What did I learn from being a beta user for a Startup?
I’m an aspiring product designer looking for some training ground to hone my skills. To find opportunities and grow my network within the tech community, I’ve joined a bunch of slack communities where people came from a wide range of backgrounds in the tech industry starting from VCs, Product designers, new grads to founders of startups.
One thing I’ve noticed in such communities is that people are kind and often willing to offer help and give feedback whenever they have some spare time. I’ve seen people posting about amazing events, panel discussions, virtual meetups, job opportunities, requesting community members to fill out a survey so that they can analyze and validate their startup hypothesis. In addition to that, there are some startups looking for volunteers to become beta users for their products. I came across one such opportunity and seized it. That is how I ended up getting an opportunity to be a beta user.
I was curious and wanted to know how beta testing is conducted, how user testing interviews are conducted, learn about the product inside out just fun and improve my communication skills.
Before I delve into my key learning, I would like to start off with the definition of Beta testing followed by my key learnings and some concluding remarks. Let's dive right in..
Beta testing:
It is the most common technique used to test the usability, reliability, and functionality of a software product. A group of end-users are selected and the users are given access to the software product to test. The user testing team would collect the feedback about the product and pass it on to the product team to fix the bugs and issues to make the product better for its users.
Key learnings from my experience
- I learned that software products have bugs, and it is really important to point out and report to product teams because the team is working really hard behind the curtain and they are striving to provide the best possible experience to their users.
- If you are an aspiring product guy like me, being a beta user can be a blessing. It allows you to get a feel for a product and learn in real-time the solution that the startup is trying to build for an opportunity they have identified in the market.
- When the product team takes user feedback seriously and fixes the issue. The user feels great and valued.
- As a user, they get to suggest or request features that they feel could be a great add-on for the product. In such contexts, the users are playing a really a key role in product discovery contributing to the product strategy.
- The marketing team can collect the cues on how the user feels while using the product and use it for the product marketing purpose. For instance, Superhuman an email service provider has a tag line that is inspired by how the user feels while using their product i.e. “The fastest email experience ever made”. I have used their product and I can assure you that, I have had the best email experience while using the superhuman app to check my emails.
- As a beta user, you get to be the first person to test the new features and see the new updates that the startup is pushing for their potential users.
- As a Beta user, one gets to improve their critical thinking skills which allow expressing their thoughts clearly and thoughtfully to the product teams.
- Finally, As a beta user, you will be recognized and appreciated for sure. If you are lucky, you may end up building a great professional relationship with the Startup team
Tips on how to become a beta user
- Check communities like Product hunt to learn about the products people are launching and pick a niche category that you like. For instance, In my case, I choose productivity which is of my interest and I’m always looking to try out new tech products which can improve my productivity.
- Join the discussion in social channels and communities like the GenZ mafia and learn about products that people are building.
- Send cold emails to the product lead or the founder to show interest in the product they are building and say you are willing to join as a beta user. I’m pretty sure that team would be glad and someone from the team would revert back with a big smile and an invite to tech product.
- Do not build your opinion about the startup team when they are being unresponsive to your emails, give it some time. From my personal experience working in a Startup, there is a lot going on in the team, people wear multiple hats and have tons of responsibilities. All I’m suggesting is, Be patient, someone from the team will definitely attend to your email.
I hope my learnings and tips from being a beta user can be of some help.
If you have come this far, thank you for taking the time to read my post. It means a lot to me ❤️
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are from my own personal experience. If you find it useful, let me know your thoughts. If have any suggestions to improve my blog post feel free to let me know in the comments section below. Thank you 🙏
- Amarnath Nagula
