A Guide To Beta Testing

 What is Beta Testing?

There are no guidelines for how a beta test should look or be conducted. Beta testing, which is essentially giving a product or close to it to potential users for evaluation in the real world, is what beta testing does. A test must meet the following criteria to be considered a beta test:

• Apps must be feature complete and stable.
• Beta testers should be part of the app's target customer.
• Beta testers should use it for real-world scenarios.

Alpha vs. Beta Testing

Your beta testing phase can be started when you are not beta-ready. This will make a huge difference in the test's success. Before we talk about the different approaches and types of beta testing, let's first distinguish it from alpha.

The beta phase is preceded by Alpha testing. Alpha testing is the phase that precedes the beta phase. It usually lacks many features, is often too unstable and buggy for reliable use. This is typically an internal affair. Your internal developers and/or testers use a mix of black-box as well as white-box testing techniques to find bugs and crashes. It is common for alpha testing to include trusted technical users.

A beta version, on the other hand, should contain all features planned for the final release. Black-box testing is used exclusively by end-users and external testers to test your app. This means they will only be using it for the intended purpose or in real-world scenarios. Although bugs are the main purpose of beta testing, the beta version should not be unstable or too slow to be useful or interfere with users' experience.

Types of beta testing

You have many options for setting up your beta test while still meeting the three previous requirements. It will depend on which app you use and what goals you want to accomplish with your beta test.

A beta program may include several beta tests. Each phase can address a different aspect. These beta tests can be classified by access restrictions or their purpose, but they are not mutually exclusive.

Open vs. Closed Beta Tests

Closed beta testing means that you only allow a few testers to access your beta app. You can do this by setting a limit on sign-ups or selecting testers who have certain skills and expertise like tech-savvy.

Closed beta testing is better for tests that have a narrow scope and are usually technical. It makes sense to limit the number of testers initially, as there is less chance of finding unique issues. This limit makes it important to carefully select the testers that you include in your team or to put them through an application process.

This type of testing can be used by small teams that don't wish to limit the scope but have the resources to manage a larger number of testers. You can limit the number of beta testers to avoid overloading your small team with feedback. This is especially important if you want qualitative feedback that can be easily analysed at scale.

Open beta testing, on the other hand, allows anyone to sign up and is not restricted in access. This is a great way for you to see how users interact with your app and gather quantitative data about their usage patterns. This is a great way to see how well your app scales, and what your backend and infrastructure can handle.

Open beta testing is usually conducted after a closed phase of testing and can be relied on rarely. You can gain a better understanding of your app's use in real life and discover some of the more common bugs and crashes. Open beta testing can be difficult to manage, especially for smaller teams. A well-thought-out process for handling testers and their feedback is essential to successful open beta testing.