project-management, beta-testing, design, pre-launchI have a project almost done, basically in final phase. Now we are just adjusting some features and making some interviews.
Our business model is related to online booking services, like Booking.com, I have done some research and also I’m reading a lot about Design Thinking.
I like the approach about listen the customer first, understand his behavior and then act, changing to have a better product.
Anyway, I would like to know about your experiences, how you release a Beta-testing software? I mean, how you control it to not spread? Or how to keep it in a controlled environment? How you measure the experience? How you get the feedbacks?
Sorry, looks like more than one question inside of the same questions but I’m kind of lost here, any ideas or insights will be appreciated!
I guess the best model that adapts to you is releasing a private beta. You can establish a fixed number of people that can join your beta and you give them the opportunity to an exclusive signup.
If you choose a model like this, you can then do several things like adding gamification (https://www.waitlisted.co) or using beta directories like http://betalist.com/
About measuring: of course, Google Analytics. If you’re also worried about the user experience and how your users are going to play with your website, you can also use some tracking services like inspectlet.com
About feedbacks: there are a lot of platform that help you to have a direct communication with your user (eg intercom.io). But in my experience, when you are in the beta phase, the best thing you can do is talking to your user writing them an email. The discussion will surely open to new questions and they will feel more involved to your project.
To release a beta version of your product you can:
There are many other things you can do. So be creative with your approach.
Hope this gives you a direction.
I suggest you use Prefinery. They have built a platform for startups to launch their projects. They have use the techniques behind Hotjat Beta Launch Campaign success. Here you can see the blog post details that explains the campaign.
What you want to get out of it:
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