What should you remember while doing Beta Testing?

Why should we do a good beta test? Users get the first feel of the product and you get an initial real review. A first impression of the product goes a long way and might even make the product viral. Beta testing is like the first feedback. Hence, there would be a great number of points that you might have overlooked which might come up in beta testing. It is definitely a good practice to do Beta Testing before the final release of any app. Important tips that everyone should keep in their mind while doing beta testing is as follows.

1. You already would have known the target users. Finalize the target audience and screen the testers for beta testing. It might help sometimes to have people who don't know about the product (it product is a mobile app) test the product to get a very wide view of the product.
2. Never go into beta testing blindly. Have a well defined plan. Beta testing should be done for atleast a considerable amount of time before the product is released to give enough time for analysis and response.
3. Never do an open beta test. It will never work. Release the product to picked amount of people, or to people who have signed up.
4. Never add an extra feature in between beta testing. It might extend your testing period or might ruin the feedback response flow.
5. Only one out five people give proper feedback after properly testing the product. Its a nice idea to give some incentives to people who test the product. Will get them more interested.
6. Beta testing is usually done to do final touches. But, nowadays a lot of beta testing is done as a part of marketing strategy. A product is released to specific group of people from business to get an idea of the whole product. We usually might know the initial review of the product during beta testing and hence will have an effect on the overall business of the product.
7. Wait till you get a good amount of response for a feature before you change it.

Keep these simple tips in mind before you jump into beta testing. A successful beta testing should help the product and should go smooth. The more changes you make in beta testing, the more you have problems with your underlying design. Have fun beta testing your product!

References:
[1] http://blog.startapp.com/4-tips-beta-testing-success/
[2] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/BetaTest.html
[3] http://blog.appstark.com/post/26209583662/7-tips-to-beta-test-your-mobile-app