’re a psychologist, analyzing a tester’s mindset and how it affects […]

The Different Roles in Charge of Beta Testing

Test Management

A few months ago, we conducted a survey of professionals from over 260 companies to gain a better understanding of the customer validation industry. While all of the respondents played some role in their company’s beta program, 50% of them said they are directly involved with managing the actual testing. To get a better understanding […]

Three Best Practices Every Beta Manager Should Embrace

Test Planning

As part of a team that helps develop pre-release testing strategies for everything from new mobile games to smart baby monitors, I’ve seen my fair share of challenges when figuring out the best way to gain customer validation for a new product. Personally, this is one of my favorite things about working at Centercode — […]

Webinar on How to Juggle Multiple Beta Tests at Once

Events

Did you miss this webinar? Not to worry — you can still download a recording of the webinar to watch later or share with your colleagues! Running a single, successful beta test is hard. Trying to run multiple beta tests at once can be completely overwhelming! How do you delegate tasks? How do you organize […]

5 Expectations to Establish with Testers on Day One

Test Launch

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 […]

Top 5 Ways to Increase Beta Test Confidentiality

Test Management

When it comes to running private beta tests, maintaining confidentially among your testers is extremely important. No company wants valuable information about their product leaked to the public prematurely. That’s why we’ve chosen the top five simple best practices that can be used to significantly increase the security of your beta tests. We’d recommend taking […]

5 Tips for Incorporating Other Teams

Test Management

No man is an island. Even if you’re running a beta test on your own, chances are that other departments (such as development, quality assurance, marketing, or sales) are involved in some way. How you engage with other teams during and after your beta can be a great way to illustrate the value of beta within your organization. It can also be completely overwhelming. These tips can help you incorporate other teams to run better betas.

New eBook: Keeping Beta Tests Confidential

Content Release

Product launches are often shrouded in secrecy, with a focus on making a big splash when the product is launched. Teams often devote months (if not years) to developing a new product, and as you get closer to the release, you get more and more nervous about confidential product details going public. In those final weeks, putting your product into the hands of a group of complete strangers for a beta test can feel like a huge risk. What if someone finds out about the bugs we uncover? What if a beta tester tells the press about the product? Or worse, gives it to my competitor?

Hiring a Great Beta Program Manager

Test Planning

There’s a lot that goes into hiring for your beta program and a lot that rides on your decision. The person will be managing a process that can make or break your product, saving or costing you large sums of money. But you don’t have to approach this undertaking without guidance. Whether you call the position Beta Program Manager, Beta Test Manager, or Beta Test Engineer we’ve got advice that will help you target the right qualifications and candidates. We’ve even put together a sample beta job posting that you can use as a template.

Reaping the Rewards of Active Beta Management

Test Management

If you want to run an effective beta test, being active and engaged every day is crucial. It can be tough if beta management isn’t your full-time job, but it’s hard to argue with the increased feedback and participation you’ll see from being that involved. And nobody wants to be the person who let critical bug reports go unnoticed for a few days. Luckily, we’ve got some helpful tips to get as much as you can from the time you have to participate.

Sharing Beta Test Data in Your Organization

Test Closure

If you ever find your beta program encountering resistance, take a look at where it fits in the big picture. No man is an island, and the same goes for beta programs. The more disconnected your work is from others, the harder it becomes to see the good you’re doing. But there’s one sure-fire way to get more recognition for your beta tests — sharing your test data with others. There are more teams that could benefit from it than you may realize.

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