OneStopTesting - Quality Testing Jobs, eBooks, Articles, FAQs, Training Institutes, Testing Software, Testing downloads, testing news, testing tools, learn testing, manual testing, automated testing, load runner, winrunner, test director, silk test, STLC

Forum| Contact Us| Testimonials| Sitemap| Employee Referrals| News| Articles| Feedback| Enquiry
 
Testing Resources
 
  • Testing Articles
  • Testing Books
  • Testing Certification
  • Testing FAQs
  • Testing Downloads
  • Testing Interview Questions
  • Career In Software Testing
  • Testing Jobs
  • Testing Job Consultants
  • Testing News
  • Testing Training Institutes
  •  
    Fundamentals
     
  • Introduction
  • Designing Test Cases
  • Developing Test Cases
  • Writing Test Cases
  • Test Case Templates
  • Purpose
  • What Is a Good Test Case?
  • Test Specifications
  • UML
  • Scenario Testing
  • Test Script
  • Test Summary Report
  • Test Data
  • Defect Tracking
  •  
    Software testing
     
  • Testing Forum
  • Introduction
  • Testing Start Process
  • Testing Stop Process
  • Testing Strategy
  • Risk Analysis
  • Software Listings
  • Test Metrics
  • Release Life Cycle
  • Interoperability Testing
  • Extreme Programming
  • Cyclomatic Complexity
  • Equivalence Partitioning
  • Error Guessing
  • Boundary Value Analysis
  • Traceability Matrix
  •  
    SDLC Models
     
  • Introduction
  • Waterfall Model
  • Iterative Model
  • V-Model
  • Spiral Model
  • Big Bang Model
  • RAD Model
  • Prototyping Model
  •  
    Software Testing Types
     
  • Static Testing
  • Dynamic Testing
  • Blackbox Testing
  • Whitebox Testing
  • Unit Testing
  • Requirements Testing
  • Regression Testing
  • Error Handling Testing
  • Manual support Testing
  • Intersystem Testing
  • Control Testing
  • Parallel Testing
  • Volume Testing
  • Stress Testing
  • Performance Testing
  • Agile Testing
  • Localization Testing
  • Globalization Testing
  • Internationalization Testing
  •  
    Test Plan
     
  • Introduction
  • Test Plan Development
  • Test Plan Template
  • Regional Differences
  • Criticism
  • Hardware Development
  • IEEE 829-1998
  • Testing Without a TestPlan
  •  
    Code Coverage
     
  • Introduction
  • Measures
  • Working
  • Statement Coverage
  • Branch Coverage
  • Path Coverage
  • Coverage criteria
  • Code coverage in practice
  • Tools
  • Features
  •  
    Quality Management
     
  • Introduction
  • Components
  • Capability Maturity Model
  • CMMI
  • Six Sigma
  •  
    Project Management
     
  • Introduction
  • PM Activities
  • Project Control Variables
  • PM Methodology
  • PM Phases
  • PM Templates
  • Agile PM
  •  
    Automated Testing Tools
     
  • Quick Test Professional
  • WinRunner
  • LoadRunner
  • Test Director
  • Silk Test
  • Test Partner
  • Rational Robot
  •  
    Performance Testing Tools
     
  • Apache JMeter
  • Rational Performance Tester
  • LoadRunner
  • NeoLoad
  • WAPT
  • WebLOAD
  • Loadster
  • OpenSTA
  • LoadUI
  • Appvance
  • Loadstorm
  • LoadImpact
  • QEngine
  • Httperf
  • CloudTest
  •  
    Languages
     
  • Perl Testing
  • Python Testing
  • JUnit Testing
  • Unix Shell Scripting
  •  
    Automation Framework
     
  • Introduction
  • Keyword-driven Testing
  • Data-driven Testing
  •  
    Configuration Management
     
  • History
  • What is CM?
  • Meaning of CM
  • Graphically Representation
  • Traditional CM
  • CM Activities
  • Tools
  •  
    Articles
     
  • What Is Software Testing?
  • Effective Defect Reports
  • Software Security
  • Tracking Defects
  • Bug Report
  • Web Testing
  • Exploratory Testing
  • Good Test Case
  • Write a Test
  • Code Coverage
  • WinRunner vs. QuickTest
  • Web Testing Tools
  • Automated Testing
  • Testing Estimation Process
  • Quality Assurance
  • The Interview Guide
  • Upgrade Path Testing
  • Priority and Severity of Bug
  • Three Questions About Bug
  •    
     
    Home » Testing Articles » Automated Testing Articles » Pros of Alpha or Beta Testing of web sites or applications

    Pros of Alpha or Beta Testing of web sites or applications

    A D V E R T I S E M E N T


    1. Large Volume of Testers � Beta testing offers a company the ability to get a large number of testers interacting with the web site (or application) quickly. This provides plenty of opportunities to obtain feedback from real-world usage. Smart companies will usually post a Bug log or list of known issues, so that they will (hopefully) not receive a continuous stream of reports of the same issue, over and over and over again.

    2. Live Testing � The great thing about Alpha and Beta testing is it's live testing, using the actual environment that the web site or application was originally intended for. And because it's live testing, results are obtained in real-time, meaning it won't take long before users report items are not working as desired.

    3. Real User Testing � The beauty of Beta testing is it is being done by real users, who have no pre-built assumptions about why things work, or how they are supposed to work. This means a wide variety of items are tested and reported on by real users, including usability, function, content (including help or instructions content!), error messages and other more nebulous items. All of these and more will be scrutinized and reported.

    Perhaps some of these items were forgotten lightly covered by the design and development teams. Real users will test all systems and their feedback can greatly help add additional information and optimization of these critical areas.

    4. Beta Means Continual Tweaking � Unlike boyfriends or husbands, you can change a web site or application, especially one that is being Alpha or Beta tested. With Beta testing, new versions with adjustments and optimizations can and will be deployed on an on-going basis. Because users have been warned, they should accept this and even help by testing the updates, to ensure they achieved the desired goal of fixing issues.

    This by the way is an advantage over a final version of software, in that Beta versions allow for design and development improvements that do not have to be provided to OEMs or business partners as a software release. This is a distinct advantage for a company that's not quite ready to support a mass-produced (and consumed) application post launch.

    Cons of Alpha or Beta Testing of Web Sites or Applications:

    1. The Web site or Application Must be Built � Perhaps one of the major drawbacks of Alpha and Beta testing is the fact that the web site or application has to be built, meaning significant time and resources (meaning cost) were applied to construct it.

    The cost of going back and making drastic changes to fix issues uncovered by Alpha or Beta testing can cause concern, and sometimes resistance, especially if a company has not allocated enough resources and time for post-Beta optimization.

    This often results in what I like to call "Beta Momentum," which is the resistance to change applied by the business due to the costs of making substantial tweaks found during Beta testing. I can think of several examples of web sites and applications that were rolled out to the public after Beta without all problems being fixed, perhaps you've seen a few too.

    This trade-off of live but flawed executions might even defeat the purpose of using Beta testing as an optimization strategy.

    2. Beta Testing is Chaotic � The thing that makes Beta testing so great, multiple users with little or no knowledge of the expected outcomes testing various random items, also makes it weak.

    Since there is often no organized structure to how and where users test, there is no organized structure to receiving feedback. Some issues may be reported over and over again, while other issues are virtually ignored due to lack of use, or lack of awareness that there's even a problem.

    Throwing an unlimited number of Monkeys at typewriters may end up in a Shakespearean play being written, but throwing an unlimited number of testers in a beta test does not mean a perfect test of the application will be developed (even though some testers doth protest too much).

    3. Beta Testers May Not Match Expected End-Users � Opening a web site or application to any and all testers could be opening a Pandora's Box, in that the feedback received may be more harmful than helpful. Typically web sites and applications are targeted for specific end-user types (in usability they are referred to as Personas). If testers don't match the profile of the expected Persona's, then feedback collected from testers may not be appropriate, or worse, may be counter-productive.

    Consider a public beta test of a web site targeted for females over the age of 55 that are interested in health information. Unless the developers have created a beta registration process that screens to match this profile of user, they may not know who is using the site, and whether the feedback they are receiving from their beta testers is accurate for that target.

    4. Beta Testing Exposes Your Secret Sauce � Most web sites and applications have the ultimate goal of generating income for a company. Most of the time, there's a competitive advantage of a new gee-whiz feature or function that makes using this new web site or application compelling, and makes people want to pay for it and use it.

    Exposing your gee-whiz feature or function to the public for free in Beta form means others now know about it too, and can potentially reverse engineer it, or go it one better and start working on an even more exciting gee-whiz item. Your secret sauce will be out there for others, including your competitors, to see well before you may be in a position to start selling the final production version.



    More Automated Testing Articles



    discussionDiscussion Center
    Discuss
    Discuss

    Query

    Feedback
    Yahoo Groups
    Y! Group
    Sirfdosti Groups
    Sirfdosti
    Contact Us
    Contact

    Looking for Software Testing eBooks and Interview Questions? Join now and get it FREE!
     
    A D V E R T I S E M E N T
       
       

    Members Login


    Email ID:
    Password:


    Forgot Password
    New User
       
       
    Testing Interview Questions
  • General Testing
  • Automation Testing
  • Manual Testing
  • Software Development Life Cycle
  • Software Testing Life Cycle
  • Testing Models
  • Automated Testing Tools
  • Silk Test
  • Win Runner
  •    
       
    Testing Highlights

  • Software Testing Ebooks
  • Testing Jobs
  • Testing Frequently Asked Questions
  • Testing News
  • Testing Interview Questions
  • Testing Jobs
  • Testing Companies
  • Testing Job Consultants
  • ISTQB Certification Questions
  •    
       
    Interview Questions

  • WinRunner
  • LoadRunner
  • SilkTest
  • TestDirector
  • General Testing Questions
  •    
       
    Resources

  • Testing Forum
  • Downloads
  • E-Books
  • Testing Jobs
  • Testing Interview Questions
  • Testing Tools Questions
  • Testing Jobs
  • A-Z Knowledge
  •    
    Planning
    for
    Study ABROAD ?


    Study Abroad


    Vyom Network : Free SMS, GRE, GMAT, MBA | Online Exams | Freshers Jobs | Software Downloads | Programming & Source Codes | Free eBooks | Job Interview Questions | Free Tutorials | Jokes, Songs, Fun | Free Classifieds | Free Recipes | Bangalore Info | GATE Preparation | MBA Preparation | Free SAP Training
    Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions
    Sitemap | Sitemap (XML)
    Job Interview Questions | Placement Papers | SMS Jokes | C++ Interview Questions | C Interview Questions | Web Hosting
    German | French | Portugese | Italian