Testing Terminology & Process

➔ Designer Test

The person who writes the code tests it. Internal, informal, ongoing.

➔ Alpha Test

Friends of the platform give feedback on the general direction of the site, its philosophy, missing functions or useless functions, and any obvious bugs.

➔ Beta Test

Friends of the platform, or complete 3rd parties, test the site to see if it does what it is supposed to do as defined by its written feature set. They can actively try to break it, hack it, as well as see how it responds to pathological or unexpected input.

➔ Product Launch

Once all outstanding Beta Test issues are resolved, and the code supports the MVP (Minimum Viable Product), your first Product Launch can be done. It can always be improved later.

Alpha Testers are friendly to the enterprise.

Alpha Testing identifies if the feature set is sensible and correct. Are there key features that are omitted? Are there features present that seem useless to you? If you were to rank the features, what order would you place them in from most important to least?

Alpha Testers help shape what gets built. Your feedback directly influences priorities and design choices.

Note: after Alpha Testing comes Beta Testing.

Beta Testers are not necessarily "friendly" to the site. They can imitate rogue users and hackers trying to bring the site down, or try to get around security features. It is even fair game for them to try to break the website.

Beta Testing does not ask to add new features, or delete features. It focuses on testing the actual code and feature set as they are written. Does the code do what the feature says it is supposed to do?

• Are there bugs?
• How was the bug triggered?
• What is the impact of the bug?
• Can we do a product launch with the bug and fix it later?
• Can we use a simple work-around?
• Can we turn off a non-essential feature to allow a product launch now, and fix the bug later?

When Beta Testing passes, the site is ready for Product Launch, meaning it accepts real users who can open real accounts, and they can use the site to find and message other dating partners on the site.

There can be many, many additional features that are added at a later time. The product launch only needs a small set — what is called the Minimum Viable Product (or MVP).

The idea is to get to PRODUCT LAUNCH as fast as possible, and then we learn what actual real-life users like or don't like about the site by listening to them and watching how they use it, and where they get stuck.