

Who is a good beta test target? - ubudesign

So I have a site i2drive.com and I am adding a new major feature which will become an add-on product. I want to release it as beta and get some feedbacks before it’s done. I don't know who I should test this on?<p>1. Some users that have free accounts<p>2. Some of the paying customers<p>3. Some business customers<p>4. None of the above and test it with friends etc and release the final product to the customers?
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dkokelley
There are a couple of things to consider:

Paying and business customers might not want a beta service that is likely to
be buggy. They may want a solid system that is as reliable as possible. On the
other hand, they may like the idea of getting new features "first" even if it
is going to be a beta. It depends on who your typical customers are: Techies,
business types, college students...

Don't give it to the free accounts unless it's already been tested and proven
reliable. If someone signs up with a free account to test the waters and then
has to deal with a potentially buggy product they might be turned off from
your service.

If you have friends who are representative of typical customers (both free,
payed, and business) then it would be a good idea to release it to them first.
If they are not representative of your typical users you will probably find
that you encounter other problems that you weren't aware of during the beta.

If it were my decision, I would alpha test it amongst friends and family until
the functional bugs are worked out, then offer it as an option to select
(randomized between free, paid, and business) customers to see if they want to
sign up for the beta for free (Limited time only!). Make sure they know that
the beta is from for x months only. Then when it's time to move it into an
add-on product, make it publicly available and offer those who alpha and beta
tested it a discount on the service if they want to continue with it.

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ubudesign
Very good suggestions. I think that's what I'll do; the sampling, limiting the
time and giving discounts are all good points.

By the way I looked at your startup and it looks very good. I'm also In Los
Angeles. If you ever needed any type of help or just wanted to get together
let me know.

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dkokelley
Thanks! That's great that you're in LA. It would be cool to meet up with
someone from news.YC. My email is dkokelley at gmail dot com, or you could go
with danny@cocunderground.com. What part of Los Angeles are you in? I'm up at
the northern end, in Santa Clarita (at the 5 and 14 freeway).

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ubudesign
yea it would be nice to talk code and stuff. I'll email you my contact info.
I'm in Santa Monica

